Domestic Abuse and Mental Health Statistics UK: 2026 Facts, Data & Key Insights

Domestic abuse is one of the most powerful and direct causes of serious mental ill health in the United Kingdom. Its consequences — PTSD, depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide — are well documented, yet domestic abuse remains one of the most underreported crimes in the country, and the mental health consequences of abuse frequently go unrecognised and untreated. This guide brings together data from the ONS Crime Survey, Women’s Aid, Refuge, the NSPCC, and clinical research to provide the most comprehensive UK domestic abuse and mental health statistics available.

Key Facts & Figures (Overview)

The Scale of Domestic Abuse in the UK

The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is the most authoritative source of domestic abuse prevalence data in the UK, because — unlike police records — it captures abuse that has not been reported to authorities. In the year ending March 2024, an estimated 2 million adults aged 16 to 74 experienced domestic abuse in England and Wales.

However, even this figure substantially understates the true scale. The ONS itself notes that the CSEW has methodological limitations in capturing domestic abuse: some respondents are interviewed in the presence of an abusive partner; severe, long-term abuse may be normalised and not identified as such; and the survey excludes those aged 75 and over, homeless individuals, and those in institutional settings — all groups with potentially elevated prevalence.

Only 24% of domestic abuse incidents experienced by women are reported to the police (ONS). For men, reporting rates are even lower — reflecting both greater stigma and a widespread perception that male victimisation will not be taken seriously. The gap between the CSEW estimate of 2 million victims and the 845,734 domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by police in 2023/24 (ONS) illustrates the scale of the dark figure.

Women account for approximately 75% of all domestic abuse victims and are significantly more likely to experience repeated, severe, and controlling forms of abuse. Around 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime — lifetime figures that capture the cumulative scale of a problem that often goes on for years before coming to light.

The Mental Health Consequences: What the Evidence Shows

Domestic abuse is one of the most potent causes of serious mental ill health in the UK. The evidence on its mental health consequences is extensive and consistent.

Women in domestic abuse refuges have among the highest rates of mental health difficulties of any group in the UK. Research consistently finds that 50–60% of women in refuge settings have a diagnosable mental health condition. The most common presentations are:

PTSD — the experience of repeated, unpredictable trauma within an intimate relationship, combined with the fear of violence and the psychological impact of coercive control, creates precisely the conditions most likely to generate PTSD. The condition is compounded by the gaslighting and reality distortion that characterises coercive abuse, which can make survivors doubt their own perceptions and delay both leaving and seeking help. See our PTSD statistics guide for the full picture on PTSD prevalence and outcomes.

Depression — chronic stress, learned helplessness, social isolation, and the erosion of self-worth that coercive control creates are powerful predictors of depression. Many survivors describe depression that has been present throughout and long after the abusive relationship.

Anxiety — the hypervigilance, fearfulness, and chronic threat-monitoring that develop in response to living with unpredictable violence and controlling behaviour are consistent with clinical anxiety disorders, and frequently persist long after the abuse ends. See our anxiety statistics guide.

The suicide risk associated with domestic abuse is severe. Women with PTSD are approximately 7 times more likely than other women to die by suicide — and PTSD is extremely prevalent among domestic abuse survivors. The connection between domestic abuse history and maternal suicide is also documented in MBRRACE-UK data, which identifies domestic abuse as a significant contextual factor in a proportion of maternal deaths.

Children and Domestic Abuse

Around 1 million children in the UK are exposed to domestic abuse each year (NSPCC). Children who witness domestic abuse are not bystanders — they are victims, and the psychological impact of living in a home where abuse is occurring is profound and lasting.

Witnessing domestic violence is one of the most common and damaging Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Public Health Wales ACE research found strong associations between childhood domestic violence exposure and a wide range of adverse adult outcomes. For children, the immediate impact includes trauma symptoms, anxiety, depression, behavioural difficulties, and impaired educational attainment — all of which connect to the elevated rates of youth mental health difficulties documented elsewhere on this site.

The intergenerational dimension is also important. Children who grow up witnessing domestic abuse are at elevated risk of either being in an abusive relationship or perpetrating abuse themselves in adulthood — a pattern that requires active, evidence-based intervention to interrupt.

Coercive Control: The Invisible Architecture of Abuse

Much public understanding of domestic abuse remains focused on physical violence — but coercive control is increasingly recognised as the central mechanism through which domestic abuse operates and causes harm. Coercive control encompasses surveillance and monitoring, financial control, isolation from friends and family, psychological manipulation, threats, and the systematic erosion of the victim’s sense of reality and self.

Coercive and controlling behaviour was criminalised under the Serious Crime Act 2015 — yet it remains deeply underreported and frequently misidentified. The loneliness that coercive control creates is not incidental to the abuse — it is one of its primary tools, cutting victims off from the social networks that would otherwise enable them to seek help or leave.

Getting Help

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse: National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (24 hours, 7 days a week, free). In an emergency, call 999. If you cannot speak, press 55.

Our Mental Health First Aid courses help practitioners across health, education, and social care to recognise the signs of domestic abuse and its mental health consequences, and to respond in a trauma-informed, non-judgemental way.

Sources & References

Written by Mental Health Experts. This guide was produced by the team at Mental Health First Aid Course. We incorporate domestic abuse awareness and trauma-informed practice into our training programmes to help practitioners recognise and respond appropriately.