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Survival and Beyond: The Domestic Abuse Report 2017What is domestic abuse?Women’s Aid defines domestic abuse as anincident or pattern of incidents of controlling,coercive, threatening, degrading and/orviolent behaviour (including sexual violence),by a partner or ex-partner, family memberor carer. For the women experiencing thisabuse it is often not a series of isolatedincidents, rather a pattern of behaviour andcontrol which can last many years, or evendecades. Domestic abuse of women by menis very common. During the year endingMarch 2017, there were an estimated 1.2million women who experienced domesticabuse in England and Wales (ONS, 2017B).Coercive and controlling behaviour is atthe heart of domestic abuse and has beena specific criminal offence since the endof 2015. Coercive control is defined instatutory guidance as, “a purposeful patternof behaviour which takes place over timein order for one individual to exert power,control or coercion over another” (HomeOffice, 2015). These are abusive actionsdesigned to limit a person’s freedom andautonomy and to dictate most aspects ofa survivor’s everyday life (Kelly et al, 2014;Myhill & Hohl, 2016; Schechter, 1982; Stark,2007; Women’s Aid, 2016).Women’s Aid recognises domestic abuse as“ violence that is directed against a womanbecause she is a woman or that affectswomen disproportionately” (CEDAW, 1992).Domestic abuse is deeply rooted in thesocietal inequality between women and menand in enduring notions of masculinity andfemininity. The sexual inequality at the heartof domestic abuse intersects with otherforms of discrimination, such as racism,homophobia, and disability discrimination.Black and minority ethnic survivors, lesbianand bisexual survivors and disabled survivorsoften face additional challenges in gettingsupport, escaping abuse and receiving justicefor the abuse they have experienced.All victims should be able to accessappropriate support. There are importantdifferences between male violence againstwomen and female violence against men,namely the amount, severity and impact.Women experience higher rates of repeatedvictimisation and are much more likely to beseriously hurt (Walby & Towers, 2017; Walby& Allen, 2004) or killed than male victims ofdomestic abuse (ONS, 2017B). Further tothat, women are more likely to experiencehigher levels of fear and are more likely tobe subjected to coercive and controllingbehaviours (Dobash & Dobash, 2004; Hester,2013; Myhill, 2015; Myhill, 2017).Domestic homicide and prosecution statisticshighlight these differences in experiences ofdomestic abuse. In the year ending March2017 the large majority of defendants indomestic abuse-related prosecutions weremen (92%), and the majority (65%) of victimswere recorded as female (13% of victimswere male and in 21% of prosecutions thesex of the victim was not recorded) (ONS,2017B).From April 2013 to March 2016, 70% ofdomestic homicide victims were women. Theoverwhelming majority of female domestichomicide victims were killed by men; therewere male perpetrators in 96% of cases,and female perpetrators in 3% of cases (11cases, in eight of which the woman was killedby her mother). In 1% of cases there wereno suspect details available. 242 of the 246women killed by partners/ex-partners werekilled by men, one by a woman, and for threefemale victims there were no suspect detailsavailable.The majority of male domestichomicide victims were also killed by men(66% of male victims were killed by men and34% by women). 32 of the 72 men killed bypartners/ex-partners were killed by men and40 were killed by women (ONS, 2017B).

Section 1:Who are theservice users?Women’s Aid is the national charity workingto end domestic abuse against women andchildren. As such, this report centres onwomen survivors and the services supportingthem. All figures used in this report relate towomen and, where relevant, their children.1Of the domestic abuse services listed onRoutes to Support in England, 154 (42%) alsooffer support to male survivors of domesticabuse, including 22 services which offer refuge.This number does not include those servicesoffering support for male survivors only.Domestic abuse service users includewomen and children from a wide range ofbackgrounds with diverse needs. The majorityof women staying in refuge have children withthem, and community-based services alsooffer support, directly and indirectly, to largenumbers of children.1Respect, the UK membership organisation for work with domestic violence perpetrators, male victims of domesticviolence and young people’s violence in close relationships, has a range of resources for those working with men whohave experienced domestic violence including a toolkit, training and the national helpline, the Men’s Advice Line, whichoffers information, practical advice and emotional support to male victims, as well as to their friends and family andfrontline workers. respect.uk.net

