A Safe Fund report

2.4 million people are victims of domestic abuse each year and the costs of domestic abuse amount to £66bn according to the Government’s own figures.

This briefing paper sets out what a comprehensive funding package to respond to domestic abuse across the country would look like in practice.

Key findings

• £2.2bn of public investment per annum would be initially required to cover domestic abuse services for the whole family – adult, teen and child victims, and perpetrators.
• A significant proportion of this spend, £1bn, would be to support adult victims’ services, with those for children approximating £330m, and those for perpetrators totalling £680m.
• A cultural change programme for frontline public sector professionals, as well as police and specialist domestic abuse workers, including social services, court officials and health workers to increase understanding of domestic abuse and help drive improvements to responses would cost an initial £65.5m.
• We recommend an initial investment of £5m in an ongoing public health campaign to change public attitudes towards domestic abuse.