The continuing challenge that Violence in the Home presents to everyone
in the community should not be underestimated. A recent overview on the
prevalence of Violence in the Home, documented findings from the main
official national studies and surveys on Violence in the Home in the
EU countries:

• 40 per cent of women have suffered several acts of violence
  within their family environment' (Belgium);
• 22 per cent of all married and cohabiting women have been victims
  of physical or sexual violence or threats of violence from their present
  partners; this increased to 50 per cent 'for all women who had lived in
  a relationship which had already ended' (Finland);
• 20.8 per cent of women were 'subjected to physical violence by a
  partner at some time in their lives' (Netherlands);
• 43 per cent of acts of violence against women 'took place in a
  private setting, primarily the family' (Portugal);
• 46 per cent of all crimes of violence committed against women were
  domestic in origin (UK).

Here in Ireland we know from a 1995 national survey that:

• 18 per cent of all women have reported suffering physical attacks
  from their partners;
• 59 per cent of women have reported knowing a woman who had
  experienced male violence in the home;
• 36 per cent of women respondents in a survey of doctors' surgeries
  in north-east Dublin reported suffering Violence in the Home.

It is well known that because of the huge level of under-reporting about
violence in the home, official study figures like these are only the tip of
the iceberg when it comes to the actual incidence of Violence in the Home.