Young women at greatest risk of domestic violence

13 April 2011 1 min read Neil Puffett Social Care Safeguarding and child protection

Young women aged between 16 and 19 are at the highest risk of sexual assault, stalking and domestic abuse, the director of public prosecutions has said, creating the "risk of a whole new generation of domestic violence".

Speaking to crown prosecutors and agencies dealing with victims of domestic violence, Keir Starmer said that progress has been made in tackling domestic violence, with numbers of incidents falling over the past decade. However, the trend has been bucked by an increase in domestic violence among young people.

Starmer pointed to research showing that women aged between 16 and 19 are at the highest risk of sexual assault (7.9 per cent), stalking (8.5 per cent) and domestic abuse (12.7 per cent).

Meanwhile, a study by the NSPCC in 2009 showed that exploitation and violence in teenage relationships are more common than previously thought.

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