Domestic abuse is one of the most common forms of violence against women. To deliver justice, the police must create the conditions for victims to engage safely. Yet many victims withdraw from legal action. We ask whether these withdrawals are related to police workload. Using detailed administrative data on over 15,000 high-risk domestic abuse cases from a major English police force with quasi-random case assignment, we exploit within-officer variation in monthly caseloads. Adding ten cases to an officer's workload - the average increase over the budget cuts period - raises the probability that the victim withdraws by three percentage points, implying around 3,300 additional withdrawals each year in England and Wales. The effect is concentrated in high-risk cases, where sustained officer-victim contact matters most, and is absent for lower-risk cases and for outcomes not dependent on the victim's cooperation. Balance tests, placebo outcomes, and pre-determined workload measures support a causal interpretation. Caseload is set by staffing and budgets, making it both a hidden cost of austerity and a policy lever.

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19 March 2024     Paper Number CEPDP1985

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This CEP discussion paper is published under the centre's Community Wellbeing programme.