Domestic abuse is a serious crime affecting the lives of many people living within County Durham; the impact of which cuts across all ages, and all social, geographical and cultural groups. HM Government define domestic abuse as:
‘any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. The abuse can encompass, but is not limited to: psychological; physical; sexual; financial; and emotional’ (Home Office, Guidance: Domestic violence and abuse. 2016, Home Office: London).
Although the above definition relates only to those aged 16 and over, it is recognised that domestic abuse has a significant impact on children and young people. Living with domestic abuse can seriously affect children’s healthy development, relationships, behaviour and emotional well-being.
Factsheet: Domestic Abuse Fact Sheet (PDF; 318Kb)
Key messages
- 12,362 domestic incidents were reported in County Durham during April – end
February 2020/21. The end of year projection is 13,715 - Of these, 9,700 were recorded as domestic related crimes
- In the previous year (2019/20) 11,000 domestic abuse related crimes recorded in County Durham which is equivalent to 21 crimes for every 1,000 people
- Durham Constabulary expects an increase in demand from domestic abuse with a projected 16.8% increase from 18,093 incidents at the end of 2019/20, to 21,134 incidents at the end of 2024/25
- For the period April 2020 – end February 2021 the main aggravating factors were:
- alcohol in 43.1% of incidents (increase of 3.7% to same period 2019/20);
- mental health in 17.2% of incidents (decrease of 0.6% to same period 2019/20);
- and drugs in 4.6% of incidents (increase of 1.3% to same period 2019/20).
(Please note these figures are for the whole Durham Constabulary area which includes Darlington.)
Links to data
- Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2020
- Quality Standard (QS116) on Domestic Violence and Abuse (PDF)
- Domestic violence and abuse: multi-agency working (PH50)
- Insights National Dataset Briefing 2017 – children.pdf (safelives.org.uk)(PDF)
Public Health Profiles – Wider Determinants of Health (Full Site):
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