Reported cases of domestic violence on rise

A total of 9,900 cases of domestic and intimate partner violence were reported to the authorities in 2018, posting a 3.6 per cent rise year on year, according to the data of Statistics Finland.

Half of the domestic violence and intimate partner violence directed at adults took place between married or cohabiting couples.

Of the adult victims, 76.5 per cent were women. Of all the victims, 24.4 per cent were minors and the age of 0.3 per cent is unknown.

Of all the suspects, 77.6 per cent were men. The statistics include only the cases reported to the authorities. By no means all cases of domestic and intimate partner violence are reported to the authorities.

In all, 37.5 per cent cases of domestic and intimate partner violence recorded in 2018 was violence between married or cohabiting couples, which is 1.4 percentage points higher than in 2017. The share has been decreasing from 2009, when it was 44.7 per cent. In 2018, one-sixth of domestic and intimate partner violence took place between former married or cohabiting couples. In slightly over 80 per cent of the cases of violence between married or cohabiting couples and former married or cohabiting couples the victims were women. Violence between married or cohabiting couples and former married or cohabiting couples increased by close on 200 cases (3.8 per cent) from the previous year.

In 2018, the reported number of such cases was 5,400. 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.

The number of recorded cases of domestic and intimate partner violence directed by parents against their underage children has increased. In 2018, a total of 2,400 cases of violence directed by parents against their underage children were recorded, which is 24.3 per cent of all the recorded cases of domestic violence. The growth in the number of such cases from 2017 was 200. Close on 500 cases of violence between siblings were recorded. In one-quarter of such cases, the victims were minor.