Chapter 5: Create and develop sustainable places and communities

Mental health

Short term and long term impacts include anger, frustration, decreased self-esteem, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and a loss of identity.

Physical harm 

Victims' physical health can suffer as they're likely to engage in harmful behaviours such as smoking, substance misuse and poor eating habits.

Negative employment, educational and financial impacts 

Victims may miss school or work, struggle to find and maintain employment or be forced to incur debt by their perpetrator. There are links between lack of financial independence and sustained levels of domestic abuse, meaning this is a barrier to victims leaving an abusive situation.

Homelessness 

Violence, especially domestic abuse can lead to homelessness for women and children as they lose their home due to lack of income or they flee their home to find safety.

Negative impact on children and family 

Being exposed to violence and adversity in the household can affect a child's educational attainment, mental health and likelihood of engaging in risky behaviours, such as smoking, substance use, violence victimisation and perpetration later in life.

Children are particularly affected by violence. 62% of children who live with domestic abuse are directly harmed by the perpetrator.
(CAADA. (2014). CAADA Insights 2: In plain sight: The evidence from children exposed to domestic abuse)

This is in addition to the harm that is caused for children when they witness the abuse of others. In Gateshead between April and June 2022, there were 1,532 domestic abuse incidents reported to Northumbria Police and 42% of these incidents had children involved.
(Gateshead Council. (2022) Local Data (unpublished).)

Abuse in childhood also increases the risk of cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted infections, substance use, and a wide range of health conditions that are currently stretching health care resources.
(Save the Children. (2022). Gender roles can create lifelong cycle of inequality)

Domestic abuse

The crime survey for England and Wales (March 2022) estimated that around 5% of adults aged 16 years and over (2.4million) experienced domestic abuse in the last year. 10.4million adults had experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 years, which is about 22 in 100 adults.
(ONS. (2022). Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2022)

An estimated 6.9% of women (1.7 million) and 3.0% of men (699,000) experienced domestic abuse in the last year.
(ONS. (2022). Domestic abuse victim characteristics, England and Wales: year ending March 2022.)

Domestic abuse levels are higher in the North East compared with England, with 7.1% of women and 1.0% of men reporting domestic abuse. The gap for reported domestic abuse by gender is greater in the North East compared with national figures. Domestic abuse has also been increasing in Gateshead.
(Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. (2023) Public health profiles.)

 
Domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes (Crude rate per 1,000)

Since 2010, the local domestic abuse service has been provided by Gateshead Council. We have a Domestic Abuse Team which supports clients of all ages, both genders, and delivers direct support to children and young people. Support is available via this team to people who are 'high' or 'medium' risk. The Gateshead Targeted Family Support or partner agencies support those people and their families who are of 'standard' risk.

The number of referrals to our Domestic Abuse Team has increased by 6.20% from 2021 to 2022, where the team is averaging 35 referrals a week. The Police submit 69% of all referrals. There is also a high number of self-referrals through a 24 hour telephone helpline. Of all of the female referrals, 93% are for those aged 15-49 and 7% are aged 50 and above.
(Gateshead Council. (2022) Local Data (unpublished).)

4.8% of women in England and Wales experienced partner abuse in the year ending March 2022, compared with 2.1% of men.117 While all intimate partner violence is under reported, some forms can be particularly hidden. For example, there are estimated to be at least 5,000 to 8,000 reported cases of forced marriage in England each year. This occurs when one, or both, spouses do not (or cannot) consent to the marriage and pressure is involved. Around 85% of such cases involve female victims, who can suffer domestic abuse, rape, damage to mental wellbeing and other harms. Attempts to avoid or escape forced marriage by the person can be met with serious, sometimes fatal, violence. In 2020, the Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support to 12 people in the North East region. This is equivalent to 2% of all reported cases of forced marriage in the UK.
(Home Office. (2021). Forced Marriage Unit Statistics 2020)

Public safety

A Plan International UK survey (2018) found that one in four girls aged 14-21 have experienced verbal harassment, including sexual comments in public places, at least once a month.
(Plan International (2020). The state of girls' rights in the UK 2019-2020)

Another study found that two out of three women aged 16 to 34 years had experienced one form of harassment in the previous 12 months. 

One in four of women aged 16 to 34 years had experienced catcalls, whistles, unwanted sexual comments or jokes in the previous 12 months, while one in three had felt like they were being followed. National data shows that one in three women felt unsafe walking alone after dark, in comparison to one in 10 men.
(ONS. (2021). Perceptions of personal safety and experience of harassment, Great Britain: 16 February to 13 March 2022.)

Overall victimisation rates for boys and girls in the past 12 months are similar: 15% boys and 14% girls. However, the type of violence by gender results in large differences. Girls were nearly five times more likely to be the victims of sexual assault compared to boys. Boys were much more likely to be the victims of robbery.

When crimes take place online, it's easier for perpetrators to remain unknown and they can carry out their abuse from anywhere. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found that girls are more likely than boys to be victims of online-facilitated child sexual abuse.

When we look at the criminal justice system from a gender perspective, we can see that for arrests, prosecutions, convictions, remanded in magistrates' court, immediate custodial sentence and prison population, there is a higher percentage of males compared with females.

% chart -Proportions of males and females throughout the Criminal Justice System, 2021
(Ministry of Justice. (2022). National Statistics. Women and the Criminal Justice System 2021.)