• One in every 4 women in Wales & England will experience domestic abuse by their partner or ex-partner at some time in their life.
• In the UK 2 women a week are murdered by a partner or ex-partner.
• Incidents of domestic abuse make up nearly a quarter of violent crime and a women will be assaulted on average 35 times before reporting it to the police.

But the term 'domestic abuse' doesn't only include physical violence - it describes any abusive behaviour repeatedly used by one person to control and/or dominate another person with whom they have or have had an intimate relationship. It also includes the exertion of control and/ or domination of one family member over another.

• In 90% of domestic abuse incidents children are in the same or the next room (Hughes, 1992).

Even when it appears that children aren't being directly abused themselves, research shows that they are likely to be aware of what is happening.

• One third of children will try and intervene during attacks, and children sometimes feel guilty if they don't come to their parent's aid.

It is estimated that between one to two thirds of children in homes where the mother is being abused are also at risk of being directly abused themselves.

See the Children & Young People's pages on the effects of domestic abuse on children and young people.

View Statistics & Research pages for more information