ONS finds 1 in 10 adults in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse last year

Domestic abuse figures rose

The ONS survey found that almost one in 10 adults in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the last year. In the year to September 2025, the same survey recorded 7.8%, or about 3.8 million people.

The rise was driven by intimate partner abuse, which increased by almost 2% compared with the previous year. Family abuse grew by 0.1%, a change the survey described as not significant.

Other forms of victimisation

The survey found that 2.1% of people, about 1 million, had experienced sexual victimisation. Stalking affected 3.9%, or about 1.9 million people. These estimates came from new survey questions and cannot be compared with previous figures.

Women and men affected

Prevalence was higher among women: 12.8%, or about 3.2 million, had experienced domestic abuse. Men were also affected, with a rate of 8.9%, or about 2.1 million.

Refuge calls for investment

Alice Russell-Harris, public affairs lead at Refuge, said the latest figures told a troubling story about the government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls by 2034. She said domestic abuse was devastating an unacceptable number of lives.

Russell-Harris urged the government to provide vital investment ahead of next week’s autumn budget, citing rising demand. She said specialist support services and the survivors who rely on them could not continue bearing the effects of underfunding.