Female victims of domestic violence

You asked:

I would like to know the ratio of male to female victims of domestic violence as published figures vary widely.

We said:

Thank you for your enquiry relating to domestic violence.

We have recently published a statistical bulletin on domestic abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2016, which brings together national and local domestic abuse statistics from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), police recorded crime and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) data:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/domesticabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2016

Using headline estimates presented in the publication, it can be calculated that 36% of victims of domestic abuse were males and 64% of victims of domestic abuse were females, based on the CSEW for the year ending March 2016. This equates to approximately 1 male to every 2 female victims of domestic abuse.

The proportion of all men who were a victim of domestic abuse can be calculated as 4.4% and the proportion of all women who were a victim of domestic abuse can be calculated as 7.7%.

It is worth noting that these data refer to domestic abuse and not domestic violence. Domestic violence would fall within the broader definition of domestic abuse, which also includes non-violent offences, such as coercive control. All of the data presented come from the self-completion module of the CSEW, which covers adults aged 16-59. For more information around this please see the User Guide to Crime Statistics for England and Wales.

For further information, please email us at CrimeStatistics@ons.gov.uk and will endeavour to help. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.