Police-recorded domestic abuse and sexual offences

The ONS Domestic Abuse prevalence and victim characteristics publication (year ending March 2025) provides police-recorded data. Cumbria Constabulary covers both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness; local police-recorded domestic abuse statistics are therefore available at Cumbria level. In Cumbria in April 2024 to March 2025 there were 6,417 domestic abuse related crimes, 17.3% of all crimes, similar to the regional proportion at 17.7%. This data is not available split by gender.

Table 8, Table 9 and Figure 29 present gender-patterns of police-recorded domestic abuse-related crimes. This data is only available nationally.

Table 8 shows that victims of domestic abuse-related crimes are predominantly female (72.1%), and this is most pronounced for sexual offences (90.0%).

Table 8: Proportion of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police by sex of victim, selected offence groups, April 2024 to March 2025, nationally.

Table 9 demonstrates that the context in which sexual offences occur differs markedly by gender. For women aged 16 years and over, rape is predominantly a domestic abuse-related crime. Over half (53.2%) of recorded rapes of adult women occur in a domestic context, meaning they are linked to intimate partners or family members. In contrast, sexual assault (excluding rape) against women is far more likely to occur outside domestic settings (85.6% non-domestic).

For men, the pattern is structurally different. A relative minority of 13.7% of rapes of adult men and 12.5% of sexual assaults against men are recorded as domestic abuse related. The vast majority of male sexual victimisation occurs in non-domestic contexts (over 85% across both rape and sexual assault).

These patterns suggest three important distinctions:

• domestic abuse is a defining feature of female rape victimisation. Sexual violence against women is linked to intimate partner violence and coercive control
• male sexual victimisation is distributed differently. While male domestic sexual abuse certainly exists, the data suggests it represents a minority of recorded cases. Male victims are more likely to experience sexual assault in non-domestic contexts, including acquaintance, peer, institutional or public settings
• non-domestic contexts dominate sexual assault (non-rape) offences for both sexes

Table 9: Number of rape and sexual assault offences recorded by the police by sex of victim, April 2024 to March 2025.

These structural differences have important implications for prevention and service design. Interventions addressing violence against women must continue to focus on coercive control, partner abuse and safeguarding within relationships. At the same time, prevention of sexual violence against men requires attention to institutional, peer and community contexts, including stigma and barriers to disclosure.

Figure 29 shows the proportion of sexual offences which were recorded as domestic abuse related by age group and gender. Age patterns further illustrate the gendered nature of domestic sexual violence. Among women, the proportion of sexual offences recorded as domestic abuse-related increases from adolescence into early adulthood, peaking at over 40% in the 30 to 44 age range before gradually declining in later life. This period corresponds to peak partnering and child-raising years, reinforcing the link between domestic sexual violence and intimate partner relationships.

For men, the domestic proportion is consistently lower and flatter, supporting the above indication that male sexual offences are less concentrated within domestic partnerships and more likely to occur outside intimate contexts across the life course.

These age-specific patterns highlight the importance of safeguarding within intimate relationships, particularly during early and mid-adulthood (under 16 data was not included in this dataset), and reinforce the need for prevention strategies that address coercive control and relationship dynamics alongside broader community-based sexual violence prevention.

Domestic homicide and severe harm

Homicide data illustrate starkly gendered patterns in lethal violence. Between year ending March 2022 and year ending March 2024, there were 1,831 homicide victims in England and Wales. Men accounted for 1,313 victims (72%) of all homicides; however, only a small proportion of male homicides were domestic (107 cases, under 10% of all male homicide victims). Women accounted for 518 victims (28%) of all homicides; in contrast to men, nearly half of female homicides were domestic in nature (245 cases), meaning women were far more likely than men to be killed in a domestic setting.

The Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides 2020 to 2024 Report highlights the most severe consequences of domestic abuse. In 2023/24, there were 98 suspected victim suicides following domestic abuse, 80 intimate partner homicides, 39 adult family homicides and 11 child deaths. The majority of victims were females aged 25-54 years, and the majority of perpetrators were male and of the same age bracket.

Domestic abuse-related death reviews and local learning

Domestic abuse-related death reviews (DARDRs), also known as Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs), are statutory processes under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, undertaken following the death of a person aged 16 or over resulting from violence, abuse, neglect or suicide linked to domestic abuse. There are 20 DARDRs currently open and under review in Cumberland Council; all of which should be considered as preventable deaths of individuals. At the time of writing, there were ten published Cumberland DARDRs, detailing the deaths of nine women and one man. There are a further sixteen ongoing DARDRs at various stages, all of which relate to female victims, and in 14 of these cases the alleged perpetrator is male.

Common themes identified across the Cumberland DARDRs include:

• a history of involvement with the criminal justice system
• misuse of alcohol and other substances, including methadone and novel psychoactive substances
• previous incidents of domestic abuse or violence
• missed opportunities for professional curiosity across services
• concerns raised by social housing providers
• removal of children into care

These local findings closely mirror national learning. National reviews of DHRs and DARDRs show that vulnerability is common among both victims and perpetrators. Around 70% of victims and 77% of perpetrators had at least one identified vulnerability, most frequently mental ill-health, problem alcohol use and illicit drug use. Forty per cent of perpetrators were known to mental health services and nearly one-third were managed by probation. Aggravating factors such as coercive control, financial abuse, stalking and digital abuse were present in the majority of cases, particularly among victims who died by suicide.

Participants also raised concerns about the invisibility of male victims of domestic abuse, reporting experiences of dismissal or minimisation by services, which may increase isolation and elevate suicide risk. Qualitative findings from The Big Question survey further highlight community concern about domestic abuse in Cumberland. Respondents described a reluctance to confront domestic abuse, noting that emotional neglect and harsh language were demonstrated by parents in front of children, normalising these behaviours and passing the patterns down generationally. The interviews also highlighted the invisibility of male domestic abuse victims as a cause for concern, with reports of services minimising or dismissing male victims, increasing isolation and heightening risk of suicide.

National and local evidence demonstrates that domestic abuse is not an isolated phenomenon, nor solely a matter of individual behaviour. Childhood abuse is associated with perpetrating abuse as an adult, and perpetrators often go on to repeat patterns with new partners (Huecker et al., 2025). Females who witness domestic violence are more likely to be in abusive relationships as victims in adulthood.

From a public health perspective, preventing domestic abuse requires earlier identification of risk, improved coordination across mental health, substance misuse, housing and justice services, and approaches that address the upstream drivers of harm while maintaining clear safeguarding and accountability.