Our ‘Know This’ briefings are a regular note to alert colleagues to recent discussions happening in the sectors relevant to our work. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of major changes and developments in our sectors. If you see anything you think needs to be in a future bulletin, let us know at PracticeResearchUnit@interventionsalliance.co.uk and we will include it in the next edition.

 

New Research

Surrey Steps to Change Hub Evaluation

IA has published findings of an evaluation of the Surrey Steps to Change Hub, commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey. The Hub brings IA’s behaviour change interventions alongside victim services and services for young people who use violence and abuse, to provide a trauma-informed and multi-agency approach to tackling domestic abuse and stalking in Surrey. Evaluation findings showed the Hub enabled:  

• Earlier and more accurate identification of victims – including cases of retaliatory violence where women are mislabelled as perpetrators.  

• The reduction of harm and strengthening protection for children and adults – with practitioners able to access operational intelligence, background checks and a fuller picture of risk. 

• Closing gaps between services – ensuring whole-family needs are addressed so that no one falls through the cracks. 

• Promising evidence of change in harmful thinking and behaviour – of 32 people who engaged in a behaviour change intervention, and for whom we have complete police data, 27 had no relevant police contact in the six months after. 

The Hub model is ground-breaking in its approach – seeing services, which have traditionally worked in isolation of one another, working together for the common goal of reducing incidents of harm and increasing survivor safety.  

The evaluation can be accessed here, and IA’s research report, on which the wider evaluation is based, can be accessed here 

Project Bright Light 

The Bright Light project, taking place between January and May 2025, aimed to lay the foundation for radically improving the police response to domestic abuse. The project involved close police-academic co-production to collect, analyse and interpret data to examine, 1) investigation and safeguarding; 2) disruption and deterrence; 3) victim-centred response; 4) learning, development and officer wellbeing; 5) data and performance; and (6) digital evidence. The research found: 

• A lack of clarity over how best to disrupt and deter suspects. 

• Victims’ goals, interests and safety are subsumed, rather than central.  

• Police data distorted by flagging and recording requirements, obscuring the nature of the problem and how police respond to it. 

• Increasing volume of cases, particularly complex course of conduct offences.  

• A substantial proportion of complex work stays with patrol – officers not provided with necessary training, time or resources to investigate properly.  

• Learning and development does not equip police with necessary skills and training to tackle investigations effectively (exacerbated with digital evidence). 

• Significant police time expended on risk assessment, but current tools and process-driven approach contribute to ‘incidentalism’, rather than assisting officers in identifying patterns of harm and responding appropriately. 

The full report can be accessed here and the July 2025 Policy Briefing here 

 

New releases: Government (and related) Domestic Abuse Reports

Domestic Abuse in England and Wales Overview: November 2025  

The ONS’ annual November bulletin provides detailed figures on domestic abuse from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), police recorded crime and other organisations. The headline findings for this year:  

• Approximately 3.8 million people (7.8%) aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse according to the CSEW, for the year ending March 2025.  

• An estimated 2.2 million females (9.1%) and 1.5 million males (6.5%) experienced domestic abuse in the last year.  

• There was no statistically significant change in the prevalence of domestic abuse experienced in the last year, compared with the previous year; the bulletin notes that comparisons cannot be made before the year ending March 2024 because of the introduction of new survey questions to measure domestic abuse. 

• The police recorded 816,493 domestic abuse-related crimes in England and Wales in year ending March 2025; a decrease compared with the previous year (851,062), which reflects recent changes in police recording practices.  

• There were 54,987 domestic abuse-related prosecutions in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025 compared with 51,183 in the previous year.   

The ONS statistical bulletin can be accessed here.   

Violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence: annual progress report 2023 to 2024

This report focuses on progress the Welsh Government has made in the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, aligned to the 6 objectives set out in the National Strategy on Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) 2022 to 2026. The report highlights: 

• Progress made on all 6 strategic objectives: raising public awareness, promoting healthy relationships, holding perpetrators accountable, prioritising early intervention, training professionals, and improving victim support. 

