Domestic Abuse

Published: October 2025

Domestic abuse is an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading or violent behaviour, including sexual violence, by a partner or ex-partner, family member or carer.

It is legally defined in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

Headlines

  • Domestic Abuse Police incident rates in Wakefield are similar to across West Yorkshire.
  • Clare’s Law occurrences are increasing. Awareness of Clare’s law is increasing but also how it’s being used in practice is changing, which could also be having an effect.
  • Females are over-represented as domestic abuse victims and males are over-represented as domestic abuse suspects, this is also seen nationally.
  • In Wakefield, those most likely to be a victim are white women in their 30s.
  • White men in their 30s make up the largest proportion of suspects in Wakefield.
  • Wakefield District Domestic Abuse Service (WDDAS) referrals by area suggest that service users are more likely to live in more deprived parts of the District.

How does Wakefield Compare?

  • West Yorkshire Police incidents as a rate per 100,000 population is similar in Wakefield compared to the West Yorkshire region. The rate has slightly decreased over time, based on a 12-month period but it has remained stable since April 2024.
  • Looking at a 1-month period, as a percentage of all victims, around 40-50% are repeat victims. For suspects, around 45-55% are repeat suspects. This is also seen across West Yorkshire and is the case nationally. The total percentage of repeats is coming down slightly, this is likely due to a number of factors including improved awareness, early intervention and support. Nationally, women are more likely to experience repeat victimisation.
  • Over the last 2 years Wakefield’s rate of Clare’s Law requests per 100,000 population has increased and is now higher than the rate for West Yorkshire as a whole. Awareness of Clare’s law is increasing but also how it’s being used in practice is changing, which could also be having an effect. The increase in requests can also been seen nationally. Clare’s Law is part of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) that came into effect across all forces in 2014. It allows individuals (or acquaintance) to request or receive information from the police about a partner’s history of abusive behaviour, with the aim of preventing future harm.
  • The trend for the percentage of domestic abuse incidents where a child is present is quite stable over time. Wakefield’s percentage is around 20%, sitting slightly lower than the West Yorkshire percentage of around 23%.

How to use the dashboard
Use the buttons on the top right of the dashboard to navigate the different sections. Click the ‘Notes’ button to find out more about the indicators and definitions of incidents, repeats, Clare’s Law and child present.

 

What are the differences in Wakefield?

  • The most common age group for a victim is 30-39. There is a higher proportion of female victims, 40 per 1,000 population compared to 16 per 1,000 population for males. The most common ethnicity for victims is White, 26 per 1,000 population.
  • The most common age group for a suspect is 30-39. There is a higher proportion of male suspects, 43 per 1,000. The most common ethnicity for suspects is White, 27 per 1,000 population.
  • WDDAS referrals by area shows that Wakefield Central area has the most referrals per 100,00 population, followed by Castleford. Wakefield Central and Castleford are among the more deprived areas in the district. Nationally, people living in poverty are more likely to experience domestic violence and in turn domestic violence may lead to poverty.
  • There is a larger proportion of females referring into WDDAS. Despite 30% of victims being male in police incidents, they represent less than that in terms of referrals. This could mean that males aren’t accessing as much support, however there are male specific services which they may prefer to access.

How to use the dashboard
Use the buttons on the top right of the dashboard to navigate the different sections. Click the ‘Notes’ button to find out more about the indicators and definitions of WDDAS.

Domestic abuse can have an effect on numerous areas of people’s lives. In 2022-23, 343 cases were opened by the Housing Needs Service for people presenting, or for loss of settled accommodation due to domestic abuse. In the 2019-21 Wakefield Suicide Audit, one in ten (10%) people who died by suicide had a mention of potentially being the victim of domestic abuse in their coronial files. Of those, the majority of the victims were female (85%). Domestic Abuse can be part of a complex web of issues for people, including mental health issues, drug and alcohol use and sexual assault.

 

Further information

What support is available?

To report domestic abuse to the Police call 101 or report online Report Domestic Abuse | West Yorkshire Police, if you are in immediate danger, please call the police on 999.