Despite decades of reports, inquiries and reforms, survivors of domestic abuse, stalking, child abuse and coercive control remain unprotected in the UK. From “no further action” decisions to unsafe family court rulings, the system continues to fail those who rely on it most. This article exposes the patterns behind these failures — and why 1VAA exists to challenge them.

System Failure: Why Victims Are Still Unsafe in 2025 and What Must Change Now

For decades, victims of domestic abuse, coercive control, stalking and child abuse have been told that the UK’s safeguarding systems are improving. Government promises appear every year; new policies, new reviews, new strategies.

Yet in 2025, victims continue to die, children continue to be placed in danger, and perpetrators continue to exploit the very systems designed to stop them.

The truth is devastating:

It is not that the system is broken.
It is that the system was never built to protect victims in the first place.

This is why survivors still cannot rely on police, social services or the family courts, and why 1VAA continues to expose these failures and demand change.

Police Failures: “No Further Action” as a Default Response

The police remain the first point of failure for the vast majority of domestic abuse and stalking victims.

Recent data shows:

Police recorded 1.4 million domestic abuse-related incidents in the year ending March 2024 (ONS).
Yet only 6% resulted in a charge or summons (CPS).
Over 700,000 stalking offences were reported but fewer than 2% led to meaningful action.
Nearly half of all victims who contact police receive a “no further action” outcome.

The most common reasons given are:

“Insufficient evidence”
“Personal dispute”
“No realistic prospect of conviction”
“Counter-allegations”
“It’s not in the public interest”

But survivors repeatedly tell us a different story:

“The officer didn’t even take a full statement.”
“They told me there was nothing they could do.”
“He’s respectable, he wouldn’t do that.”
“Someone like him wouldn’t be an abuser.”
“I wasn’t believed.”

Every time police dismiss a victim, the risk increases.
Every time a perpetrator faces no consequences, they escalate.

Some victims do not survive that escalation.

Stalking: Ignored Until It Becomes Murder

Stalking is one of the strongest predictors of homicide.

The “8-Stage Homicide Timeline” proves that stalkers often follow the same escalating pattern — predictable, measurable, and preventable.

Yet:

Police routinely categorise stalking as “relationship issues”
Risk assessments are incorrectly completed or never done
Victims are told to block the perpetrator, rather than receiving protection
Important digital evidence is not examined
Officers fail to recognise obsessive pursuit as a risk indicator

Over 1.4 million women and 700,000 men experience stalking every year (ONS), yet stalking remains one of the least understood crimes in policing.

Every homicide review tells the same story:

“The signs were there. The victim asked for help. The system failed.”

Family Courts: When Protection Becomes Punishment

Family courts are now one of the most dangerous places for victims of domestic abuse and coercive control.

Cafcass and multiple academic reviews show:

Children’s disclosures of abuse are frequently minimised or labelled “coached”
Parents reporting abuse are accused of “alienation”
Abusive parents are granted contact in over 80% of cases
Courts rarely order fact-finding hearings even when evidence is strong
Coercive control is misunderstood or ignored
Protective parents are punished for safeguarding their children

The result?

Children are handed to abusers.
Protective parents are labelled hostile.
Trauma is dismissed as “conflict.”

And perpetrators weaponise the court process itself:

endless applications
cross-allegations
litigation abuse
threats of court to maintain control

The court becomes the abuser’s greatest weapon.

Social Services: Inconsistent, Untrained, and Often Dangerous

Across the UK, social services departments are overstretched, undertrained, and overwhelmed.

Many social workers:

have little or no training in coercive control
misunderstand trauma responses
are easily manipulated by perpetrators
misinterpret distress as instability
confuse fear with hostility
treat disclosures as “conflict”
rely on inaccurate assessments
place children in unsafe contact arrangements

And the result is catastrophic.

Children are removed from protective parents.
Victims are blamed for reporting abuse.
Danger is labelled “potential future harm.”
Perpetrators exploit every gap in professional knowledge.

This is why 1VAA demands mandatory training, accountability, and oversight.