Partner abuse in past year highest amongst young people

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) 2014/15: Partner Abuse, presents statistics on adults’ experiences of partner abuse taken from interviews with almost 10,000 adults.

The proportion of adults reporting experiences of partner abuse in 2014/15 has remained similar to previous years.

In the last 12 months 2.9 per cent of adults experienced either psychological or physical partner abuse, while 14.1 per cent of adults have experienced partner abuse since the age of 16.

The Extent of Partner Abuse

The survey reveals that more women than men experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months, at 3.4 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively. Women were also more likely than men to experience partner abuse since the age of 16 (18.5 per cent) compared to men (9.2 per cent).

Partner abuse experienced in the last 12 months was highest amongst young people aged 16 to 24 years (6.9 per cent) and lowest amongst those aged 65 or over (0.4 per cent).

Since the age of 16, more people living in the 15 per cent most deprived areas experienced partner abuse (19.0 per cent), compared to 13.2 per cent of those living in the rest of Scotland.

The Varying Nature and Impact of Partner Abuse

The most common types of psychological abuse experienced by victims (since age 16) were having a partner behaving in a jealous or controlling way (7.6 per cent) and being repeatedly put down by a partner (6.4 per cent).

Among victims of psychological partner abuse since the age of 16, 59 per cent of women experienced a partner behave in a jealous or controlling way, compared to 42.4 per cent of men, whilst 53.7 per cent of women victims of abuse were repeatedly put down by their partner, compared to 25.9 per cent of men.

Among victims of physical abuse since age 16, women were more likely than men to experience physical abuse involving direct contact, for example: being pushed or held down (45.3 per cent women, compared to 14.2 per cent men); being choked, strangled or smothered (22.7 per cent women, compared to 6.6 per cent men) and forced intercourse (20.1 per cent women, compared to 1.9 per cent men). However, men were more likely than women to experience non-contact violence, specifically, having something thrown at them at 40.1 per cent compared to 30.7 per cent respectively.

For some victims, the impact of partner abuse extended to the wider family. Two in five (39.4 per cent) of those who experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months said that children were living in their household when the most recent incident took place. When children were in the house, two-thirds (63.7 per cent) said that children were present during the most recent incident.

Impacts of Abuse and Reporting Incidents of Partner Abuse

The impact of partner abuse was wide-ranging. Based on the latest incident within the last 12 months, almost two-thirds of victims (65.2 per cent) reported at least one psychological effect, and 39.6 per cent reported at least one physical effect. The most common psychological effect was low self-esteem, reported by 37.4 per cent of victims. A higher proportion of women than men experienced four or more psychological effects, at 31.1 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively.

Of those who had experienced partner abuse within the last 12 months, 62.8 per cent had told at least one person or organisation about their most recent experience. People were more likely to tell people from their informal networks, with 35.1 per cent of victims telling friends and 18.5 per cent telling relatives, while 13.8 per cent told doctors and 11.6 per cent told police.