Domestic abuse
Published
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1. Main facts and figures
- in the year ending March 2020, 5.5% of people aged 16 to 74 in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the 12 months before being surveyed
- White women (7.7%) were more likely than White men (3.6%) to have experienced domestic abuse
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of people aged 16 to 74 who reported being victims of domestic abuse in the 12 months before being surveyed.
Domestic abuse includes non-sexual abuse, sexual assault and stalking. You can read more about the definition of domestic abuse used in the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Percentages in the charts and tables are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Not included in the data
Estimates based on fewer than 50 respondents are not shown because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
Figures based on sample sizes smaller than three respondents have been suppressed. Where figures for an ethnic group are suppressed, figures for another group within the same aggregated category (for example, Asian) have also been suppressed as part of secondary disclosure control. This is to prevent totals being used to calculate the suppressed sample sizes.
The data does not include:
- the number of times someone reported being a victim, or the seriousness of any crime
- people living in communal establishments (such as care homes, university accommodation and prisons)
- crimes against commercial or public sector bodies
The ethnic categories used in this data
Data is shown for the 18 ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for the data on this page.
For previous years (up to the year ending March 2017), the data only included 16 to 59 year olds. This is because 60 to 74 year olds were not asked the domestic abuse questions. This means data before April 2017 is not directly comparable, and is not included in this update.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:
- interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Sample size |
|---|---|---|
| All | 5.5 | 24,511 |
| Asian | 3.6 | 1,532 |
| Bangladeshi | 1.4 | 130 |
| Chinese | 2.0 | 145 |
| Indian | 4.9 | 609 |
| Pakistani | 3.5 | 351 |
| Asian other | 3.1 | 297 |
| Black | 3.7 | 725 |
| Black African | 4.1 | 453 |
| Black Caribbean | 3.2 | 214 |
| Black other | 2.5 | 58 |
| Mixed | 7.6 | 339 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 8.8 | 94 |
| Mixed White/Black African | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 43 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 10.6 | 106 |
| Mixed other | 4.8 | 96 |
| White | 5.7 | 21,679 |
| White British | 5.9 | 20,015 |
| White Irish | 6.4 | 171 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 6 |
| White other | 3.6 | 1,487 |
| Other | 5.6 | 208 |
| Arab | 5.8 | 87 |
| Any other | 5.5 | 121 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Domestic abuse By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that, in the year ending March 2020:
- 5.5% of 16 to 74 year olds in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the 12 months before being surveyed
- White people (5.7%) were more likely to experience domestic abuse than Black (3.7%) or Asian people (3.6%)
- although the chart and table show differences between other figures, these are not reliable because of the small number of people surveyed
4. By ethnicity over time
| 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 % | 2017/18 Sample size | 2018/19 % | 2018/19 Sample size | 2019/20 % | 2019/20 Sample size |
| All | 5.3 | 13,551 | 5.7 | 13,188 | 5.5 | 24,511 |
| Asian | 4.6 | 812 | 3.8 | 784 | 3.6 | 1,532 |
| Bangladeshi | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | 1.1 | 80 | 1.4 | 130 |
| Chinese | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | 2.1 | 67 | 2.0 | 145 |
| Indian | 4.2 | 337 | 4.0 | 317 | 4.9 | 609 |
| Pakistani | 4.3 | 201 | 4.5 | 177 | 3.5 | 351 |
| Asian other | 3.7 | 139 | 5.2 | 143 | 3.1 | 297 |
| Black | 5.7 | 364 | 7.1 | 353 | 3.7 | 725 |
| Black African | 4.5 | 207 | 5.3 | 230 | 4.1 | 453 |
| Black Caribbean | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | 13.2 | 104 | 3.2 | 214 |
| Black other | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 19 | 2.5 | 58 |
| Mixed | 5.8 | 161 | 12.9 | 175 | 7.6 | 339 |
| Mixed White/Asian | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 45 | 8.8 | 94 |
| Mixed White/Black African | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 27 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 43 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 6.8 | 56 | 17.3 | 59 | 10.6 | 106 |
| Mixed other | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 40 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 44 | 4.8 | 96 |
| White | 5.4 | 12,086 | 5.6 | 11,741 | 5.7 | 21,679 |
| White British | 5.6 | 11,209 | 5.9 | 10,797 | 5.9 | 20,015 |
| White Irish | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | 6.4 | 171 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 6 |
| White other | 3.3 | 781 | 2.9 | 858 | 3.6 | 1,487 |
| Other | 2.4 | 120 | 6.7 | 113 | 5.6 | 208 |
| Arab | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 35 | 5.8 | 87 |
| Any other | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | 7.1 | 78 | 5.5 | 121 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Domestic abuse By ethnicity over time Summary
The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2020:
- the percentage of people who experienced domestic abuse remained broadly the same in every ethnic group
- although the chart and table show changes in some figures, these are not reliable because of the small number of people surveyed
5. By ethnicity and sex
| Male | Female | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Male % | Male Sample size | Female % | Female Sample size |
| All | 3.6 | 11,313 | 7.3 | 13,198 |
| Asian | 3.0 | 794 | 4.4 | 738 |
| Bangladeshi | 0.4 | 74 | 3.0 | 56 |
| Chinese | 0.8 | 57 | 2.8 | 88 |
| Indian | 5.2 | 333 | 4.6 | 276 |
| Pakistani | 2.0 | 181 | 5.3 | 170 |
| Asian other | 2.0 | 149 | 4.4 | 148 |
| Black | 2.7 | 300 | 4.6 | 425 |
| Black African | 3.2 | 194 | 4.9 | 259 |
| Black Caribbean | 1.9 | 82 | 4.1 | 132 |
| Black other | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 24 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 34 |
| Mixed | 5.9 | 162 | 9.4 | 177 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 6.4 | 54 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 40 |
| Mixed White/Black African | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 24 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 19 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 43 | 11.7 | 63 |
| Mixed other | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 41 | 4.5 | 55 |
| White | 3.6 | 9,947 | 7.7 | 11,732 |
| White British | 3.7 | 9,222 | 8.0 | 10,793 |
| White Irish | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| White other | 2.4 | 650 | 4.7 | 837 |
| Other | 6.1 | 97 | 5.1 | 111 |
| Arab | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 42 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 45 |
| Any other | 4.2 | 55 | 6.7 | 66 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and sex’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and sex’ (CSV)
Summary of Domestic abuse By ethnicity and sex Summary
The data shows that, in the year ending March 2020:
- women were more likely than men to experience domestic abuse in the previous 12 months
- White women (7.7%) were more than twice as likely as White men (3.6%) to experience domestic abuse – they were also more likely than Asian women (4.4%) or Black women (4.6%) to experience domestic abuse
- although the chart and table show differences in some of the other figures, these are not reliable because of the small number of people surveyed
6. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Crime survey data is used alongside police data on crime to give the government information about the extent and nature of crime in England and Wales.
The survey records all types of crimes experienced by people, including those crimes that may not have been reported to the police.
7. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, value, value_type, CI lower, CI upper and sample size