How many people fall victim to domestic violence?
In March and April 2020, 1.2 million Dutch people aged 16 years or older (8 percent) reported having been victims of domestic violence in the previous 12 months. For 820 thousand of them, this domestic violence was structural in nature; they experienced it (almost) daily, weekly or monthly. Sexual violence – inside or outside the domestic circle – affected 1.6 million over-16s. This was of a structural nature for 185 thousand of them. This is shown in the Prevalence Monitor on Domestic and Sexual Violence, which CBS carried out at the request of the Research and Document Centre (WODC).
Coercive control most common form of domestic violence
Domestic violencenoot1 includes physical violence, coercive control, stalking by an ex-partner or sexual violence committed by someone within the domestic circle, i.e. a family member, relative or (ex)partner. Coercive control, with 5 percent, was most common among over-16snoot2, followed by physical violence (4 percent) and stalking by an ex-partner (1 percent). One percent were victims of sexual violence in the home. Women aged 16 years or older were more often victims of domestic violence than their male peers. This applies to nearly all forms of domestic violence.
| Huiselijk geweld | Total | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total domestic violence | 8.3 | 9.2 | 7.3 |
| Coercive control | 4.8 | 5.4 | 4.2 |
| Physical violence | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.4 |
| Stalking by een ex-partner | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.0 |
| Sexual violence | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.6 |
Domestic violence particularly affects young adults and decreases with age. For example, 24 percent of 16 and 17‑year-olds and 18 percent of 18 to 23‑year-olds said they had been victims of some form of domestic violence, compared with 3 percent of over-65s. Women are slightly more frequently victims than men: 9 percent compared to 7 percent, respectively. In all forms of domestic violence, the perpetrator is more often male than female.
Seventy percent of domestic violence is structural
For approximately 70 percent of the over-16s (820 thousand) who experienced domestic violence, this was structural, i.e. occurring (almost) daily, weekly or monthly.
Twice as many women as men victims of sexual violence
1.6 million people over the age of 16 (11 percent) reported that they had been victims of sexual violencenoot3, and for 185 thousand of them this was structural in nature. In the case of more than 1.5 million victims of domestic violence, the violence was perpetrated by someone outside the domestic circle.
Women (15 percent) are more often victims than men (7 percent). Five percent of women indicated they had been confronted with physical sexual violence, 11 percent with non-physical sexual harassment and 7 percent with online sexual harassment. Among men, the figures were 2, 3 and 4 percent, respectively. The perpetrator was more often male than female.
| Seksueel geweld | Total | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total sexual violence | 10.9 | 15.1 | 6.7 |
| Non-physical sexual harrassment | 6.8 | 10.5 | 3.1 |
| Online sexual harrassment | 5.4 | 6.7 | 4.1 |
| Physical sexual assault | 3.3 | 5.0 | 1.5 |
Sexual violence is more common among young people than among older people: 26 percent of people aged 16 and 17 years old were affected by sexual violence compared to 30 percent of those aged between 18 and 23, and 3 percent of people aged 65 and over. Almost half (47 percent) of women aged 18 to 23 have experienced some form of sexual violence, compared to 13 percent of men of the same age.
The questions
- How are figures calculated by CBS?
- How many dwellings in the Netherlands?
- How fast is the Dutch population growing?
- How tall are Dutch people?
- How many farm animals are there in the Netherlands?
- Which jobs often cause a poor work-life balance?
- How many diamond wedding couples are there?
- How much energy is from renewable sources?
- How many people fall victim to domestic violence?
- How many people use the Internet of Things?
- What are the major religions?
- What are the most popular majors?
- What do people die of on an average day?
- How much water do we consume?
- What do we buy online?
- How are the various animal species doing?
- How many under-23s receive youth assistance?
- Which flower bulbs are most common?
- How many companies in the Netherlands?
- Where do Caribbean Dutch children live?
- How do we use our land?
- How many electric cars are driving around?
- Which jobs have the highest levels of mental fatigue?
- How much nitrogen is emitted at livestock farms?
- How many workers belong to a trade union?
- How much have food prices gone up?
- Where were people in the Caribbean Netherlands originally born?
- How many families are at risk of poverty?
- How sustainable is our behaviour?
- What do we import from China?
- How many girls become teenage mothers?
- Has our purchasing power gone up or down?
- How many adults smoke?
- How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
- How many tourists stay overnight in the Netherlands?
- How does CBS handle your privacy?
Noten
Domestic violence
The term ‘domestic’ refers to the relationship to the perpetrator, not to the location where the incident took place. Incidents therefore do not necessarily have to have taken place at home.
Forms of domestic violence
Physical violence ranges from threats of physical pain or beating to attempted suffocation. Coercive control occurs when one person strongly dominates and controls the other. This ranges from belittling/humiliating or constantly checking someone’s movements, to forbidding contact with family and friends. Stalking by an ex-partner involves repeated and deliberate harassment by him or her. Verbal aggression within the domestic circle is not counted as domestic violence because it is doubtful whether this form of aggression, which occurs frequently, always involves violence.
Research among over-16s
These data come from a sample survey of more than 30 thousand people aged 16 or older who were asked by CBS via internet in the period March-April 2020 about their experiences of domestic and sexual violence in the previous 12 months.
In mid-March, the first coronavirus pandemic lockdown was announced. These data could not be used to investigate a possible increase or decrease in domestic and sexual violence in the months of March and April.
Sexual violence
Sexual violence includes non-physical sexual harassment, physical sexual violence and online sexual harassment. Physical sexual violence includes all forms of unwanted sexual physical contact, ranging from unwanted touching to rape. Non-physical and online sexual harassment range from receiving sexual comments (online or otherwise) or being stared at constantly in a sexual manner, to having to witness sexual acts or distribution of sexual images. Sexual violence includes both incidents inside and outside the domestic circle.