Domestic Abuse

This topic area covers statistics and information relating to domestic abuse in Hull including local strategic need and service provision. Further information relating to crime in general is given under Crime within Health and Wellbeing Influences.

This page contains information from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. Information is taken ‘live’ from the site so uses the latest available data from Fingertips and displays it on this page. As a result, some comments on this page may relate to an earlier period of time until this page is next updated (see review dates at the end of this page).

Headlines

• Domestic abuse can shatter lives and prevent victims leading their lives free from fear and contributing fully to our society. Not only does it have a profound impact on victims themselves, but also extends a huge cost from our health services, education, and the criminal justice system, as well as deeply affecting those around them, particularly children.
• Within Hull, there is a growing depth of understanding regarding the pervasive and far-reaching effects that domestic abuse has on victims, their families and communities.
• In 2021/22, there were 3,124 referrals to Hull’s Domestic Abuse Partnership, and 1,202 of these were not previously known to the service. Overall, 21% are repeat referrals. Each month there was an average of 620 victims receiving support, with 895 children linked to the family.
• In 2021/22, 144 men called the Strength to Change voluntary perpetrator programme helpline. On average there are 50 men accessing support to reduce and stop harming those they are in an intimate relationship with. On average there were 75 current or ex-partners also receiving support. During this time 45 men fully completed the programme.
• In 2021/22, there were 35.1 domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes among persons aged 16+ years across Humberside per 1,000 population which was 14% higher than England (30.8). The same crime rate is given for Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. It is likely that the rate in Hull will be relatively high compared to other areas across the Humberside Police area.
• In Hull alone, Humberside police responded to 10,883 incidents of domestic abuse, of which 7,508 was recorded as a crime.
• Local work has involved the development of ‘Is your relationship healthy?’ poster campaign in conjunction with young people in Hull. There has also been numerous training events specifically around children and young people to raise awareness of domestic abuse and prevent domestic abuse.
• Hull remains a White Ribbon City and targeted work continues to be completed to raise awareness of healthy relationships in schools, colleges and youth settings.

The Population Affected – Why Is It Important?

In April 2021, the Domestic Abuse Act created a new statutory definition of domestic abuse which is: “Any single incident or a course of conduct of physical or sexual abuse, violence or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, psychological, emotional or other abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been personally connected to each other.”

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognises children and young people as victims of domestic abuse if they see, hear, or experience the effects of the abuse, and are related to either the victim or perpetrator. The Act does not create a new offence of domestic abuse and refers to the existing legislation and safeguards to protect children. Legislation to be considered could include common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, causing or allowing death or serious harm, or child cruelty, neglect and violence.

Safelives data highlights that 44% of children in families where domestic abuse is happening were directly abused, and that 18% were injured as a result of the abuse. Nine in ten (91%) of these children were also exposed to domestic abuse, and two in five (41%) children and young people in families where there is domestic abuse have been living with that abuse since they were born.

As stated in the Home Office’s progress report, domestic abuse and violence are devastating crimes that can shatter lives and prevent victims from leading their lives free from fear and contributing fully to our society. Not only does it have a profound impact on victims themselves, but also extends a huge cost from our health services, education, and the criminal justice system, as well as deeply affecting those around them, particularly children and young people.

Safelives report that one in five high risk victims reported attending A&E as a result of their injuries in the year before getting effective help, and that two-fifths of high-risk victims reported mental health issues. Golding reports that domestic abuse victims are at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and Howard reports that between 30-60% of psychiatric inpatients had experienced severe domestic abuse.

It is difficult to collect good data on domestic abuse as data collection methods and definitions could differ and have changed over time. The Office for National Statistics states that over recent years there has been little change in the prevalence of domestic abuse estimated by the crime survey, while the number of cases recorded by the police have increased. However, they state that the majority of cases do not come to the attention of the police, and many of those that do, do not result in a conviction for the perpetrator of the abuse. They state from the Crime Survey for England and Wales in the year ending March 2020, an estimated 2.3 million adults aged 16-74 years experienced domestic abuse in the last year (1.6 million women and 757,000 men).

At March 2020, national police data shows an increase of 24% in domestic abuse related crimes with 35% involving violence and 14% sexual offences, although some of this could be associated with greater awareness and better recording.

Whilst a high proportions of domestic abuse related crimes are not reported to police, a review by the Department of Communities and Local Government found that around 85% of victims of domestic abuse seek help from professionals at least five times before getting the support they need.

The Duluth Power and Control Wheel illustrates the use of coercion and threats, intimidation, emotional abuse, isolation, minimising, denying and blaming, children, male privilege, and economic abuse in domestic abuse.

