Domestic violence

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Domestic violence affects 1 in 4 women and can be anything from verbal bullying to something much more physical. If you think you're at risk of domestic violence or want to help a friend, get the facts here.

A reported case of domestic violence among two well-known names like Rihanna and Chris Brown really highlights the amount of women who are still victims of violence at the hands of their partners.

Last year Women's Aid launched the ACT campaign that involved a number of celebrities made up to look like they had been a victim of domestic abuse. Fern Britton, pictured below, was one of the celebrities involved.

Fern britton, domestic violence

The advert pointed out that: A picture of a celebrity might seem like a cheap trick but at least you noticed her. It's the 500,000 plus British women that are abused by their partners every year who go unoticed. The thing is, real victims rarely show their bruises or emotional scars. All too often they don't even admit that there is a problem. But domestic abuse is not something that should be kept quiet. Fern said, 'It's a subject that is often hidden and very secretive, but it's something which I feel should have a light shone upon it.'

The ACT campaign urged women to:
Admit domestic abuse is a problem
Call it by its name, domestic abuse
Talk to someone about it.

But despite last year's shocking campaign, there's still a need to raise awareness. Experts think that with the credit crunch, binge drinking and school holidays there may be a rise in domestic abuse incidents. Plus with the harrowing storyline of Jo in Emmerdale, domestic violence is in the news again.

Refuge, one of the UK's largest domestic violence support charities has just released these shocking statistics:

2 women in England and Wales are killed every week by a partner or former partner

1 woman in 4 has experienced domestic abuse

On average, a woman is beaten 35 times before her first call to the police

The police receive a call about domestic violence every 60 seconds but approximately only 35% of cases are reported to the police.

In households where there are children present, 90% of incidents will be witnessed by kids and in 50% of these cases the children will be assaulted too.

Domestic violence costs the taxpayer £23 billion every year

But more worrying is the attitude towards domestic violence among young people.

A survey in 2006 of 2000 14-16 year olds showed:

1 in 5 young men thought forcing their wives to have sex would be acceptable
1 in 2 young men and 1 in 3 young women think it is acceptable to rape or hit a partner in a particular circumstance
1 in 10 men thought there was nothing wrong in raping a woman if he 'was so turned on he can't stop'
1 in 8 men said it was ok to hit a 'nagging' woman

And in a poll of 302 secondary school pupils 19% of young women and 34% of young men don't think being forced to have sex is rape.

By Louise O'Connell