Marriage reduces the risk of being the victim of domestic violence compared with other live-in relationships, new figures suggest.

Around 3.8 million over-16s in England and Wales suffered domestic abuse in the year ending March 2025, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics.

This included approximately 2.2 million women and 1.5 million men.

The statistics regulator noted that victims who were married accounted for a “significantly lower proportion” of those experiencing domestic abuse, in contrast to people who were “cohabiting, single, separated or divorced”.

The most common marital status of victims was “separated” (22.7 per cent), followed by “divorced/legally dissolved partnership” (16.3 per cent). Marriage accounted for just 4.4 per cent.

Dr Tony Rucinski of campaign group Coalition for Marriage said that for years a ‘gendered narrative’ has painted the traditional family as dangerous.

The official figures show “the safest place for women is a stable marriage to a man who keeps his promises. The safest place for men and for children is the same.”