Spousal psychological and verbal abuse women experience increasingly frequent and severe abuse

In 2014 and 2015, 12.7% of women and 10.5% of men aged 18 - 75 reported having been psychologically or verbally abused by their spouse or ex-spouse during the last two years. They had repeatedly been subjected to demeaning behaviour, displays of jealousy, insults or threats or controlling actions.

This behaviour may have resulted from marital conflicts or psychological abuse. Women were more exposed to different types of abuse (7.8% compared to 5.3% for men) and the risk of being subjected to psychological abuse was higher for them. Finally, they were more often victims of physical or sexual abuse. For women, these cases of abuse were also more frequently accompanied by psychological abuse or verbal assaults.