Incidents of domestic abuse that result in a crime are recorded by police and are included in recorded crime. Incidents of domestic abuse are cases that were reported to police, but following investigation, do not amount to a crime or an offence according to the National Crime Recording Standards. These can be added to domestic abuse-related crimes to create a total picture of the demand that domestic abuse puts on the police.

Domestic abuse crimes may fall into the broader category of violence and sexual offences in the Police Data UK dataset, but may fall into other categories and some domestic abuse crimes may fall into the broader ‘other crimes’ category. From the national dataset from Police Data UK, it is not possible to obtain the total number of domestic abuse crimes specifically.

The Hull Picture

The numbers of domestic abuse crimes and incidents is generally not recorded at a local authority level in the national datasets, and data tends to cover Police Areas. Humberside is the local Police Area which covers Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.

Local information relating to domestic abuse is available for Hull from services providers such as the number of referrals to specific local services.

Not all domestic abuse-related crimes and incidents will be reported, so it is likely that the numbers in the official statistics denotes only a proportion of the total number of such crimes and incidents. As well as reluctance and fear of reporting, there may be a perception that a crime or domestic abuse incident has not occurred in some cases.

Some information relating to age and gender is provided below for England & Wales as it is likely that the age and gender distribution of domestic abuse crimes and incidents is similar across most Police Force Areas, and this may provide useful information in relation to the Humberside Police Area.

Across Humberside Police Area and Compared to Other Areas

Domestic Abuse Crimes and Incidents

The number of domestic abuse-related crimes have increased across the Humberside Police Area over time, although it is likely that the data recording has improved over time with more domestic abuse-related crimes recorded as such in the last four years.

Across the Humberside Police Area, there have been just over 16,000 domestic abuse-related crimes recorded during each financial year between 2018/19 and 2021/22.

Domestic abuse-related crimes make up a high proportion of total crimes. One in ten of all crimes were domestic abuse-related in 2015/16 but this has increased to around 18% in 2021/22. This could also be due to better reporting of domestic abuse-related crimes. In 2015/16, the percentage was lower in Humberside than both England and across the Yorkshire and Humber region, but for 2021/22, the percentage in Humberside is higher than England although still below the regional average.

Out of the 43 Police Force Areas across England & Wales, Humberside was ranked as the tenth highest for the rate of all domestic abuse-related crimes per 1,000 population for 2021/22 with 17.4 such crimes per 1,000 population. West Yorkshire had the highest rate at 25.7 per 1,000 population and Surrey had the lowest rate at 7.4 per 1,000 population.

Across England & Wales for 2021/22, there were 910,980 offences recorded by police which were identified as domestic abuse-related. representing 17.1% of recorded offences. Just over one-third (34.4%) were violence against the person, 16.8% were sexual offences, 7.1% were public order offences, 10.7% were criminal damage and arson crimes, and 12.7% were recorded as miscellaneous crime and 2.3% were other types of offences.

Violence Against the Person Crimes

The total number of violence against the person domestic abuse-related offences has increased significantly over time across the Humberside Police Area, but the increase between 2015/16 and 2018/19 could have been due to better recording of domestic abuse-related crimes. Over the last four years, there have been over 12,000 violence against the person offences that were domestic abuse-related each year across the Humberside Police Area.

The percentage of violent offences that were domestic abuse-related has increased over time between 2015/16 and 2021/22, but again this could be due to better recording of domestic abuse crimes.

For the latest year 2021/22, more than one in every three violent offences were domestic abuse-related.

Out of the 43 Police Force Areas across England & Wales, Humberside was ranked as the eleventh highest for the rate of violence against the person domestic abuse-related crimes per 1,000 population for 2021/22 with 13.5 such crimes per 1,000 population. West Yorkshire had the highest rate at 20.1 per 1,000 population and Surrey had the lowest rate at 6.0 per 1,000 population.

Across England and Wales for 2021/22, the percentage of violence against the person offences recorded by police that were identified as domestic-abuse related was just over 50% for females aged 20-44 years, but slightly lower being just over 40% for females aged 16-19 years and 55-74 years, and 39% for females aged 75+ years. Among men, the percentages were between 19% and 29% with the lowest percentages among men aged 16-19 years (19%) and the highest percentages among men aged 70+ years (27% or more).

