Domestic Abuse - Facts & Statistics

International

The 1995 World Development report by the United Nations shows, that on a world scale, domestic abuse is a significant cause of disability and death
1999: 51% of men and 43% of women agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife if she uses family planning without his knowledge
1999: 19% of men & 11% of women in Bahia, Brazil, agreed that “an unfaithful woman deserves to be beaten”

23% of all assaults recorded by the police are domestic abuse assaults (British Crime Survey 2000)
Many studies have found that 1 woman in 4, at some stage in her life, experiences domestic abuse (the most recent shows a figure of 45% - British Crime Survey 2004)
On average, 42% of female murder victims are killed by current or former partners (Criminal Statistics 2001) In the UK, an average of 2 women die per week due to domestic abuse (Home Office)
Police reports, of those who call for help, breakdown as follows:
- 81% female victims attacked by male perpetrators
- 8% male victims attacked by female perpetrators
- 7% male victims attacked by male perpetrators
- 4% female victims attacked by female perpetrators

(Day to Count, Stanko, 2000)

Data collected in 2003 showed that, on 25 November 2003, a typical day in Chorley & South Ribble, 240 reports of domestic abuse are made with workers aware of or suspecting a further 1,180 ongoing situations.
According to Police figures, there were 2,399 reports of domestic abuse in Chorley & South Ribble from April 2003 to March 2004. Of these, 79% were reports where the alleged abuser was the partner or ex-partner of the victim, sons counted for 7.5% and brothers for 1.5%, all other categories (father, step-family, daughter, mother) counted for 1% or less than 1% of reported incidents. Of these, 31% victims reported more than 1 incident, of these, 90% were women and 10% men, the alleged abuser was male in 91% of cases and female in 9%.
A recent study, "The Cost of Domestic Violence", Sylvia Walby 2004, estimates the cost of domestic abuse in all areas including the human costs. This means that the total cost of domestic abuse for Chorley & South Ribble services, employers and victims is estimated at around £86,640,000,000.

For statistics on calls to the Police about Domestic Violence in your neighbourhood, please look at Lancashire MADE Public.