Fall in domestic abuse victims seeking help in Bournemouth
The Office for National Statistics says cases have dropped since lockdown
Almost half of the women that visited a domestic abuse charity in Bournemouth experienced physical abuse last year.
Although cases of ‘partner abuse’ went down ‘significantly’ across the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, 16% of victims still sustained a physical injury.
Kesch Roff, from Treasure - a non-profit domestic abuse group based in Bournemouth - says sadly many victims still feel unable to leave their abuser.
She told us: “Most people in abuse are under financial control and have no access to money and if you don’t have any money, you can’t rent or stay anywhere else.
“Another reason is that they don’t have any confidence, they’ve been so knocked down and have been repeatedly told ‘You're lucky you've got me, nobody will ever want you’ that they believe that to be true.”
According to the data, almost 9 in 10 women reported non-physical abuse which is seen as “longer lasting” and “more detrimental”.
The domestic abuse group noticed a reduction in reported cases since people have come out of lockdown and “aren’t on top of each other 24/7.”
Recent statistics back this up as across the UK only 3.4% of people between 16 and 59 experienced ‘partner abuse’ last year, down from 4.5% in 2020.
Of those cases, though, there was a child present in almost a third of households at the time of the abuse.
Kesch explained what impact it can have on a young person:
“They could become like the abuser and start to become controlling and abusive and even become the abuser of the victim/parent as well because that's what they've been taught, or they can go the opposite way and become submissive.”