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Idva services Insights dataset

Data from our research report series on adult independent domestic violence advisor (Idva) services

Independent domestic violence advisors (Idvas) are specialist domestic abuse professionals who work with victims of domestic abuse at high risk of serious harm or murder. This Insights dataset examines the Idva service, including case reviews and client outcomes.

This report is part of a series of publications from our Adult Insights dataset. This data report forms part of a series of publications from SafeLives’ Adult Insights dataset. It contains 2,332 unique individual cases at intake and 1,809 matched cases at exit, drawn from nine Idva services which used the SafeLives Insights outcome measurement service between April 2022 and March 2023.

  • 46%

    of clients entered the service with a diagnosed mental health condition

  • 8 out of 10

    clients, at exit, said they had improved well-being

  • 45%

    of cases were referred by the police

    which has increased by 8% from last year

Key findings

  • The majorities of clients saw cessation for each type of the abuse types after support from an Idva
  • The most common referral routes were  from police (45%), Marac (10%) and through a helpline (9%). Police referrals have increased by 8% compared to last year
  • Two out of every five clients (46%) entered the service with a diagnosed mental health condition. The most commonly experienced mental health conditions were depression (63%), anxiety (53%) and personality disorders (19%)
  • Eight out of 10 clients at exit said they had improved well-being
  • 69% of clients were supported with housing

Read the briefing for the full data.

About the Insights database

We run the largest database of domestic abuse cases in the UK. Since 2009, we have gathered data from services working with victims, survivors, and their children into our Insights system. This gives us an unparalleled overview of survivors’ experiences and the support they receive.

Insights was redeveloped in 2017 and replaced with an online portal. For reference, the final published dataset using the old indicators is included on the downloads of this page.

We hope that everyone working to stop domestic abuse will be able to use this data to improve their services so that victims and families get the right help sooner.

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SafeLives Insights service

Insights enables domestic abuse services to understand their clients’ needs using reliable evidence, ensuring services provide the right resources to victims, survivors and their families.

Domestic abuse response in the UK

Since we were founded more than two decades ago, we have helped transform the response to domestic abuse across the UK. Find out more about our risk-led approach, Idvas, Maracs and the work still to be done.