A large-scale relationship survey conducted by Statistics Estonia reveals that 33 percent 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 percent of men aged 18-74 have experienced psychological violence, 8 percent physical violence, and 1 percent sexual violence. Experience of violence is the most common among younger men aged 18-29, and the least common among older men aged 65-74.
“20 percent 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 percent, have felt degraded, humiliated or insulted by their partner, either in private or in front of other people,” Bruns said.
A somewhat smaller share of men, 13 percent, say that their partner has restricted their contact with friends or stopped them from pursuing their hobbies, for example. Altogether 9 percent of men also mentioned having their movements monitored by their partner, and being deliberately frightened or intimidated, for example, by their partner yelling or breaking things, also 9 percent.
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 percent.
60 percent of men have experienced psychological violence once in their lifetime or on rare occasions. Less than 5 percent 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 percent of men have experienced frequent violence by their current partner,” Bruns said.
In addition to psychological violence, men also suffer physical violence.
“6 percent 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 percent of the respondents say that they have been pushed or shoved or had their hair pulled by their partner. 3 percent of men say that their partner has deliberately punched or kicked them or hit them with a hard object,” Bruns said.
While men have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, they have also been physically harmed in nearly a third of such cases.
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, that is 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 percent and 34 percent,” Bruns said.
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 percent of the incidents occurred when the partner was intoxicated. According to the survey, in about 30 percent 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,” Bruns said.
She added that men prefer to resolve any problems by talking to their partner.
Source: BNS
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