The number of people being convicted for domestic abuse-related incidents is at its highest since March 2010, new figures reveal.
More than 75% of all prosecutions resulted in a conviction in the year up to March 2018, while police made an arrest in nearly four in ten cases of domestic abuse-related crimes.
Overall, the number of people who experienced domestic abuse fell from 2.3 million in 2012, to 2 million, latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales show.
But the true scale of the “hidden crime” is likely to be much higher, campaigners say.
In total, 599,549 domestic abuse crimes were recorded by police, a rise of nearly a quarter (23%).
“Some of this increase is likely to be, in part, driven by an increase in domestic abuse-related incidents coming to the attention of the police, as well as general police improvements in crime recording practices,” the Office for National Statistics said.
“The increase could also indicate an increased willingness of victims to come forward to report domestic abuse.”
Domestic abuse encompasses a range of behaviours not limited to the physical – it can include psychological, sexual, financial and emotional harm too.
But estimates do not yet capture incidences of coercive and controlling behaviour, which if taken into account would make the differences between the experiences of men and women “more apparent”, the ONS said.
Domestic abuse was more likely to be carried out by a partner than a family member.
Significantly fewer women who experienced domestic abuse from a partner reported incidents to the police compared with eight years ago – from nearly 30% in the year up to March 2011, to 18.4% in the latest figures.
Young women aged 20 to 24 are most likely to suffer from domestic abuse than any other age group in the year up to March, while prevalence was highest among men and boys aged between 16 and 19.
Figures also show that those who were either separated or divorced were most likely to experience domestic abuse in the last year, with nearly one in five women in this situation being victims.
Overall, four in five victims of partner abuse did not report to the police.
The most common reasons among victims was that they thought the abuse was too trivial, not worth reporting, or was a private, family matter. More than a third who did not report thought the police could not help.
Police took action in two-thirds of cases where they were aware of the abuse, including warning, arresting or charging the offender.
Those aged between 16 and 59 were surveyed in the latest figures, with information collected on how many respondents experienced domestic abuse in the year before they were interviewed, and how many experienced it since the age of 16.