Domestic violence - Facts and information On this page, you will find facts and information about domestic violence or abusive relationships, including definitions and statistics. Hopefully sharing this information will help to change attitudes to domestic violence.
To make the right choices, you need to know the facts! In 1998, the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust found that 1 in 5 young men and 1 in 10 young women thought that abuse or violence against women was acceptable.		What is Domestic Violence? Different agencies give varying definitions of domestic violence. Women's Aid give the following definition: ...physical, psychological, sexual or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family-type relationship and forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. Anyone can experience domestic violence regardless of race, ethnic or religious group, class, sexuality, disability or lifestyle.						Did you know... Who are the perpetrators? Crime statistics and research both show that domestic violence is gender specific - usually the perpetrator of a pattern of repeated assaults is a man. Women experience the most serious physical and repeated assaults. Women are most likely to be sexually attacked by men who are known to them. 45% of rapes reported in one survey were perpetrated by current partners More information on crime statistics
		How common is domestic violence? 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence over their lifetimes 6-10% of women suffer domestic violence in a given year The Police receive half a million calls each year from the public for assistance for domestic violence - around 1300 calls each day. That's a call every minute... Over 80% of the victims are women and repeat victimisation is common In a year, the Women's Aid National Helpline receives over 56,000 calls Only one third of actual domestic violence crime is actually reported to the Police! On average 2 women per week are killed by current or former partners in England and Wales.
		Why women leave: 60% of the women in one study left the abuser because they feared that they would be killed if they stayed 54% of women said that they could see that the abuse was affecting their children 25% of the women said that they feared for their children's lives
		Additional consequences Violence against women has serious consequences for their physical and mental health. Abused women are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, psychosomatic systems, eating problems and sexual dysfunction. Violence may also affect their reproductive health (WHO. Factsheet No 239. June 2000). The homelessness charity, Shelter, found 40% of all homeless women stated that domestic violence was a contributor to their homelessness. Domestic violence was found to be "the single most quoted reason for becoming homeless" Studies have shown links between child physical abuse and domestic violence - estimates ranging from 30% to 66% of cases. 76% of women experienced further threats or abuse after separation

How do I stop someone seeing which websites I've visited? click here