9 in 10 domestic violence victims never seek help: survey

(123rf)

More than 90 percent of those who were assaulted by their spouses or lovers said they had never asked for outside help, and more than half said they did not fight back, a government survey showed Wednesday.

The percentage of people who have experienced any kind of violence by a spouse or a co-habitant partner -- including physical, sexual, economic, and emotional violence -- was 7.6 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from the 2019 survey, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

The triennial survey on domestic violence was conducted between August and November 2022 on 9,062 randomly selected men and women aged over 19. The percentage of female respondents was 65.9 percent.

By type of violence, 6.6 percent of female respondents suffered from emotional violence, 3.7 percent from sexual violence, 1.3 percent from physical violence and 0.7 percent from economic violence, which refers to a type of aggression inflicted through one's use of economic power or control to exploit, manipulate or oppress others. As for male domestic violence victims, 4.7 percent of them suffered from emotional violence, 1 percent from physical violence, 0.8 percent from sexual violence and 0.2 percent from economic violence.

When asked how they responded to the violence, 53.3 percent said they had not make any responses, up from 45.6 percent three years ago. About the reason for not responding, 25.6 percent said “the degree of the violence was not serious” while 14.2 percent answered, “because it was my fault.”

When asked about their experience of asking for outside help, 93.2 percent of the respondents said they had never asked for any type of help. In the case of seeking help, not many sought help from official institutions or victim support organizations. Of those who asked for a help, 3.9 percent turned to family or relatives, 3.3 percent to neighbors or friends, 1.2 percent to a national domestic violence hotline for women, 0.8 percent to police and 0.3 percent to other domestic violence counseling centers.

Of the respondents raising children under the age of 18, 11.7 percent said they had committed violence against their own children, down from the 2019 survey’s 27.6 percent. The survey showed that the domestic violence between parents have negative influence on raising children, as 25.7 percent of respondents with an abusive spouse or partner said they in turn committed violence against their children. The percentage of respondents who experienced no violence from their spouses and partners but said to have committed violence against their children stood at 10.5 percent.

Releasing the report, the Gender Ministry said it would raise the awareness of victims' support organizations through a campaign, and expand housing support to victims of domestic violence, which was originally provided only to stalking victims. The ministry also plans to strengthen links with institutions specializing in child abuse to protect children exposed to domestic violence.

By Lee Jung-youn(jy@heraldcorp.com)