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Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) 2008-09: Partner Abuse

15/12/2009

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) 2008-09: Partner Abuse. The publication presents statistics on adults' experiences of Partner Abuse in Scotland.

This is the first Partner Abuse report from the survey since 2006 following a major redesign. The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey as a whole was recently assessed by the UK Statistics Authority and has been designated as a National Statistics product which means that the statistics are deemed to be compliant with the Code of Practice on Official Statistics, produced according to sound methods and managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.

The report focuses specifically on abuse carried out by a partner or ex-partner. The definition of partner includes any boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or civil partner. Partner abuse includes psychological and physical forms of abuse. The definition of psychological abuse includes emotional, financial and other forms of psychological abuse. The definition of physical includes sexual and other forms of physical abuse.

This report identifies the extent of partner abuse, both since the age of 16 and in the last 12 months. It examines the nature and impact of partner abuse and explores the extent to which people or organisations were informed about the abuse, including specifically contact with the police about the incident.

The main findings are:

• The extent of partner abuse
• 18 per cent of adults who had at least one partner since the age of 16 had experienced partner abuse since the age of 16
• 5 per cent of adults who had a partner or were in contact with an ex-partner in the last 12 months reported experiencing partner abuse in the last 12 months. This included 4 per cent who said they had experienced psychological partner abuse in the last 12 months and 3 per cent who had experienced physical partner abuse in the last 12 months
• A similar percentage of males and females experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months although the types of abuse experienced and the effects of the abuse were very often different for men and women. Partner abuse was more likely to be experienced by those aged 16-24 and those living in the 15 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland
• For 45 per cent of those experiencing partner abuse in the last 12 months this had happened once and for 11 per cent it had happened twice. 3 per cent said there were too many incidents to count in that period and 27 per cent said they did not want to answer or they did not know / could not remember how many incidents they had experienced in the last 12 months

The nature and impact of partner abuse

• 83 per cent of those experiencing partner abuse since the age of 16 said they experienced psychological abuse. A higher percentage of women (91 per cent) said they had experienced at least one form of psychological abuse compared with men (71 per cent) since the age of 16. On average women had experienced over three forms of psychological abuse while men had experienced between one and two of the forms of psychological abuse
• The main types of psychological abuse experienced since the age of 16 included a partner behaving in a jealous or controlling way (53 per cent); repeatedly putting the victim down so they felt worthless (42 per cent); threatening to hurt the victim (31 per cent) or stopping the victim from seeing friends or relatives (28 per cent)
• 72 per cent of those experiencing partner abuse since the age of 16 said they experienced physical abuse. A similar percentage of women (73 per cent) and men (71 per cent) said they had experienced at least one form of physical abuse since the age of 16
• The main types of physical abuse experienced since the age of 16 included a partner throwing something at the victim (50 per cent); kicking, biting or hitting the victim (36 per cent) or pushing or holding the victim down (33 per cent)
• There were gender differences in the types of physical abuse experienced with women more likely than men to experience being kicked, bitten or hit (40 per cent of female victims compared with 29 per cent of male victims); choking, strangling and smothering (21 per cent of female victims compared with 3 per cent of male victims); and having a partner force or try to force sexual intercourse (20 per cent of female victims compared with 3 per cent of male victims)
• There are also gender differences in the physical and psychological effects of abuse. Female victims of partner abuse were more likely to experience minor bruising or a black eye (25 per cent of females compared with 17 per cent of males) and severe bruising (14 per cent of females compared with 3 per cent of males). Men were more likely to experience scratches than women (18 per cent of males compared with 9 per cent of females)
• In terms of the psychological effects of abuse men were more likely to say they had not experienced any psychological effects - 50 per cent of male victims of partner abuse said they had not suffered from any psychological effects of abuse compared to 31 per cent of women
• The majority (70 per cent) of adults who had experienced partner abuse since the age of 16, had just one abusive partner. One in five (22 per cent) had more than one abusive partner
• In the majority of cases of partner abuse since the age of 16 the gender of any abusive partner was male (60 per cent). Among those experiencing partner abuse in the last 12 months, in the most recent incident, 48 per cent of offenders were male and 45 per cent female
• 30 per cent of adults who experienced physical abuse in the last 12 months considered what happened on the most recent occasion to be a crime
• 9 per cent of adults who had a partner since the age of 16 considered they had been a victim of domestic abuse since that age, lower than the 18 per cent who said they had experienced at least one form of psychological or physical abuse as measured by the survey. Women (14 per cent) were more likely to consider themselves to have been a victim of domestic abuse than men (3 per cent)

Reporting incidents of partner abuse

• 64 per cent of those experiencing partner abuse in the last 12 months had told at least one person or organisation about the most recent incident they experienced. This was most often a friend or a relative
• 31 per cent did not tell anyone about the most recent incident of partner abuse experienced in the last 12 months. This was higher for men (40 per cent) than for women (21 per cent)
• The police came to know about 21 per cent of the most recent incidents of partner abuse experienced in the last 12 months. This was higher for incidents experienced by women (35 per cent) than by men (8 per cent)
• 53 per cent of victims were satisfied with the way the police dealt with the most recent incident experienced in the last 12 months

Comparisons with 2006 data

The Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey from 2006 also collected information on the extent of partner abuse. However there are fundamental differences in the way that information on partner abuse was collected in 2006 and 2008/09 that mean that it is not possible to compare the results. Importantly the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2008-09 has a broader definition of partner abuse which includes psychological abuse (emotional, financial and verbal abuse) and physical abuse (including sexual abuse).

The 2006 survey reported that 3 per cent of adults who had contact with a partner or ex-partner in the reference period had been verbally threatened or had physical force used against them during that time. The 2006 survey also reported that 11 percent of adults had experienced either verbal threats or force at some point in their lives.

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2008-09 focuses specifically on abuse carried out by a partner or ex-partner. The definition of partner used in the questionnaire included any boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or civil partner. Partner abuse includes psychological and physical forms of abuse. The definition of psychological abuse includes emotional, financial and other forms of psychological abuse. The definition of physical includes sexual and other forms of physical abuse.

A joint protocol between the Association of Chief Police Offciers in Scotland (ACPOS) and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service defines domestic abuse as any form of physical, sexual or mental and emotional abuse which might amount to criminal conduct and which takes place within the context of a relationship. The relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting, civil partnership or otherwise) or ex-partners. The abuse can be committed in the home or elsewhere.