Who can experience domestic abuse?

Anyone can be a victim

Domestic abuse is overwhelmingly experienced by women and perpetrated by men, but can also happen in same sex relationships, male as well as female. It doesn’t matter how old someone is, whatever their race or ethnicity or sexual identity, what class, whether or not they are disabled, or if they have children – anyone can be a victim of abuse and controlling behaviour, which can continue even after the relationship has ended.

One in five women in Scotland will experience domestic abuse in the course of her life, young women being the most vulnerable. The most recent Police Scotland report records 60,000 incidents of domestic abuse; four out of five of its victims are women. Worldwide, 30% of all women experience domestic abuse. Small wonder the World Health Organisation has described violence against women as a “global health problem of epidemic proportions”.