Domestic abuse charity Refuge has said the publication of the first violence against women and girls (VAWG) and Public Protection Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment “sheds fresh light on the alarming scale of abuse” and highlights the rise of “tech-facilitated VAWG”.
The National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection’s Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment revealed that domestic abuse remains the most significant threat to women and girls, accounting for 65% of all offences.
In the year ending March 2025, an estimated 5.1m people experienced VAWG, with 3.8m people aged 16 and over experiencing domestic abuse.
The national risk assessment found that more than half of recorded rape and serious sexual assault offences are committed by a current or former partner. It also highlighted the nature of repeat abuse, with the most common age groups identified as 15-19 and 30-49.
Ellie Butt, head of policy and public affairs at Refuge, said: “The publication of the first violence against women and girls (VAWG) and Public Protection Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment sheds fresh light on the alarming scale of abuse, underscoring what Refuge sees every day in its work with survivors. Significantly, the report highlights the ‘profoundly shocking’ scale and impact of domestic abuse, identifying it as the largest of five major threat areas.”
She remarked on the way the assessment “highlights the high percentage of unreported abuse” and says this is backed up by what Refuge hears firsthand from survivors, with reasons for not reporting abuse including fear of victim-blaming, the risk of re-traumatisation and a lack of confidence in policing and the criminal justice system. Butt said such barriers are even greater for Black and minoritised survivors, who face disproportionate and intersecting risks of harm, alongside additional obstacles to reporting abuse.
Among 15-19-year-olds, the report linked harmful behaviour to online influences, peer dynamics and unmet needs associated with vulnerability factors including prior experiences of abuse.
Butt said: “Refuge has long been warning of the exponential rise in tech abuse, which is reflected by this assessment showing that digital environments and the accessibility of AI are lowering barriers to offending and creating new opportunities for harm. Tech-facilitated VAWG is predicted to be the fastest-growing threat, but this is not just a future risk: it is already a devastating and pervasive form of abuse that features in almost every case reported to Refuge. Last year alone, referrals to our dedicated Tech-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment team rose by a striking 78%.
“Image-based abuse is identified as a key emerging threat to both women and children. Refuge has repeatedly sounded the alarm over this widespread form of abuse which is commonly used as part of a perpetrator’s web of coercive control and carried out using emerging technologies including deepfake generators and hidden home surveillance systems. This is even more alarming considering recent Refuge research showing a decline in charging rates for intimate image abuse offences – findings that are symptomatic of unacceptably low charge rates for VAWG across the board.”
Butt welcomed the assessment but said it “must be a catalyst for action, not simply a record of the scale of the problem” and emphasised the need for better funding and resources. “Police must be properly equipped to respond to the rapidly evolving nature of tech-facilitated abuse, with sufficient resources and mandatory trauma-informed training for all officers,” she said.
“These reforms must also be implemented alongside a coordinated whole-system response that removes barriers to reporting and prioritises prevention. Only then can we build a future truly free from abuse.”