1.1 Our FindingsDay to CountWeek to CountTuesday 4th July 2017 (refuge services)Monday 3rd July – Friday 7th July 2017inclusive (community-based services)Women’s Aid Annual Survey 2017Respondents to our survey told us that on theDay to Count2:ff 2,182 women and 2,336 children and youngpeople (aged under 18) were resident intheir refuge services.Based on our respondents’ answers3:ff We estimate that there were 3,557 womenwith 3,919 children and young peoplestaying in refuge on the Day to Countacross all services in England.ff Over the year 2016/17, we estimate refugeservices supported a total of 13,414 womenwith 14,353 children and young peopleacross all services in England.Women’s Aid Annual Survey 2017Respondents to our survey4 told us that duringthe Week to Count:ff 12,175 women were supported in theircommunity-based services.5ff 2,101 children and young people (agedunder 18) directly supported.6ff 12,703 children and young people (agedunder 18) indirectly supported.7Based on our respondents’ answers:ff We estimate that there were 25,727women using community-based servicesin the Week to Count across all services inEngland.ff We estimate that 154,306 women usedcommunity-based services during the year2016/17 across all services in England.Our sample for the Women’s Aid AnnualSurvey 2017 Day to Count comprised 2,182women resident in refuge services. For theannual survey’s Week to Count, we collectedinformation from a sample of 12,175 womenusing community-based services. This annualsurvey data shows the diversity of domesticabuse service users, with some commonthemes in their experiences of abuse and theirsupport needs.2105 refuge services responded to this section of the survey. The actual numbers of women resident in refuge servicesthat day will be greater because not all services responded to the survey.3Estimates are based on responding services, see Appendix 3: Women’s Aid data sources for detail.482 community-based services responded to this section of the survey. The actual numbers of women using communitybased services that week will be greater because not all services responded to the survey.5Floating support, outreach or advocacy services.6Directly supported via children/young people’s workers.7Indirectly supported through support given to the mother.

women resident in refuge services. For the annual survey’s Week to Count, wecollected information from a sample of 12,175 women using community-basedservices. This annual survey data shows the diversity of domestic abuse service users,with some common themes in their experiences of abuse and their support needs.1.2 Ethnicity and age rangeEthnicity and age rangeDuring the Day and Week to Count, women using domestic abuse services were mostlyaged between 21 and 40. (See Chart 1). However, there was large amount of missingdata for the community-based services sample (for 30.9% of women no age was given).During the Day and Week to Count, women using domestic abuse services were mostly agedbetween 21 and 40 (see Chart 1). However, there was a large amount of missing data for theChart 1: Age groups of women supported during the day and Week to Count 2017 (Women’s Aidcommunity-based services sample (for 30.9% of women no age was given).Annual Survey 5%12.1%20%8.6%18.5%25%12.0%30%22.2%35%0.7%0.9%% of total number of womenChart 1: Age groups of women supported during the Day andWeek to Count 2017 (Women’s Aid Annual Survey 2017)Age groupsCommunity-based services (out of 12,175)Refuge services (out of 2,182)Women from the under 18 and over 60 agedomestic abuse in the last year (ONS, 2017B).groupsWomenappearfromto betheunder-representedHowever,only0.7%and 0.9% of serviceunder 18 and overin60ourage groupsappearto beunder-representedin userssampleourof samplewomenofusingservices.This cannotin community-basedand womenrefuge serviceswomenusing services.This cannotbe taken to mean thatinbe taken to mean that women in these agerespectively in the Week and Day to Countthese age groups are not experiencing domestic abuse.groups are not experiencing domestic abuse.were in the age group ‘16 and 17 years‘. Thismay be because young people do not seeData from the Crime Survey of England andadult domestic abuse services as relevant forPage11 of 83Wales (a nationally representative survey)them and prefer online servicesratherthanshow that of all the age groups surveyed (fromaccessing more traditional support, such asage 16 to 59 years), adults aged 16 to 19 werehelplines and face-to-face services.8the most likely to say they had experienced8Data on the usage of Childline suggest that children and young people are more confident talking about sensitive issuesonline. In 2015/16, 71% of concerns were communicated to Childline via the online counselling channel compared with29% via the voice counselling channel (NSPCC, 2016).

