Only 6.4% of domestic violence cases end in conviction – Lib Dem research

The number of domestic violence convictions have risen dramatically, but 14 out of 15 cases reported to the police do not result in a conviction, the Daily Mail reports. (Yes, apparently the newspaper once again believes domestic violence is bad again this week).

First of all, convictions are up:

The number of women convicted of domestic violence is up 268 per cent in five years, from 806 in 2004-5 to 2,968 in 2008-9.

Convictions of men were up 144 per cent, from 18,659 to 45,484.

Note that the numbers for women convicted are put first, even though they are dwarfed by the 45 thousand convictions of men.

The research, compiled by the Liberal Democrats, shows the number of recorded incidents of domestic violence rose 30 per cent in four years, from 529,295 in 2004-5 to 686,272 in 2007-8.

But only 6.4 per cent – 43,970 – of the 686,272 reported cases resulted in a conviction in court.

So, what this shows is that it’s not just in the case of sexual violence that the criminal justice system is letting off free the overwhelming number of overwhemingly male perpetrators of violent assault.