Use of domestic violence services increased by 14% in 2020, official figures reveal

The use of services related to domestic violence increased by 14% in 2020 compared to the previous year, figures released by the National Statics Office (NSO) show.

The NSO said that in 2020 2,919 persons made use of services related to domestic violence, 79% of them being women.

As in the previous year, the primary services used by persons experiencing domestic violence were the Domestic Violence Unit within Agenzija Appogg with 2,324 registered cases and the police department with 1,820 individual reports.

In 2020, more than half of the total cases registered across all services involved persons aged over 40. The majority, almost 87%, were cases involving Maltese nationals.

Over 90% of cases registered during 2020 by the shelters and the DVU were of persons who had experienced psychological violence.

Of the cases registered by the police during 2020, slightly more than 60% were of persons experiencing psychological violence, while almost 38% reported physical violence.

The ‘Stop!’ programme, which Agenzija Appogg runs, registered 107 cases dealing with perpetrators of domestic violence, while the Department of Probation and Parole registered 57 cases.

For both service providers, most cases involved male perpetrators, with only eight cases involving female perpetrators.

The majority of perpetrators were aged between 30 and 49.

When looking at services targeting perpetrators, 2020 saw a total of 153 individuals using one or more services, with 145 males and eight females.