Children in domestic abuse 388/2025

FOI Reference: 388/2025

Request

This is a request for information according to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It relates to children in recorded crimes of domestic abuse. Since the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/17/section/3), children are considered victims of domestic abuse if he/she “sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, the abuse,” and is related to the victim and/or perpetrator.

According to research conducted by the Safer Warwickshire Serious Violence Prevention strategy, between 2020-2023, 12% of domestic abuse incidents where a child was linked to the offence involved “violence with injury.” One third (36.5%) of children were aged under-five at the time of the first recorded violence with injury incident. The average age of a child witnessing violence in the home was just over seven years old. 

Please can you provide the following information:-

1. Between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2024, how many recorded crimes of domestic abuse did your force record where a child was linked to the offence? 

By domestic abuse, I mean an incident between two individuals aged 18+ and domestic abuse can include emotional, sexual, physical and financial abuse. 

2. How many of the children linked to the offence were:

Under-5

6-12 years

12 years and over

(if providing this data takes my request over the cost limit, please confine your response to Questions 1 and 3). 

3. In how many of the recorded crimes of domestic abuse in Q1 did the offence involve “violence with injury”?

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below:-

Response Q1

Volumes of domestic related crimes where a child / multiple children were linked to the offence:

2022 –  2775 (5794 individual children linked to these records).

2023 –  2087 (4466 individual children linked to these records)

2024 -  2024 (4330 individual children linked to these records)

Response Q2

2022 –

2023 –

2024 –

Response Q3

2022 – 481 out of 2775 (17.3% of overall)

2023 – 271 out of 2087 (13.0% of overall)

2024 – 158 out of 2024 (7.8% of overall)

It should be noted that as a result of the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such information that the information released may or may not be accurate.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 28/08/2025)