Half of Estonians victims of domestic violence: survey

(TALLINN) - Almost half of Estonians have fallen victim to domestic violence, ranging from verbal abuse to sexual assault and beatings, a study published Monday in the Baltic state said.

The national statistics office said its research found that 49 percent of Estonians, both women and men, aged 15-74 have suffered some form of either physical or emotional abuse at some point.

"The results indicate that abuse by an intimate partner is a far bigger problem in Estonia than previously thought," statistics office expert Merle Paats told AFP.

Forty-eight percent said that physical and emotional violence went hand in hand, while 31 percent said they had faced purely emotional abuse and 21 percent only physical, Paats added.

The study also found that among women seven percent said they had been sexually assaulted by their partner.

Domestic violence was a largely taboo subject when Estonia was part of the Soviet Union and in the years immediately after independence in 1991. But the issue has been spotlighted in recent years following cases involving public figures.

"There are no comparative studies on abuse by an intimate partner available so far for all European Union member states," Paats noted, adding that moves were under way to research the problem in a standard fashion across the 27-nation bloc.

Spain, due to take over the rotating six-month EU presidency in January, says it plans to introduce pan-European measures to combat domestic violence, in line with its landmark national legislation.