Each year, an estimated two million women and girls – equivalent to one in 12 women in England and Wales – are victims of violence perpetrated by a man, according to first national analysis on the scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the UK.

Released today by UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and College of Policing, it has led officials to declare that such ‘staggering’ numbers constitute a ‘national emergency’.

Key data:

• Violent crime perpetrated by men against women and girls spiked 37% between 2018 and 2023, rising from an estimated 789,703 recorded in 2018-9 to 1,080,157 in 2022-23.
• One in six homicides, or 100 out of the 590 homicides in the year to March 2023, in England and Wales are linked to domestic violence.
• Almost a million violent crimes against women and children were recorded between April 2022 and March 2023, averaging 3000 daily offences in England and Wales, or one in five of all police-recorded crimes, excluding fraud.
• In the year ending March 2023, there were over 2 million cases of sexual harassment, 1.4 million instances of domestic abuse, and 851,000 reports of stalking.
• Child sexual abuse also increased by more than 400% between 2013 and 2022, with the age of suspects averaging just 15.
• An estimated one in 20 adults (2.3 million) in England and Wales will be a perpetrator of VAWG every year (2.3 million perpetrators).