1 in 7 disabled people are experiencing domestic abuse. Liberal Democrats pushing for further and faster measures to improve and pass Domestic Abuse Bill into law

New figures show that 1 in 7 disabled people aged 16-59 in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the year to March 2020, and that disabled women were more than twice as likely to have experienced domestic abuse during the same period, Cllr Anita Lower, who speaks for Newcastle Liberal Democrats on community safety issues said: "The rates of domestic abuse against disabled people - especially disabled women - are shockingly high. Even more concerning is that these figures are from before the pandemic, and we know that lockdown has made the situation far worse.

"We must do much more to prevent domestic abuse and support survivors. The Domestic Abuse Bill - promised by the Conservatives almost four years ago - cannot come into law soon enough. Liberal Democrats will continue pushing for improvements to the law to properly protect all survivors.

"And these figures are a stark reminder that there is still much further to go to end the discrimination and injustice facing disabled people. They must not be left behind as we emerge from this pandemic."

Figures from ONS Outcomes for Disabled People in the UK 2020 show that 14.33% of disabled people in England & Wales experienced domestic abuse in the year to March 2020.

The figures show that women were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse in the last year than men regardless of disability status in the year ending March 2020. Disabled women (17.5%) were more than twice as likely to experience domestic abuse than non-disabled women (6.7%), a significant difference.