Eliminating Domestic Abuse: Reforming the System for Tackling Perpetrators and Supporting Victims

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Date of Event: Tuesday, November 18th 2025
Time of Event: 9:30 AM — 1:00 PM BST
Place of Event: Webinar

The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that 2.3 million people aged 16 years and over (1.6 million women and 712,000 men) experienced domestic abuse in year ending March 2024, with police recording 851,062 domestic abuse-related crimes in that period. In England and Wales, black women are more likely to experience domestic abuse than any other ethnic group, with 33.1% affected, according to the Office for National Statistics. Research by the UK’s only specialist domestic abuse charity for black women, Sistah Space, has found 97% of women did not believe they would be treated fairly by police or support services if they reported their experiences.

The UK government has committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. In November 2024, the government introduced new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders, initially launched in Greater Manchester, three London boroughs, Cleveland, North Wales and with the British Transport Police, ahead of a national rollout. The new orders have no time restrictions, with breaches punishable by up to five years in prison. Friends and family of victims will be able to apply for the new orders, as well as victims themselves and the police. In July 2025, the government announced a £53 million investment package over the next 4 years to better protect women and children from domestic abuse through the direct targeting of perpetrators. The funding will expand the Drive Project, piloted since 2016, which addresses the root causes of abuse through intensive one-to-one case management for up to 12 months, including through protection orders, addressing drug misuse and alcohol dependency, and dedicated independent domestic violence advisors supports victims in parallel to ensure their safety and needs are prioritised at every stage. The government also aims to publish its strategy on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Autumn 2025.

The government’s own Safeguarding Minister, Jess Phillips MP, admitted in August 2025 that the main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support, Dash (Domestic, Abuse, Stalking, Harassment and Honour-Based Violence), “doesn’t work”. Police, social services and healthcare workers across the UK rely on the Dash questionnaire to assess risk, but there are mounting concerns from academics and those working in the sector that the system does not correctly identify victims at the highest risk of further harm. Phillips has said that she is reviewing the entire system supporting victims.

Campaigners against VAWG stress the importance of government addressing the issue of funding in its upcoming VAWG strategy to be able to meet its objective of halving VAWG in a decade. The House of Commons’ Home Affairs Committee has asserted, following an inquiry this year into the government’s approach, that short-term funding settlements and a fragmented approach to commissioning services are jeopardising the government’s target to halve VAWG.

Meanwhile, the Law Commission is reviewing the law on homicide and the sentencing framework for murder with a view to addressing concerns that sentences for domestic murder have not adequately reflected prior abuse between the victim of the homicide and the perpetrator in the minimum terms set defined in legislation.

This timely symposium aims to examine existing policy and legislation surrounding domestic abuse, develop strategies that government, police and other stakeholders should implement to reduce incidences of domestic abuse and increase the number of convictions of perpetrators, and discuss how support for victims and survivors can be improved.

Programme

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