Home > Statistics > Statistics on offences and coercive measures > 2016 > Domestic violence and intimate partner violence > Violence between married or cohabiting couples made up 40.6 per cent of domestic and intimate partner violence

Published: 31 May 2017

Violence between married or cohabiting couples made up 40.6 per cent of domestic and intimate partner violence

According to Statistics Finland's data, there were 8,800 victims in domestic violence offences recorded by the police in 2016, which is 0.4 per cent down on the previous year. Of victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence, 69.0 per cent were women. Altogether, 40.6 per cent of domestic violence and intimate partner violence was violence between married or cohabiting couples. Among suspects of domestic violence and intimate partner violence, 77.9 per cent were men. One-quarter of the victims were underage.

Victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence by sex in 2010 to 2016

Of domestic violence and intimate partner violence recorded in 2016, 40.6 per cent was violence between married or cohabiting couples, which is as high a share as in 2015. Close on one-fifth of domestic violence and intimate partner violence took place between former married or cohabiting couples. The victim was a woman in around 80 per cent of cases of violence between married or cohabiting couples and former married or cohabiting couples. In numbers, violence between married or cohabiting couples and former married or cohabiting couples was on level with the previous year. In 2016, the number of cases reported was 5,200. In these statistics, persons are considered former cohabiting couples if they have lived together in the year preceding the statistical reference year but not in the statistical reference year.

If we look at only domestic violence and intimate partner violence against adults, 34 per cent of cases occurred between married couples, 20.4 per cent between cohabiting couples, 12.9 per cent between former married couples and 12.9 per cent between former cohabiting couples. In all, 80.2 per cent of all domestic violence and intimate partner violence against adults took place between present and former married or cohabiting couples. Among men, the share was 59.7 per cent and among women 86.9 per cent. The number of male victims was 950 and that of female victims 4,300.

Around one-half of attempted homicides and aggravated assaults were directed towards men. When the victim was a man, one-half of the suspects were men. When a woman was a victim of an aggravated assault or attempted homicide, the suspect was a man in over 90 per cent of the cases. In 2016, there were 303 aggravated assaults or attempted homicides, of which 144 were directed at men.

Victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence 2010 to 2016

Relation between the victim and the suspect/year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Total	5,768	9,660	10,053	8,802	8,245	8,794	8,757
Suspect is the parent of the victim	1,393	1,876	2,311	1,862	1,799	2,315	2,274
Siblings	288	574	572	586	486	505	507
Directed by a child at his or her parent	289	510	505	469	487	470	502
Between spouses, total	2,469	4,444	4,424	3,805	3,572	3,581	3,554
...Spouse	1,548	2,780	2,765	2,387	2,196	2,105	2,219
...Co-habiting partner	921	1,664	1,659	1,418	1,376	1,476	1,335
Former spouse	530	970	920	873	830	760	843
Former co-habiting partner	606	979	1,014	948	885	915	840
Other person living in the same household	193	307	307	259	186	248	237

Of all recorded domestic violence and intimate partner violence cases, over one-half were assaults and nearly one-quarter petty assaults. Good 14 per cent of all cases were menaces and nearly two per cent sexual exploitations of a child. Of the suspects, close on one-half were under the influence of alcohol or some other intoxicant at the time of committing the offence. Slightly over one-half of domestic violence and intimate partner violence took place between persons living in the same household.

Domestic violence and intimate partner violence by region per 10,000 population in 2015 and 2016

Underage victims

The legislative amendment, which entered into force at the beginning of 2011, considerably increased the number of recorded assault offences. After the legislative amendment, petty assaults on minors or close relatives became officially prosecutable. In addition, at the beginning of April 2015, an amendment to the Child Welfare Act (1302/2014) came into effect, which extended the reporting obligation in cases where an offence against a child's life or health is suspected. In 2016, cases of violence directed by parents against their underage children decreased by 1.3 per cent compared with the previous year. Acts against boys declined by 7.2 per cent and those against girls grew by 5.8 per cent. The amendments also appear to have increased the proportion of women as suspects of all domestic violence and intimate partner violence. In 2010, the proportion of women suspected of domestic violence and intimate partner violence was 19.6 per cent, and in 2016 the corresponding proportion was 22.1 per cent.

Around one-third of violence directed by parents against their children was carried out by women. The share of violence performed by women was, however, the higher the younger the child victim is. When the victim was under six years old, the suspect was a woman (the child's mother) in 35.5 per cent of cases. When the victim was aged between 15 and 17, the suspect was a woman in 30.2 per cent of cases. The absolute numbers are relatively small, so even the slightest changes can have a big effect on the percentage shares.

Violence directed at underage children by their parents 2016

Victim's age/person suspected	Male		Female		Person suspected total
	Number	%	Number	%	Number
0 - 6	521	64.4	288	35.5	809
7 - 14	679	63.8	385	36.1	1,064
15 - 17	164	69.7	71	30.2	235
Total	1,364	64.7	744	35.2	2,108

Recurrence of domestic violence and intimate partner violence

In 2009 to 2016, there were 4,200 victims of domestic and intimate partner violence that, according to the police, have been victims of domestic and intimate partner violence in at least two different years and 830 in three different years. Women made up 75 per cent of those having become victims in two years and 84 per cent in three years. There were 580 underage persons that had been victims in several years.

A person can also be a victim of domestic violence and intimate partner violence several times in one year. In 2016, there were 8,800 cases of domestic violence and intimate partner violence with 6,900 different victims. Around 1,250 of the victims were persons, who had been the victim of domestic violence and intimate partner violence more than once in 2016.

The age and sex distribution of victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence differs from the general age and sex distribution of victims of violent offences. In 2016, the victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence were women in 69.0 per cent of cases, while, in general, the victims of violent offences were women in 45.7 per cent of cases. Only among victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence aged under 15, the victim was a man more often than a woman. In general, the victims of violent offences are more often men than women. Further information can be found in the appendix table.

Data material

The domestic violence and intimate partner violence data were formed based on register data. Information about domicile, family status and children, parents, spouses and registered partnerships has been combined for the victim and suspect from Statistics Finland's data. It has been established whether the victim and suspect are cohabiting based on family status and domicile data. The register data are from the statistical reference year. The data also take into consideration cases where the victim and suspect have been cohabiting in the year preceding the statistical reference year. All offences that were reported in the statistical reference year are included, so the offence can have taken place in an earlier year. In addition to sexual offences in Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code and offences against life and health in Chapter 21, offences related to domestic violence and intimate partner violence include deprivation of personal liberty (Criminal Code, Chapter 25, Sections 1 to 2), menace (Chapter 25, Section 7), stalking (Chapter 25, Section 7a), and coercion (Chapter 25, Section 8).

The statistics on Offences known to the police and on Coercive measures were combined in March 2015. Data released prior to that can be found on the old home pages of the statistics. The web pages of the statistics on Offences known to the police: http://www.tilastokeskus.fi/til/polrik/index_en.html and of the statistics on Coercive measures: http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/pkei/index_en.html

Source: Statistics on offences and coercive measures 2016, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kimmo Haapakangas 029 551 3252, kimmo.haapakangas@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Tables

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Age and sex of victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence compared withthe victims of certain violent offences 2016 (31.5.2017)

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Updated 31.5.2017