How many women die every year due to domestic violence?

"Every week in this country two women are killed as a result of domestic violence."

Sandra Horley, Chief Executive of Refuge, BBC News, 21 May 2013

Today Full Fact looked at whether or not most serious crimes are committed by men, and found that when it comes to crimes of a sexual nature, male offenders responsible for 98% of cases. 

So do we have a "crisis of masculinity", as Labour MP Diane Abbott has suggested? This morning the Chief Executive of domestic abuse support group Refuge raised another worrying statistic in the wakes of the case of Maria Stubbings, who was brutally murdered by her ex-partner in 2008. According to Sandra Horley, two women a week die as a result of their partner's violent behaviour.

So where does this figure come from?

This claim has been quoted in the media for many years, and made its way into a 2008 Home Office crime report (see Table 1.05) but relates to figures from 2004/5. That year, 105 women (i.e. 2 per week) died at the hands of their partner. 

But is this still the case? 

The 2011/12 ONS report on violent crime and sexual offences shows that in 2011/12 88 women were killed by their partner or ex-partner. That translates to roughly 1.7 women a week. While this is still close to the 2 a week quoted by Ms Horley, the total has been falling in recent years.

So while Ms Horley's statistic still stands up if we allow some generous rounding, it may prove problematic in the future if current trends continue.