11Survival and Beyond: The Domestic Abuse Report 2017As in previous annual survey findings, olderwomen are very under-represented inservice use, despite evidence to suggest thatolder women experience domestic abuse atsimilar rates to younger women (Blood, 2004;Femicide Census, 2016 and 2017; Mouton etal, 2004). For example, the Femicide Censusshows that 8% (n 6) of the women killed by apartner or ex-partner in 2016 were aged 66 orover so we know that domestic abuse affectswomen of all ages (Femicide Census, 2017).Only 3.5% of community-based service usersand 1.7% of refuge residents were aged 56 andover. This raises important questions abouthow services can reach out to older survivorsand adapt their services to be welcoming andsuitable for older women.Service users in the Day and Week to Countcame from diverse ethnic backgrounds (seeTable 1, overleaf). The ethnic group with thehighest number of women was the ‘WhiteBritish’ ethnic group (50.4% of communitybased service users, 42.2% of refuge residents).The second highest numbers were for the‘Asian/Asian British Pakistani’ (10.4%) ethnicgroup for refuge services and ‘Any other Whitebackground’ ethnic group for communitybased services (6.0%). These numbers should,however, be treated with caution becausethere are large numbers of missing data forthe community-based services sample (for9.3% of women the ethnic group had beenreported as unknown and for 10.5% no datawere given on ethnicity). For the refuge samplethere were also missing data (for 8.3% ofwomen no data were given for ethnic groups).

12Survival and Beyond: The Domestic Abuse Report 2017Table 1: The ethnic backgrounds of service users during the Day and Week to Count 2017Community-basedRefuge servicesservices (out of 12,175) (out of 2,182)White British50.4%42.2%White Irish0.8%0.4%White Gypsy or Irish Traveller0.4%0.5%White any other background6.0%5.1%Mixed/multiple ethnic group White and Black1.4%CaribbeanMixed/multiple ethnic group White and Black0.4%African3.1%1.1%Mixed/multiple ethnic group White and Asian 0.4%0.8%Mixed/multiple ethnic group any otherbackground1.1%1.4%Asian/Asian British Indian1.7%2.7%Asian/Asian British Pakistani3.5%10.4%Asian/Asian British Bangladeshi0.9%3.3%Asian/Asian British Chinese0.6%0.2%Asian/Asian British any other background1.8%3.8%3.8%6.8%2.3%3.1%1.9%2.0%Other ethnic group Arab0.5%1.6%Any other ethnic group2.2%2.5%Ethnic group unknown9.3%0.8%Missing data10.5%8.3%Black/African/Caribbean/Black BritishAfricanBlack/African/Caribbean/Black BritishCaribbeanBlack/African/Caribbean/Black British anyother background

