Around one in eight women in England and Wales experienced sexual assault, domestic abuse, or stalking in the past year, according to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The data, published as part of the ONS’s latest Crime Survey for the year ending March 2025, estimates that 5.2 million people aged 16 and over—or 10.6% of the adult population—were affected by one or more of these crimes. Women were disproportionately impacted, with 12.8% reporting victimization, compared to 8.4% of men.
This is the first time the ONS has provided a combined estimate for these three types of violence, following a request from the Home Office to support its commitment to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the dataset part of the government’s “mission to tackle the national emergency” of VAWG. She highlighted new measures already underway, including placing domestic abuse specialists in emergency call centres, investing in perpetrator intervention programmes, and launching a comprehensive cross-government strategy scheduled for publication in September.
Breakdown of Crime Prevalence (Year Ending March 2025):
Domestic abuse: 7.8% (approx. 3.8 million people)
Stalking: 2.9% (approx. 1.4 million people)
Sexual assault: 1.9% (approx. 900,000 people)
Harassment: 8.6% (approx. 4.2 million people)
A slightly higher figure of 5.4 million people (11.3%) reported experiencing one or more of these crimes in the previous survey year ending March 2024, though the ONS cautioned against year-on-year comparisons due to the evolving nature of the estimates.
Despite the new data, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) earlier this year found that successive government strategies since 2010 have done little to improve outcomes in tackling VAWG. The watchdog cited limited evidence of progress, even after the creation of a dedicated Home Office team in 2021.
The Home Office responded by blaming past failures on the previous Conservative administration and emphasized that the current Labour-led government is “delivering a step-change” in its approach to VAWG.
Women’s Aid welcomed the ONS data as an important step toward a more accurate picture of gender-based violence. However, the charity’s head of research, Sarah Davidge, warned that the figures do not reflect the frequency of victimization.
“Women are far more likely to experience repeat abuse, coercive control, and serious harm or even death than male victims,” she said. “Prevalence statistics often mask the gendered reality of these crimes.”
Crime Trends and Policing Response
Separate figures from the ONS show an estimated 9.4 million incidents of overall crime in England and Wales in the year to March 2025—a 7% increase compared to the previous year. The primary driver was a sharp 31% rise in fraud, reaching 4.2 million cases—the highest on record since the survey began tracking fraud in 2017.
Other notable trends include:
Shoplifting: Rose for the fourth consecutive year to a record high of 530,643 offences in 2024/25, up 20% from 444,022 the previous year.
Theft from the person: Increased 15% to 151,220 incidents.
Homicide: Fell to its lowest level in 11 years.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper attributed the spike in theft and street-level crimes to a decade of cuts to neighbourhood policing. She pledged enhanced community safety efforts, announcing that more than 500 town centres will receive additional patrols and that 3,000 new neighbourhood police and community support officers will be deployed by next spring.
