Over 200,000 elderly people experienced domestic abuse in 2017/18
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By Abbas Panjwani
Claim
“200,000 elderly are abused by partners”
Daily Mail print edition (p24), 2 October 2019
On Wednesday, Age UK released findings that at least 200,000 people aged 60 to 74 experienced domestic abuse in England and Wales in 2017/18.
In its coverage of the story, the Daily Mail’s print headline claimed that 200,000 elderly people were abused ‘by partners’.
This is not what Age UK’s report says. Age UK looked at data from the Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales. The Crime Survey defines domestic abuse as abuse by a partner OR by a family member.
The Crime Survey estimates that in 2017/18 152,000 people aged 60 to 74 were victims of partner abuse and 66,000 were victims of family abuse.
The main body of the Daily Mail’s article went on to report this correctly.
In all likelihood the number of people experiencing domestic abuse is higher than this, as the Crime Survey does not yet capture the offence of ‘coercive and controlling beha...
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