Unfortunately this is very far from the truth. Research indicates that:

• 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives.
• At any one given time between 1 in 9 women will be experiencing domestic violence.
• 2 women a week are murdered by a current or former partner.
• Over 45,000 women and children stay in a refuge each year.
• 19 per cent of domestic violence incidents were reported to be male victims, with just under half of these having a female abuser.
• 1 in 6 homeless families are escaping domestic violence.
• UK police attend a domestic violence incident every minute of every hour of every day.

It's difficult to know the true extent of domestic violence due to four factors:

1. The hidden nature of the problem.
2. Under-reporting.
3. The rare identification of domestic violence as a separate issue means, that it doesn't appear in statistical data.
4. Different understandings / definitions of domestic violence.

Back to What is domestic violence?

This article was last reviewed by Catherine Orr Deas in December 2005.
First published in February 2003.