THE FACTS

In 2002, 116 women were killed by their male partner/ex-partner (Flood, Page and Taylor, Crime in England and Wales 2001/2002, 2003). 2 women a week are killed by a violent male partner or ex-partner (Women and Equality Unit, Living Without Fear 1999).

42% of all female homicide victims compared with 4% of male homicide victims, were killed by current or former partners in England and Wales in the year 2000/01 (Home Office, 2001).

At least 750,000 children witness domestic violence every year (Department of Health, Women’s Mental Health: Into The Mainstream, 2003).

1 in 4 women in the UK will experience an act of domestic violence at some point in her lifetime (Mirrlees-Black, Domestic Violence: Findings from a new British Crime Survey: Self-completion Questionnaire, England & Wales, 1999).

Women experiencing domestic violence are more likely to experience it on repeated occasions and less likely to obtain a conviction for the perpetrator, if reported to police.

Among people subject to 4 or more incidents of domestic violence from the perpetrator of the worst incident (since age 16), 89% were women (Walby and Allen, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking: Findings from the British Crime Survey, 2004).

In 2002 it was estimated that there were 12.9 million incidents of domestic violence against women during the previous year (Walby & Allen, British Crime Survey, 2004).




Approximately 80,000 women suffer rape and attempted rape every year (Walby and Allen, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking: Findings from the British Crime Survey, 2004)

Conviction rates for rape are now at their lowest, far lower than other crimes (Kelly, Lovett and Regan, A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases, 2005). Only 5.3% of reported rape cases end in a conviction for the perpetrator. In 2003, this meant out of 12,760 cases reported to police, only 673 ended with the perpetrator being brought to justice (Home Office, 2005 – NB: not in a publication but figures obtained directly from the Home Office).

The UK has one of the lowest conviction rates for rape in all of Europe (Kelly and Regan, Rape: Still a Forgotten Issue, 2003)