Sexual Offences

For 2021/22, across England & Wales, the percentage of sexual offences recorded by the police that were identified as domestic abuse-related ranged from 9.6% to 39.3% for women depending on age. The lowest percentages were for 16-19 year olds at 15.3% increasing to 39.0% among women aged 35-39 years before decreasing to 9.6% among women aged 75+ years. A similar pattern occurred for male victims, but the percentages were much lower increasing from 8.6% for males aged 16-19 years to a peak of 14.2% among males aged 35-39 years before decreasing to 4.5% among men aged 75+ years.

Stalking and Harassment Offences

Across England & Wales for 2021/22, there were 234,045 domestic abuse-related stalking and harassment offences recorded by police. This included 48,873 (20.9%) offences relating to harassment, 85,170 (36.4%) offences related to malicious communications, 282 (0.1%) offences related to racially or religiously aggravated harassment, and 99,720 (42.6%) stalking offences.

Across the Humberside Police Force Area, there were 3,983 domestic abuse-related stalking and harassment offences during 2021/22 (rank 21 out of 43 Police Force Areas). The total number will depend on the total population and the size of the geographical area of the Police Force Area. There were a further 29 such offences recorded by the British Transport Police which are not included in the figure below.

The percentage of stalking and harassment offences that are domestic abuse-related varies considerably across the 43 Police Force Areas from 44.3% in Staffordshire to 16.2% for Dyfed-Powsys, and this may be a reflection of the way in which difference Police Force Areas record the information. The percentage for British Transport Police is 13.2% (not shown in the figure).

Coercive Control Offences

There were 529 coercive control offences recorded by Humberside Police Force Area during 2021/22 which was relatively low compared to other Police Force Areas, although the total number across the different areas will depend on the size of the geographical area in terms of the population served by the Police Force Area.

Homicides

Across the Humberside Police area over the two year period March 2019 to March 2021, there were five domestic homicides with the victims aged 16+ years (17 non-domestic homicides with victims aged 16+ years, 3 cases where there was no suspect where the victim was 16+ years and 12 cases where the victim was aged under 16 years giving a total of 37 victims). Three of the domestic homicides with victims aged 16+ years were among women.

Across England & Wales for the same two year period for domestic homicides, 33.5% of female victims were aged 25-39 years with a further 17.1% aged 70+ years, and among male victims, 34.6% were aged 25-39 years and a further 20.2% aged 70+ years. Among female victims, 78.1% of domestic homicides involved the partner or an ex-partner (0.4% adulterous relationship, 17.5% boyfriend/girlfriend, 11.2% cohabiting partner, 10.8% ex-cohabiting partner, 5.2% ex-boyfriend/girlfriend and 33.1% spouse/civil partner), 15.6% a parent, 1.5% a son or daughter, and 4.8% another family member. For male victims of domestic homicide, in 33.7% of cases the suspect was a partner or ex-partner (1.0% adulterous relationship, 5.8% boyfriend/girlfriend, 6.7% cohabiting partner, 5.8% ex-cohabiting partner, 3.8% ex-boyfriend/girlfriend and 10.6% spouse/civil partner), 28.8% a parent, 1.0% a son or daughter, and 36.5% another family member. For female victims of domestic homicide, in 96.7% of cases the suspect was male. For male victims, in 31.7% the suspect was female.

Within Hull

For the period April 2021 to March 2022, there were 3,124 referrals to Hull’s Domestic Abuse Partnership. 1202 of these were not previously known to the service. Overall, 21% are repeat referrals. Each month there was an average of 620 victims receiving support, with 895 children linked to the family.

Overall, 40% of these open cases were classified as high risk, 57% as medium and 3.0% as low risk.

A total of 1,251 adult victims (aged 16+ years) were assessed as being at high risk of significant harm or homicide and were discussed at Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC). This included 13 victims were aged 16 or 17 years, and 14 of those who were harming high cases listed were aged 16 or 17 years. The 1,251 adult victims were linked to 990 children living within the household.

Overall, 528 victims and their children were supported to remain within their own homes with Sanctuary scheme measures meaning they wasn’t forced to leave their homes, family and support networks.

In 2021/22, 144 men called the Strength to Change voluntary perpetrator programme helpline. On average there are 50 men accessing support to reduce and stop harming those they are in an intimate relationship with. On average there were 75 current or ex-partners also receiving support. During this time 45 men fully completed the programme.

During April 2020 and March 2022, there were 13,354 contacts with Hull City Council Children and Young Peoples Services, and of these contacts 3,528 were due to domestic abuse. The total number of referrals received was 4,858, and of these 1,457 were due to domestic abuse.

