Fraction of domestic violence cases result in conviction, ONS says

Domestic abuse charities welcomed the orders but said they needed to be accompanied by greater awareness and training within the police and courts.

ONS analysis found that police recorded around 1.4m domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes in the year to March 2024. Of these, 500,000 were categorised as incidents and 850,000 as crimes.

Of these, there were 73,000 referrals to the Crown Prosecution Service and 49,000 criminal charges. There were around 39,000 criminal convictions in the same period.

One person can be convicted of more than one crime and cases take a while to go through the courts – but that figure suggests fewer than one in 60 people who told the survey they were experiencing abuse were likely to see someone convicted.

Abigail Ampofo, interim chief executive of charity Refuge, said the orders would give more tools for police and other agencies to implement measures to protect survivors of domestic abuse.

But she added: “However, we know there are a myriad of issues when it comes to police using their powers to protect survivors and hold perpetrators to account.

“So often survivors tell us that the police don’t act on breaches of these orders, and they are often worth ‘little more than the paper they are written on’.”

Refuge said a previous super-complaint by the Centre for Women’s Justice found Domestic Violence Protection Orders had been obtained in an average of 1% of domestic abuse cases.

Ms Ampofo said: “For DAPOs to work and provide survivors with real protections from abusers we need a real sea change in internal policing culture and the police forces response to domestic abuse overall.”