Male Victims of Domestic Abuse
Results of latest government detailed study on intimate violence in England and Wales
Supplement to 2005/06 British Crime Survey (BCS)
A self-completion module was again used as a supplement to the 2005/06 British Crime Survey for England and Wales, this based on interviews with a nationally representative sample of 26,214 men and women between the ages of 16 and 59, some 83% of those eligible responding to the module.
The results were published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/07 of 25 January 2007, ‘Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2005/06: (Supplementary Volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/06)’ by Kathryn Coleman et al.
In general, prevalence rates of intimate violence were similar to those found by the previous year 2004/05 interviews.
For the 12-month period preceding the survey, and excluding stalking, 5.7% of women and 4.0% of men reported having suffered non-sexual partner abuse (any abuse, threat or force from a partner or ex-partner), a proportion of male victims of about 41%. Of these, 3.0% of women and 1.8% of men reported suffering actual force, a proportion of male victims of 37.5%, which was designated as ‘severe’ in the case of 1.8% of women and 1.3% of men, a proportion of male victims of about 42%. This male proportion was slightly lower than the 2004/05 figure of 47%.
These proportions for male victims are almost double the 20% found by the routine 2005/06 BCS.
The survey found the same proportion of female victims of stalking as last year - 8.9%, but a slightly lower proportion for men of 7.2% compared to 8.9% in 2004/05.
In the longer term, since the age of 16, and again excluding stalking, the survey found that 28.1% of women and 17.5% of men reported having suffered non-sexual partner abuse, a proportion of male victims of about 38%. Of these, 19.1% of women and 10.4% of men reported having suffered actual force, a proportion of male victims of about 35%, which was designated ‘severe’ in the case of 13.7% of women and 8.7% of men, a proportion of male victims of about 39% - the same as in 2004/05.
Some 48% of women and 33% of men reported that they had experienced more than one form of intimate violence since the age of 16.
The risk of intimate violence varied by demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics. Characteristics that were independently associated with an increased risk of intimate violence across all the forms included marital status (in particular being unmarried), housing tenure, age (under the age of 45), and having a limiting disability or illness.
PARITY
July 2007
