“No-one should ever have to live in fear of another human being,” a West Yorkshire survivor told local leaders in Bradford last week. Today the Home Office confirmed Dame Nicole Jacobs will serve a third term as Domestic Abuse Commissioner, running from September 2025 to September 2028, an independent role created by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to speak for victims and hold agencies to account.

The government notice, published on Friday 5 December, states the reappointment follows the Governance Code on Public Appointments. Jacobs, first appointed in 2019, previously led Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse and brings more than two decades of frontline and policy experience to the post.

For readers across the North, the question is what this means on the ground. Official data show the scale of demand remains high. The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates 2.3 million adults experienced domestic abuse in the year to March 2024, while police recorded 851,062 domestic abuse-related crimes in that period. Recording practice changes saw crimes logged fall further to 816,493 in the year to March 2025, but the volume remains stark.

Regional patterns matter. The latest survey data indicate prevalence was significantly higher in the North West (9.7%) than in London (5.5%) for the year to March 2025, and the gap between female and male victimisation was statistically significant in Yorkshire and the Humber. That aligns with what local services have long reported to councils and police and crime teams.

Force-level figures tell the same story of strain. Freedom of Information data show Northumbria Police recorded between 2,000 and 2,400 domestic abuse crimes each month from November 2022 to October 2023, accounting for 16% to 20% of all offences. In West Yorkshire, the force recorded roughly 5,000 domestic abuse crimes per month over the same period-about one in five offences.

Service providers across Yorkshire and the North are carrying the weight. IDAS, the region’s largest specialist domestic abuse charity, says it handled more than 18,000 referrals last year, supported over 10,000 people in the community and provided emergency accommodation to more than 250 people, including children. Those figures reflect the demand our towns and cities are wrestling with daily.

As IDAS expands safe accommodation in Sheffield and Barnsley through a new social investment package, its chief executive Sarah Hill is blunt about the reality: “Demand for our services is growing and we are unable to accommodate everyone referred to us.” That pressure is felt from South Yorkshire to North Yorkshire.

Local leaders want national appointments to translate into practical help. Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor for Safer and Stronger Communities, Kate Green, says the city-region’s approach is about “coordinated action across services and our communities” and ensuring high‑quality, accessible support for victims, including men and boys. That focus on lived experience chimes with the Commissioner’s statutory brief.

Funding remains the pinch point outside London. In June, Civil Society reported that Sheffield‑based Vida, which provides counselling and recovery support to women and girls, avoided closure after securing a £175,000 lifeline-having warned it would shut by March 2025. Stability for services is not a nice‑to‑have; it is what keeps doors open for survivors.

The Commissioner’s reappointment sets the national tone, but the test will be delivery across the North: timely housing and refuge spaces, enough independent advisers in hospitals and courts, and faster justice. With ONS data showing persistent demand and forces reporting that domestic abuse makes up a significant share of crime, northern providers will be looking for sustained pressure on Whitehall and agencies to fund what works and to listen to survivors beyond Westminster.