The large-scale relationship survey conducted by Statistics Estonia reveals that 33% of men, that is, one in three men in Estonia, have experienced intimate partner violence during their lifetime.
Jana Bruns, project manager at Statistics Estonia, said that, according to the survey, 32% of men aged 18–74 have experienced psychological violence, 8% physical violence, and 1% sexual violence. Experience of violence is the most common among younger men aged 18–29 (39%), and the least common among older men aged 65–74 (24%).
Psychological violence is the biggest problem
“20% of men say that their interaction with another woman has led to the man’s partner becoming angry or having unfounded suspicions of infidelity. A similar share of men (17%) have felt degraded, humiliated or insulted by their partner, either in private or in front of other people,” said Bruns, citing the survey results.
A somewhat smaller share of men (13%) say that their partner has restricted their contact with friends or stopped them from pursuing their hobbies, for example. Men also mentioned having their movements monitored by their partner (9%), and being deliberately frightened or intimidated, for example, by their partner yelling or breaking things (9%).
Two thirds of ever-partnered men have experienced psychological violence by a former intimate partner and one third by their current partner. The share of men who have experienced psychological violence by both a former and the current partner or by several former partners is smaller (10%).
Most men have experienced psychological violence once in their lifetime
or on rare occasions (60%). Less than 5% of men suffer frequent or constant psychological violence. “The statistics indicate that, in general, men decide to break off violent relationships, as just 1.5% of men have experienced frequent violence by their current partner,” noted Bruns.
In addition to psychological violence, men also suffer physical violence. “6% of men say that their partner has deliberately thrown something at them or slapped them, so that the victim was hurt or felt threatened. 4% of the respondents say that they have been pushed or shoved or had their hair pulled by their partner. 3% of men say that their partner has deliberately punched or kicked them or hit them with a hard object,” said Bruns.
If men have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, they have also been physically harmed in nearly a third of such cases.
Men avoid talking about problems
The relationship survey also studied various factors that decrease or increase the likelihood of violence. For example, the results show that the occurrence of violence is not influenced by where a man lives (i.e. whether he lives in a rural or urban area).
“There is one influential factor, namely educational attainment – the lower a man’s level of education, the greater the likelihood of him having experienced intimate partner violence. Also, unemployed men experience intimate partner violence slightly more frequently than employed men, although the shares are quite similar – respectively, 37% and 34%,” said Bruns.
Relationship dynamics are also affected by the use of various intoxicating substances.
Men admitted that, in the case of violence perpetrated by the current partner or by a former partner, nearly 40% of the incidents occurred when the partner was intoxicated. According to the survey, in about 30% of the cases, the victim was also intoxicated at the time of the incident.
“The results show that, even if men have problems, they tend not to talk about these. They do not go to the police with their problems,” said Bruns. She added that men prefer to resolve any problems by talking to their partner.
Statistics Estonia will soon publish a news article about domestic violence experienced by women.
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