Hull City council commissions two specialist domestic abuse providers Hull Women’s Aid and Preston Road Women’s Centre to provide support to victim and their children impacted by domestic abuse in the city. During April 2020 and March 2021 Hull Women’s aid accommodated 59 women and 134 children with an average stay of 77 days. They also supported 207 women living in their own homes.  Their children and young people service supported 144 children and young people. Preston Road Women’s Centre supported 636 clients.

Out of the 43 police force areas Humberside police ranked number 16 for the number of domestic abuse reported incidents and 16% of all crimes reported where domestic abuse related.

In Hull alone Humberside police responded to 10,883 incidents of domestic abuse, of which 7,508 was recorded as a crime.

The rate of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes in 2021/22 is 35.1 per 1,000 population across the Humberside area which is higher than England (30.8). Humberside Police covers Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, and all four local authorities have the same rate of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes figure, although in practice, it is likely that the rate will differ and are probably higher in Hull.

Rates of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes increased between 2015/16 and 2018/19 for Hull, although some of the increase could be associated with better reporting. The rate has reduced slightly between 2018/19 and 2021/22.

Locally, violent crime rates reported to Humberside police for violence and sexual offences between April 2019 to March 2020 shows that there were 60.6 crimes of this nature reported per 1,000 population in Hull which is the highest recorded for the most similar force group areas, the lowest was 26.4 among similar force areas. Across Humberside police area, the rate in East Riding of Yorkshire was 24.5 per 1,000 population.

Violent crime rates involving hospital admission, violent crime rates relating to sexual offences and violent crime rates were all considerably higher in Hull compared to England (further information on these crimes is given under Crime within Health and Wellbeing Influences).

Over the three year period 2018/19-2020/21, the rate of hospital admissions for violence including sexual violence was high in Hull at 60.0 per 100,000 population compared to England (41.9 per 100,000 population). A subset of these hospital admissions could be related to domestic abuse.

The rate of hospital admissions for violence including sexual violence has been decreasing in Hull over time, but there were 485 recorded admissions over the three year period 2018/19-2020/21 equating to an average of 162 per year.

Local work has involved development of ‘Is your relationship healthy?’ campaign posters in conjunction with young people in Hull. There has also been numerous training events specifically around children and young people to raise awareness of domestic abuse and prevent domestic abuse for future generations. Hull is a White Ribbon City, and in 2019 during the 16 days of action, 27 primary schools and one secondary school were involved in work which aims to raise awareness of healthy and respectful relationships. Overall, 24,240 children, parents and staff signed the children or adult White Ribbon pledge. Teacher training sessions relating to The Expect Respect Educational Toolkit have been delivered in more than 50 primary and secondary schools, with 124 staff working with children and young people, and 40 early years staff. This work has continued throughout the period from 2020 to 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic with schools working independently to ensure the white ribbon messages have been imbedded in schools across the city.

Strategic Need and Service Provision

In April 2020 the Domestic Act was given royal assent and introduced for the first time a national definition of domestic abuse and recognises children and young people as victims of domestic abuse if they see, hear, or experience the effects of the abuse, and are related to either the victim or perpetrator.

A key element of the Act is the creation of a statutory duty on local authorities to comprehensively assess the level of need for domestic abuse safe accommodation within their local area and to publish a Domestic Abuse Strategy outlining the steps to be taken to ensure these needs are met. In order to meet these requirements Hull City Council, with support from partner agencies, local residents and survivors, have completed an Equality Impact Analysis. The purpose of this was to establish to what extent the current service provision in relation to domestic abuse safe accommodation and allied support meets the needs of diverse victims and their children in Hull and to identify whether there are gaps in the current offer and any barriers to accessing appropriate support. Additionally, the refreshed strategy takes information and evidence from the following:

• Co-production through the voices of victims with lived experience and who are experts in domestic abuse;
• Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2021;
• Community Safety Partnership Strategy;
• Strategic Domestic Abuse Board;
• Hull Collaborative Partnership;
• Lessons learnt from Domestic Homicide Reviews and Child Serious Case reviews; and
• Scrutiny Report commissioned by the Hull Safeguarding Children Partnership (HSCP) which was completed in September 2021. This report focussed specifically on the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people and the effectiveness of service provision for them.

This Strategy and aligned Delivery Plan outline how the ‘new burdens’ grant awarded to the Local Authority will be deployed to meet those identified needs and where future funding will be directed. The key priorities and their commitments are for all irrespective of gender, sex, age, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion.  Recognising intersectionality of these characteristics, as evidenced and reflected in the Equalities Impact Analysis and detailed in the Delivery Plan.

