Domestic abuse is a national public health emergency of epidemic proportions – it leaves survivors struggling with long-lasting and devastating mental health issues and is a leading driver of suicide in women.
With one in four women and one in five children being victims in their lifetime, the prevalence of domestic abuse is now recognised as a national crisis.
Young women and girls aged 16 to 19 will be victims at double the rates than those over 25 years old (ONS, 2023). And the increase in suicidal ideation and deaths by suicide in recent years is stark (Women’s Aid, 2022).
Domestic abuse can happen to anyone – and anyone can be an abuser.
It extends beyond physical abuse, with a high prevalence of emotional and psychological abuse. It is also recognised that children are both witnesses and victims of domestic abuse. Yet, mental health support for domestic abuse survivors is not currently a priority for policymakers or commissioners – nationally or locally – and urgent funding is essential for specialist, long-term mental healthcare.
Woman’s Trust is a leading women’s mental health charity with unrivalled experience supporting tens of thousands of women and children to overcome the trauma of domestic abuse, by providing free and specialist counselling and mental health support.
Our mission is to help any woman in London affected by domestic abuse to overcome the mental and emotional harm and rebuild their lives
But due to gaps in mental health and counselling services, Woman’s Trust (2024) is only able to provide support to one in two survivors referred.
Highlighting the unmet need
Woman’s Trust’s Living Without Hope report, which brings together evidence, research and exposes gaps for support, found:
- Domestic abuse is a key driver of women’s mental ill health, self-harm and suicides
- The lack of mental health support for domestic abuse survivors has devastating consequences
- The response of statutory services, including mental health, remains inadequate and ineffective.
With the Home Office due to publish its Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, and the Health Secretary set to outline plans to improve the nation’s mental health soon, we’ve joined forces with over 90 charities to send an open letter to government to make sure the mental health impact of domestic abuse is finally addressed, urging them to fund specialist, long-term mental healthcare.
Over the last decade, the Government’s work has focused on the criminal justice and housing responses to domestic abuse, which are vital for responding to survivors’ need for physical safety. But, although the law in 2021 recognised the emotional and psychological abuse that victims experience, there has been no response to address the impact of the trauma on survivors’ mental health.
This is despite research that:
More women die by suicide than homicide due to domestic abuse by a partner/ex-partner (NPCC, 2025); and 83% of survivors consider counselling as their biggest need, which remains largely unmet, as reported by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner in ‘Patchwork of Provision’ (DAC, 2022).
Out of every ten domestic abuse survivors, eight identify long-term counselling and mental health support as their top priority need, yet only four survivors are able to access support nationally (Domestic Abuse Commissioner, 2023).
Bold changes that must be implemented
The Home Office, Department of Health, NHS England, London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), local authorities and Integrated Care Boards should all include women’s and girls’ mental health needs linked to domestic abuse and VAWG as an explicit key strategic priority and national emergency, with action plans and funding, to deliver improved outcomes.
We also need investment in specialist and ‘by and for’ community-based mental health services, and additional funding for statutory mental health services to enable all survivors (with a focus on women and children) to access life-saving support.
There is also an economic case for a community-based mental health response, with a saving of up to £11 for every £1 invested in the health response for women (NHS Confederation, 2023) and significant benefits to their families and the wider community.
Further, domestic abuse costs the UK economy billions annually – with one in five women taking time off work because of domestic abuse and nine in ten saying it affects their performance at work.
We are calling for the Government to make the mental health of survivors, particularly women and children, a key priority and focus of the soon to be launched Mental Health and VAWG Strategies.
We are also calling for funding of at least £27.5m per year to deliver specialist counselling and therapeutic support in the community, for women and girls.
It is vital that we respond to survivors’ mental health needs and safeguard them from the psychological damage and trauma, to enable them to recover and rebuild their lives.
Heidi Riedel is CEO at Woman’s Trust.
