AMEN, St. Anne's Resource Centre, Railway Street, Navan, Co. Meath
Research on domestic violence
Ireland:
On Tuesday 5th July 2005 the National Crime Council (NCC), in association
with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), published
the first ever large scale study undertaken to give an overview
of the nature, extent and impact of domestic abuse against women
and men in intimate partner relationships in Ireland.
Among the notable findings are:
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15% of women and 6% of men suffer severe domestic abuse
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29% of women and 26% of men suffer domestic abuse when severe and
minor abuse are combined -
13% of women and 13% of men suffer physical abuse
-
29% of women (1 in 3) and only 5% of men (1 in 20) report to the Gardaí
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49% of admissions to women’s refuges are Travellers (according to the 2002 census Travellers account for just 0.6% of the entire population)
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Of those turned away from refuges, 46% were for reasons other than
the refuges being full.
According to the Government Departments (Health and Justice) who have responsibilities in this area, the NCC study is the definitive piece of research on domestic violence in this country.
Other
Irish research on domestic violence
The results of the NCC study relating to gender prevalence broadly
reflect the findings of the three other two-sex studies carried
out in this country (for ACCORD; MRCS and the Department of Health).
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The MRCS report (2001), based on a survey of 530 clients, found that, where domestic violence occurs, mutual violence accounts for 33% of cases, female perpetrated violence accounts for 41% and male perpetrated violence for 26%.
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Similarly, the ACCORD research (2003), based on a survey of 1500 clients, found that women were perpetrators in 30% of domestic violence cases, men were perpetrators in 23% of cases and mutual violence accounted for 48%. An interesting feature of this study, which involved couples attending counseling, was that 84% of women and 74% of men agreed with their partner’s response to this question, suggesting that the self-reported prevalence is quite reliable.
Galway
GP survey, 2005
Since the NCC report, a survey of 200 patients attending a Galway
city GP practice in August 2005 found that 1 in 3 patients surveyed
had experienced domestic violence in the past while 6% reported
that they were current victims. 18.2% of men were victims of domestic
violence. Dr. Caitriona Waters, who carried out the survey, said
“the figure of 18.2% may be an underestimate. There are
probably more men out there experiencing domestic abuse, but it
is difficult for them to volunteer this information. In addition
males do not attend GPs as frequently as female patients”.
Since Amen was set up in 1997, every single two-sex study in Ireland and abroad, has vindicated our position that a significant number of men are also victims of domestic abuse.
United
Kingdom:
1. Incidence and prevalence of domestic violence in a UK emergency
department
A Boyle and C Todd
Adult patients attending the emergency department of Addenbrooke’s
Hospital, Cambridge were interviewed in randomly allocated time
blocks, using validated questions from a US study. 256 completed
interviews were returned out of a possible 307 (84.8%). The incidence
of domestic violence was 1.2%. The lifetime prevalence of domestic
violence was 22.4% among men and 22.1% among women.
2.
BBC Here and Now MORI Poll
A poll undertaken by MORI, who interviewed a representative quota
sample of 1,978 adults in the UK and commissioned by Here and Now
(BBC) had these main findings:
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One in five (18 percent) of men have been victims of domestic violence by a wife or female partner as opposed to 13 percent of women by a man.
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One in nine women admit to having used physical aggression against a husband or male partner (compared to one in ten men)
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14 percent of men say that they have been slapped by a partner (compared to 9 percent of women)
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11 percent of men have had a partner threaten to throw something heavy at them (compared to 8 percent of women)
United
States:
History of Domestic Violence among Male Patients Presenting to an
Urban Emergency Department, Philadelphia
C. Crawford Mechem. MD, Frances S. Shofer, PhD, Sharon S. Reinhard.
BA, EMT, Sarah Hornig, BSN, RN, Elizabeth Datner, MD
Objective: To establish the prevalence of domestic
violence committed by women against male patients presenting to
an urban ED for any reason.
Methods: This was a prospective survey in which
male patients of legal age presenting to the ED over a 13-week period
were interviewed.
Results: Of 866 male patients interviewed, 109
(12.6%) had been the victims of domestic violence committed by a
female intimate partner within the preceding year. The most common
forms of assault were slapping, grabbing, and shoving (60.6% of
victims). These were followed by choking, kicking, biting, and punching
(48.6%), or throwing an object at the victim (46.8%). Thirty-seven
percent of cases involved a weapon. Seven percent of victims described
being forced to have sex. Nineteen percent of victims contacted
the police; 14% required medical attention; 11% pressed charges
or sought a restraining order; and 6% pursued follow-up ounseling.
Conclusions: Almost 13% of men in this sample population
had been victims of domestic violence committed by a female intimate
partner within the previous year.
Canada:
1. Canadian Statistics Office – 2004 General Social Survey
According to the 2004 General Social Survey it is estimated that
7% of Canadians, experienced spousal violence in the previous 5
years. This is unchanged from previous results in 1999. Rates of
spousal violence by a current or previous partner in the 5 year
period were 7% for women and 6% for men, representing an estimated
653,000 women and 546,000 men.