• A major “Sound” campaign launched, aimed at young men to challenge attitudes and behaviours (see here for more details of this) 

• Over 55,000 professionals trained through the National Training Framework to better respond to abuse. 

• First-time offender interventions piloted with police forces to encourage behaviour change. 

• Rollout of Relationships & Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools continues to embed prevention from an early age.  

• Increased focus on a public-health approach, addressing root causes of gender-based violence. 

• All work is guided by survivor voices, and future policy will continue to centre these 

The report can be accessed here. 

Evaluating the impact of the Probation Service’s efforts to combat domestic abuse 

HMIP has produced a review of the actions resulting from their 2023 thematic inspection of work undertaken, and progress made, by the Probation Service to reduce the incidence of domestic abuse and protect victims (original report here). The 2025 review finds of the 13 recommendations HMIP made in 2023, sufficient progress had been made in three, some progress in six, and insufficient progress in two. The review comments: 

“While there have been notable improvements in certain areas of practice, domestic abuse continues to be inadequately considered or addressed in too many cases. This highlights a need for sustained focus and consistent implementation of existing policies and guidance.” 

The review can be accessed here.  

 

New Initiatives

Culturally specific Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes (DAPPs) (The Drive Partnership) 

The Drive Partnership has implemented an initiative to ensure culturally sensitive and effective interventions for domestic abuse perpetration in specific groups. They have commissioned three consortiums to deliver them. The programmes and the specific groups of focus are:  

• Pamoja Njia Bora (Together, the Best Way Forward), supporting Black, African, Caribbean and Mixed Heritage communities 

• Changing Harmful Attitudes and Behaviours (CHAB), supporting South Asian communities  

• And Level, supporting LGBT+ communities 

This is a hugely important initiative given domestic abuse intervention may not be effective for individuals from minoritised or racialised communities, leading to a gap in provision. An evaluation of these new DAPPs is taking place now and is due for publication in 2026. (We will update on this as we hear more). 

Safer Life Online for Women and Girls  

Ofcom has published guidance for technology companies, setting out ways to improve women and girls’ online safety. Ofcom notes:  

 “The Online Safety Act 2023 makes platforms – including social media, gaming services, dating apps, discussion forums and search services – legally responsible for protecting people in the UK from illegal content and content harmful to children, including harms that disproportionately affect women and girls”.  

Ofcom’s role is to hold tech companies to account, ensuring they comply with the law. Part of this involves guidance around tackling harmful content and activity. Ofcom’s guidance identifies nine areas where technology companies can do more to improve women and girls’ online safety.  

The Guidance document can be accessed here. Other related docs can be found here. 

 

Domestic abuse and children 

New legislation: Presumption of parental involvement review  

In late October, the government removed the presumption of parental involvement from the family courts. Contact with both parents has previously been seen as being in a child’s best interest, but campaigning groups have argued this can come at considerable risk to children experiencing domestic abuse in their family-home. The report found: 

• Most court cases resulted in contact between a child and both of their parents – generally unsupervised and face-to-face, even in cases involving allegations of domestic abuse harm.  

• Evidence that in cases with indicators of high risk (e.g., convictions, protection orders and findings of harm) courts still pursued or ordered direct involvement between children and the ‘perpetrator’ parent.  

• The courts’ approach to allegations could result in a minimisation of domestic abuse, especially where courts deemed the abuse less serious or historic. 

The report is linked here. And a BBC Article on the campaigning work of Claire Throssell, whose two children were killed by their father despite previous threats of harm to himself and others, can be found here.   

New Research: Frontline police responses to domestic abuse incidents involving children  

Research by Ipsos Mori and The Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence and Harm, University of Lancashire, involving a large-scale survey of police officers and staff, a deep dive research in 5 police forces who directly responded to, or were involved in the response to, domestic abuse incidents involving children, and interviews with 9 young people who had experienced the police response to domestic abuse, found:  

• Examples of positive practice but variation in confidence of engaging with children. Officers often lacked specific training and clear guidance on communicating with children, assessing their welfare, and recording relevant information.  

