TALLINN — The recent study determined that 10 percent of the Estonian population — 95,000 people — has been in a violent relationship during the previous year and 49 percent experienced violence by a partner at some point in their life.

Statistics Estonia conducted a research questioning people aged 15-74 to find out how many adults have experienced physical and mental violence in a relationship. Anonymous research was carried out from Nov. 2008 to May 2009.

The research separated physical violence, such as pushing, grabbing, hitting, beating, choking or threatening with a weapon, and mental violence, such as meeting with friends prohibited by the partner, limiting a partner’s leisure time, threats, and intimidation.

Not just women

Research was not focused on violence against women but among couples in general. Merle Paats, head of social studies in Statistics Estonia told that men and women equally experience violence in relationship, because also physical attacks for self defense are included in this study.

However, Paats points out that physical violence among women is more severe — 12 percent of the women but only 2 percent of men experience such violence.

“Also injuries are more serious among women,” Paats told Baltic Reports.

Age played little difference in the amount of physical violence — 56 percent of the people aged 15-50 and 55 percent of the women over 50 years old has suffered violence by their partner. Likewise the study found no significant difference between urban and rural areas or between Estonian and non-Estonian ethinicities.

Position of powerlessness

Kairi Talves, a research fellow at the sociology department of Tartu University said women are repressed by violence in every social-economic group regardless of nationality and that the most important influence by far is alcohol consumption and financial power.

“If a woman is jobless and is anyhow depending on a man, it gives him more power and courage to attack,“ Talves told Baltic Reports.

Talves is concerned that violence is directly affecting children to be violent in the future or to enter into an abusive relationship. In addition, Talves said a lot of women seek help shelters but only 3 to 4 percent turn to the court system. Many don’t ask for help at all.

“Seeking for help is hard also because the society still holds an attitude where the female victim is judged and somehow thought that she is the one guilty,” told Talves. “The sad part is that usually a woman has to leave the home with her children, as their financial possibilities are smaller and the living space usually belongs to a man then it often happens that a woman has to leave.”

Talves said there has been occasions when a woman has asked a court not to sentence her husband to jail so they would have someone to earn a salary. It has also occurred when a woman rescinds the charges.