More than 350 domestic abuse offences linked to Euros recorded by forces

This is a jump from the 193 incidents recorded during the 2021 championships, which the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said is due in part to its improved ability to record data.

A national policing strategy to help forces target serial domestic abusers during the Euros football tournament was launched in June this year.

The strategy was produced by the UK’s Football Policing Unit and aimed to equip forces with a proactive, multi-agency approach to safeguard victims and target perpetrators of domestic abuse.

As part of the police activity, forces used intelligence to shortlist known serial domestic abusers with football banning orders to target operational activity, such as proactive patrols and welfare visits to victims.

The strategy also aimed to improve understanding of the link between football tournaments and a rise in domestic abuse.

While football does not cause domestic abuse, several factors are thought to exacerbate abusive behaviour during football tournaments, including the increased and prolonged consumption of alcohol around matches, says the NPCC.

Data was collected at a national level and will now be further analysed to identify ways to improve the police response to prevent offences, safeguard victims and pursue perpetrators.

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, NPCC lead for domestic abuse, and Chief Constable Mark Roberts, NPCC football policing lead, said: “We have been working closely with the UK Football Policing Unit to understand the link between domestic abuse and football tournaments. Ahead of the Euros, we initiated a national strategy to support police forces in taking a proactive approach to domestic abuse during the tournament.

“The strategy also collected data on domestic abuse offences which victims felt were a result of the perpetrator’s behaviour around football.

“During the Euros, police forces reported 351 domestic abuse incidents as being football related. This is compared to 193 domestic abuse incidents related to football during the Euros tournament in 2021.

“Collecting data in this area is challenging because we rely on victims disclosing abuse, reporting the link with football where it exists, and accurate information recording across 43 forces. We also know that many victims won’t report abuse to the police, so we do not have the full picture of offending.

“We are working closely with support agencies to share data and intelligence to improve our understanding, for example, Respect, the UK charity stopping perpetrators of domestic abuse, recorded a 24 per cent increase in calls to its Men’s Advice Line and a 39 per cent increase to the Respect Phoneline during the Euros.

“This reinforces our belief that the heightened emotions and behaviour around football, such as prolonged drinking or drug taking, can exacerbate domestic abuse. However, more research is needed to understand the full impact.”

They added: “Work is ongoing at a national level to examine data collected during this tournament, inform our approach to future tournaments and to broaden our understanding of domestic abuse and football. This will improve our ability to collect data and information and help us to better protect victims and bring perpetrators to justice.”

The NPCC said the 351 incidents of domestic abuse related to football that were recorded by the 43 police forces during the Euros, held between June 14 and July 14, “ does not represent the total of domestic abuse reports received during this time”, only those that were recorded as football being an aggravating factor.

It added: “The data will not represent the true picture of domestic abuse offending where football was an aggravating factor for several reasons: some victims may not recognise or disclose the link with football and officers may not always record the link.

“We also know that domestic abuse is vastly under-reported to police.

“Our ability to record data is improving, which will be part of the reason that there is an increase in recorded incidents between the 2024 and 2021 tournament.”

Due to Covid-19 restrictions during 2020, the UEFA Euro tournament had been postponed to June and July 2021.

The NPCC said domestic abuse remains “one of the biggest demands on policing”, with arrests for domestic abuse related offences increasing by more than 22 per cent in the year ending March 2023, compared with the previous period.

“While this is a positive shift, we acknowledge that this is only the start and there is still more to do,” it said.

Responding to the NPCC’s figures that more than 300 domestic abuse related offences were attributed to the Euros earlier this summer, Isabelle Younane, head of External Affairs at Women’s Aid, said: “While this figure may seem shocking, it is only the tip of the iceberg.

“Domestic abuse often goes unreported, meaning that the real number of incidents during the Euros is likely much higher. While football does not cause domestic abuse, we know that it can exacerbate existing abuse, increasing the severity and frequency of violent incidents.

“The correlation between the two isn’t entirely clear but it is thought that factors such as the higher consumption of alcohol that accompanies sporting events, and the strong emotional response that winning or losing can have on supporters, may attribute to this increase.

“Women’s Aid have continued to raise awareness of the challenges women and children face during these tournaments, with our ‘He’s Coming Home’ campaign in 2022 and our ‘No More Years of Hurt’ campaign this year.

“We look forward to the results of the NPCC’s data being analysed, as we hope it will provide further insight into the link between domestic abuse and football and mitigate the risk. The Euros, and other sporting events, should be a source of entertainment and joy for us all but sadly, for countless women across the country it is a source of fear. Everyone should be able to enjoy the events that bring people together, and no one should have to live in fear when they are coming up.”

Recent and ongoing improvements to the way policing responds to domestic abuse include the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan (DAJJP). The NPCC is working with the Crown Prosecution Service to improve the way police investigate, handle and prosecute domestic abuse to ensure victims are better supported, timeliness is improved and more offenders are brought to justice.

“This focuses on working together from the earliest stage to build robust, victim-centred and suspect-focused investigations and prosecutions which focus on the suspect’s actions before, during and after an alleged offence,” it said.

In addition, ‘Domestic Abuse Matters’ training has been introduced, which is an evidence-based training programme aimed at increasing first responders’ understanding of the dynamics of abuse and their empathy with victims.

It is delivered in partnership with Women’s Aid Federation England, Welsh Women’s Aid and SafeLives and currently spans 37 forces in England and Wales.

The NPCC said it is also “pioneering new ways of using technology and data analytics to pursue the highest harm and repeat offenders of violence against women and girls”.

“New technology also presents opportunities to better manage domestic abuse protective orders and response to victims,” it added.