The four key priorities in Hull’s Domestic Abuse Strategy 2021-2024 are:

• Priority 1: Preventing domestic abuse through early identification and intervention.
• Priority 2: Provision of high-quality services.
• Priority 3: Pursuing perpetrators and seeking justice. (The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 states that a perpetrator strategy is being developed and when published will result in this priority being reviewed to ensure key themes and messages are included.)
• Priority 4: Partnership working, workforce development and co-production.

Each person’s experience of domestic abuse is unique to them. Not all victims want or are able to leave their abuser at a particular time, and abuse can begin, continue or escalate post-separation. Many victims may not seek to pursue a criminal justice outcome, and so appropriate support must always be offered. The experiences of children and young people who are living with domestic abuse must always be considered and their needs taken into account in any decisions made about the adult victim. Domestic abuse can encompass a wide range of behaviours and does not always include physical violence and can include emotional, psychological, controlling, or coercive, sexual and/or economic abuse. Many victims will experience these abusive behaviours simultaneously. At the centre of all these abusive behaviours is the perpetrator’s desire to exercise power and control over the victim. In recognition of this a new offence of Coercive and controlling behaviour was introduced in December 2015 in the Serious Crime Act 2015.

There are a number of services available in Hull to support domestic abuse victims and work with perpetrators such as the Hull Domestic Abuse Partnership, Hull Women’s Aid and Preston Road Women’s Centre, and Strength to Change, who work closely with other agencies in the city. Domestic abuse is a complex issue which requires a co-ordinated community response in order to ensure the needs of all those impacted by domestic abuse are met.

People’s circumstances can often be improved by early help, and any early help and intervention for all families should be timely, accessible and appropriate for their circumstances. The sooner domestic abuse is identified, and victims and their children offered support and intervention the better. As this will reduce the risk of escalation and serious harm taking place for victims, children and young people.

Resources

Home Office, Guidance: Domestic violence and abuse. 2016, Home Office: London.

Evidence and policy review: domestic violence and poverty. University of Bristol (supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation), 2015.

Unicef. Behind Closed Doors: The impact of domestic abuse on children.

Ending violence against women and girls: Action plan 2016-2020 – progress update. HM Government, March 2019.

How widespread is domestic abuse and what is the impact? Safe Lives: London, 2015.

Getting it right first time. Safe Lives: Bristol, 2015.

In Plain Sight: Effective help for children exposed to domestic abuse: second national policy report. Safe Lives (formerly Caada): Bristol, 2014.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and Division of Violence Prevention, Intimate Partner Violence: Consequences.  www.cdc.gov. 2017, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention: Atlanta, USA.

Heise, L. and C. Garcia-Moreno, Violence by intimate partners., in World report on violence and health, E. Krug, et al., Editors. 2002, World Health Organisation: Geneva, Switzerland. p. 87-121.

Coker, A.L., et al., Physical and mental health effects of intimate partner violence for men and women. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 2002. 23(4): p. 260-268.

Roberts, T.A., J.D. Klein, and S. Fisher, Longitudinal effects of intimate partner abuse on high-risk behavior among adolescents. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 2003. 157(9): p. 875-981.

Warshaw, C., B. Brashler, and J. Gil, Mental health consequences of intimate partner violence., in Intimate partner violence: a health-based perspective., C. Mitchell and D. Anglin, Editors. 2009, Oxford University Press: New York. p. 147-171.

Black, M.C., Intimate partner violence and adverse health consequences: implications for clinicians. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2011. 5(5): p. 428-439.

Golding, J., Intimate partner violence as a risk factor for mental disorders: a meta-analysis. Journal of Family Violence, 1999. 14(2): p. 99-132.

Howard, L.M., et al., Domestic violence and severe psychiatric disorders: prevalence and interventions., in Psychological Medicine. 2010, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. p. 881-893.

Office for National Statistics, Domestic abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2018. Office for National Statistics: London, 2018.

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/

Hull’s Domestic Abuse Strategy 2021-2024. Hull Community Safety Partnership, 2021.

Strength to Change – Confidential Advice for Men in Hull: www.hullstrengthtochange.org

Hull Domestic Abuse Partnership: www.hulldap.co.uk

Hull Women’s Aid: www.hullwomensaid.org

Hull’s Early Help and Prevention Strategy 2021-25. https://www.hull.gov.uk/sites/hull/files/media/Hull%20Early%20Help%20and%20Prevention%20Strategy%202021-25.pdf

Updates

This page was last updated / checked on 17 March 2023.

This page is due to be updated / checked in February 2024.