Leeway, a shelter from domestic abuse

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Statistics

How Common Is Domestic Abuse?

1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime and in the UK 2 women are murdered a week by a partner or ex-partner.

• Domestic abuse is the largest cause of death worldwide in women aged 19-44, greater than war, cancer or motor vehicle accidents
• It has more repeat victims than any other crime.
• On average a victim will have been assaulted 35 times before she will call the police.
• The police receive a call from the public for assistance because of domestic abuse every minute. (Stanko, 2000)
• 40% of all homeless women stated that domestic abuse was a contributor to their homelessness (Shelter, 2002)
• In a British Crime Survey of 2005/6 there were 357,000,000 incidents of domestic abuse (Home Office, July 2006)
• 1 in 5 couples who seek help through Relate mentioned domestic abuse as an issue in their marriage (Stanko, 2000)
• 54% of rapes reported in the British Crime Survey in 2001 were perpetrated by current or ex-partners.