1.3 Who ismissing from the data?Our data sources provide us with a widerange of evidence allowing us to exploreservice provision and the needs of women andchildren survivors. Appendix 3 to this reportgives detail on the response rate and extentand limitations of our data sources, includingthe annual survey.or space, or a lack of resources to meet thatwoman’s specific needs. It is clear from ourresearch findings that demand is exceedingwhat support services can currently offer, andthis seems to be especially the case for refugeservices. This is discussed in detail in Section3.4: Is provision meeting need?It is important to note that, however extensiveour evidence base is, there will always besome survivors who are missing from thedata, meaning that they do not present the fullpicture of how many women from differentage groups and different social backgroundsexperience abuse.As discussed previously, age can presentchallenges for women accessing services.Older women are absent from our figureson service users. This is despite evidence tosuggest that domestic abuse is just as much ofan issue for older women as it is for youngerwomen. Younger women in their teenage yearsare also under-represented in our Day andWeek to Count service use statistics.Some survivors may never disclose that theyare experiencing abuse or seek supportfrom a domestic abuse service, or they mayconsiderably delay disclosing, maybe for yearsor even decades. Some survivors may discloseabuse to someone, but are not believed ortaken seriously, or not referred to specialistsupport. Data taken from On Track’s nationaldataset showed that, shockingly, 13% ofservice users had experienced abuse for 20years or more9 (Women’s Aid, 2017C). Onestudy of black and minority ethnic (BME)domestic abuse service users found thata large number of survivors from a BMEbackground were trapped in relationshipsby violent perpetrators for a long time; 26%(n 48) had been in a violent relationship for20 years or more; 18% (n 33) for five years ormore (Thiara & Roy, 2012).Some research on the impact of domesticabuse on specific groups is available (forexample, see the work of Imkaan10: www.imkaan.org.uk/resources).To fully understand the impact of domesticabuse there needs to be more focusedresearch into the experiences of certain groupsof survivors who are often under-representedin reports on domestic abuse, including lesbianand bisexual women, trans women, olderwomen, disabled women and women fromsome minority ethnic groups.In addition, some women who are referred,or who self-refer, to domestic abuse supportservices are declined from support for avariety of reasons, including a lack of capacity9Out of 1,217 female survivors supported by 25 domestic abuse services between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2017.10 Imkaan is a UK-based, black feminist organisation representing specialist services led by and for black and minorityethnic (BME) women affected by violence against women and girls.

1.4 PerpetratorsAnonymised national data gathered from OnTrack (the Women’s Aid case managementand outcomes monitoring system11) showthat the perpetrators in female experiencesof domestic abuse are usually male. On Trackdata12 relating to female service users showedthat the overwhelming majority (93.6%) of thealleged perpetrators were male and 4.0% werefemale (in addition, 2.4% were missing data or‘don’t know/not asked’). See Table 2.Table 2: The sex of the alleged perpetratorin cases of female domestic abuse serviceusersSex of allegedperpetrator% of total ofrecords of allegedperpetratorsMissing data1.9%Don't know/not asked0.5%Female4.0%Gender queer0.0%Intersex0.0%Male93.6%Other0.0%Total100%11 On Track allows frontline workers in local domestic abuse services to record information about service users.12 Out of a total records of 9,766 alleged perpetrators in the financial year 2016/17. Data extracted December 2017. Fromrecords for 8610 clients where alleged perpetrator/s is recorded.

Section 2:Meeting theneeds ofwomen andchildrenThe Women’s Aid Annual Survey 2017 askedquestions about different categories of needidentified by the women using domesticabuse services (see Appendix 4 for the areasof need). Addressing needs is at the heart ofthe Women’s Aid Change that Lasts approach.This approach is centred on recognising andaddressing the needs of survivors of domesticabuse and working with women’s ownstrengths to promote their safety, freedomand independence. It puts the emphasis forsupport on providing survivors with options,giving them control and focusing on recoveryfrom the long-term lasting effects of domesticabuse.It is clear from the annual survey findings thatdomestic abuse services are working withwomen who have a diverse range of needs(see Chart 2) and this section of the reportwill explore these different areas of need inmore detail. As previously noted and exploredfurther in Section 3, there remains a lot ofunmet need and many services do not havethe funding or resources to meet the specificneeds of all women who wish to access theirservice.A large number of survivors using servicesduring the Day and Week to Count reportedexperiencing coercive control (see page 7 formore information on coercive and controllingbehaviour). During the Day and Week toCount, 74.5% of refuge service users and50.9% of community-based service usersreported having experienced or experiencingcoercive controlling behaviour. However,the actual numbers may be greater becausesome women may not recognise the abusivebehaviours they were experiencing as part ofa pattern of control, or they may even blamethemselves for the abuse.

16Survival and Beyond: The Domestic Abuse Report 2017Chart 2: needs of service users during the Day and Week toCount 2017 (Women's Aid Annual Survey 2017)100%90.5%90%% of total number of .4%0%Areas of needRefug

Survival and Beyond: The Domestic Abuse Report 2017 provides a review of domestic abuse support services in England and the needs of women survivors and children using them. Women's Aid has carried out an annual survey of domestic abuse services in England for many years and reports from the surveys going back to 2010 are available on