One in 10 females aged 16-19 suffer domestic abuse, report finds

Around one in 10 females aged 16 to 19 were victims of domestic abuse last year, a survey has suggested.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) report on domestic abuse showed that 10.5% of 16 to 19-year-old females reported instances of abuse in the 12-month period to March 2017, compared with 6.9% of males.

The figures remained high for women aged 20 to 24, with 9.6% reporting abuse against 5.5% of men.

Police recorded 1.1 million domestic abuse-related incidents last year, against an estimated 1.9 million people aged 16 to 59 who experienced some form of domestic abuse. Of these, 1.2 million (63%) were thought to be female with 713,000 (37%) male.

Females also accounted for 70% of the 454 domestic homicides recorded last year.

The report defines domestic abuse as "any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality".

Reports can encompass emotional and financial abuse as well as sexual abuse and violence.

Many victims do not see justice, and there were just 46 arrests per 100 domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by 39 police forces last year, the report said.

Police made 93,590 prosecutions for domestic abuse in the year ending March 2017, of which 76% - around 71,000 - secured a conviction.