One of the reasons the numbers are down may be that in some states, someone goes to jail. Say a couple is in the throes of DV, and someone from the house calls the cops. The cops go to the house, and one of them goes to jail. If there is a call, there is a trip to jail. Sometimes the woman who has been beaten goes to jail. I've seen women at the DV agency covered with bruises, who came to the agency after spending a night in the cell. The call was made during the DV, the cops get to the house, the real offender is way too clever in talking his way out of it, she won't press charges on him, so HE presses charges on HER, and she, the victim goes to jail. At the agency I hear that women don't report becauase of the ramifications. Reporting is where the numbers come from. Numbers have nothing to do with real world DV. Women hide, run, live in their cars, live on the streets, or put up with DV because HE has not stopped. I'm sorry to be so cynical. In the USA versus UK, I wouldn't dare stand up to a bully because here, anyone could pull out a gun at any time.