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<p>Data showing the total number of women who have suffered domestic abuse in the
last five years is set out in the Crime Statistics published on 11 February 2016:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/focus-on-violent-crime-and-sexual-offences--2014-to-2015/index.html.</p><p>Since
the 2004/05 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), the number of women aged 16
to 59 experiencing any domestic abuse in the last year has reduced from 1.71 million
to 1.35 million (360,000 fewer victims and a fall of 21%) and the estimate of the
number of women experiencing any domestic abuse in the last year is the lowest since
the survey began.</p><p>Latest data published by the Office for National Statistics
from the 2014/15 CSEW additionally show that in 46% of cases of partner abuse, a child
was present in the household, of which 20% of children saw or heard the abuse.</p><p>Data
on children referred to and assessed by local authority children's social services
in England in 2014/15 show that there were 197,700 assessments where domestic violence
was identified as a relevant factor. This data is only available for 2014/15.</p><p>The
Government works closely with charities, academics and statutory agencies to assess
and address the impact of domestic abuse on children and wholly recognises the life
changing impact domestic abuse can have on the lives of children. That is why we have
expanded the Troubled Families Programme for a further five years (2015-2020) to work
with an additional 400,000 families, including those affected by domestic abuse.</p><p>To
further address the impact of domestic abuse on victims and their children, we have
introduced a new domestic abuse offence to tackle coercive and controlling behaviour,
and in England and Wales we have rolled out Domestic Violence Protection Orders and
the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. Improvements have been made to the police
response to domestic abuse, and we are supporting multi-agency working which takes
a whole family approach.</p><p>We will shortly publish a refreshed cross-Government
Violence Against Women and Girls strategy setting out how we will do more still to
support victims and their children. The Government has already announced £40 million
of funding for domestic abuse services between 2016 and 2020, as well as a £2 million
grant to Women’s Aid and Safelives to support early intervention programmes.</p>
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