Domestic violence

HELP & SUPPORT:
24 Hour Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247
The Men’s Advice Line: 0808 80 10 327

Respect: 0845 122 8609
Victim Support: 0845 30 30 900

Women are more likely to experience domestic violence than men, and are more likely to experience repeat incidents. Around one in four women and one in six men will be a victim of domestic violence, and almost nine out of ten of those victims suffering four or more attacks are women. In its worst manifestation, domestic violence culminates in murder. Women are the victims and men are the perpetrators in four out of five domestic homicides.

Tackling domestic violence, supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice are all aims of the National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan. The Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 was introduced in 2004 to improve both the way in which the criminal justice system deals with these crimes and victim’s access to justice.

The Specialist Domestic Violence Courts programme and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences, which involves the key agencies working together on an individual victim’s case to share information, are ensuring more successful prosecutions and fewer repeat incidents of domestic violence.

Following the review of the law of murder, the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 removed the partial defence of provocation and replaced it with a new partial defence of 'loss of control'. This narrows the circumstances in which a person who kills in anger can claim a partial defence; it also allows for those who kill in fear of serious violence to put forward a partial defence on that specific basis.