• Information about children’s needs and experiences were not always captured in sufficient detail affecting referrals and support.  

• A need for enhanced, scenario-specific training, with clearer operational guidance, and improved information sharing. 

A link to the research can be found here.  

 

Domestic abuse deaths

Domestic abuse related homicide 

Domestic abuse incidents are sadly never out of the news, particularly where it comes to life-threatening violence. In our first ‘Know This’ (April 2025), we reflected on five cases of women victims of non-fatal stabbing attacks in just that month. Tragically, there have been many more killed through the violence of a domestic abuse perpetrator, typically a woman at the hands of a male perpetrator. This includes the recent murder of Harshita Brella. 

• Harshita Brella: Harshita’s original story covered (Nov 2024) here; follow up stories (9th November 2025) here – Harshita’s family’s response to the police investigation; and here (24th November 2025) – the police misconduct inquiry into Harshita’s case.  

On March 25th, 2025, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the results of the ‘Domestic Homicide Project’, an annual report examining deaths related to domestic abuse. It found that between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, 262 people died in relation to, or as a result, of domestic abuse.  

We also know that most deaths following domestic abuse involve women. Below are some links to sites which record such sobering data: 

• Karen Ingala Smith – Counting Dead Women  

• The Femicide Census – Profiles of women killed by men 

• Killed Women 

Domestic abuse and suicide 

However, even where a case does not involve murder, the impact can still be deadly for victims. Of the 262 deaths cited in the Domestic Homicide Report, 98 were suspected suicide of a victim of domestic abuse. Indeed, it is the current most prevalent type of death in deaths related to domestic abuse. Some recent cases: 

• Chloe Holland: Chloe’s original story reported (November 2023) here; (Article October 21st, 2025) follow up story here – Chloe’s mother and other campaigners to meet with Safeguarding Minister in Westminster 

• Jaysley Beck: Jaysley’s original story reported (Feb 2025) found here; follow up stories here – charity’s response to impact of sustained DA (Nov 7th) and here – the sentencing of Jaysely’s perpetrator (31st October)  

• Michelle Sparman: Michelle’s story can be found here 

• Also, a BBC article on this topic is accessible here 

Channel 4 News has reported extensively on the increasing links between domestic abuse and suicide, covering the cases of Justene Reece, Alexandra Reid, Jessica Laverack, Kellie Sutton, Kiena Dawes, Ashleigh Inskip and Georgia Barter. The link to this, including a focus on Michelle Sparman’s case, can be found here. 

 

Film, TV and Theatre

• LGBTQ+ depictions of domestic abuse: Coronation Street story ‘shines a light on LGBT+ domestic abuse’ – BBC News – the article notes that Coronation Street viewers have been watching one of the soap’s longest running characters become the victim of coercive control and physical abuse. Todd Grimshaw was the ITV drama’s first gay character in 2001. In the show, the character is being abused by his partner Theo Silverton – an important storyline highlighting that DA and CC can appear in any relationship.  

• Actor Stephen Graham is working with psychologist Orly Klein, and Bloomsbury publishers, inviting dads from around the world to share their experiences of raising boys, and what it means to be a man, for a new book called ‘Letters to Our Sons’. The initiative comes in part from learning around Stephen’s acclaimed drama, Adolescence, released earlier this year depicting the deadly outcome of a teenage boy’s anger and obsession with a female classmate. 

• Link to story here. 

• The link to Bloomsbury’s coverage here.  

• Film-maker and activist, Lorien Haynes, has created a short film, using a 1983 speech made by feminist Andrea Dworkin. The film, ‘I Want A 24-Hour Rape Truce’, sees 120 voices – men, women, young, old, survivors, and non-survivors (many of whom being well-known actors) – take 10 minutes to recite her words. 

• Find the video and article here 

• And not new, but an important watch – Disclosure – Surviving Domestic Abuse – BBC iPlayer (March 2024). The documentary follows seven women as they tell their stories of surviving domestic abuse. Disclosure follows the women over the course of a year as they try to escape violence and seek justice against the men who abused them