Whole Lives Scotland: National survivor survey

Identifying barriers to accessing domestic abuse services

The National Survivor Survey is a key part of the Whole Lives Scotland project’s aim to amplify the voices of survivors of domestic abuse in Scotland.

Conducted between December 2019 and March 2020, we aimed to reach victims and survivors in Scotland who had never accessed specialist support, as well as those who had. We wanted to identify barriers to service access, asking survivors what they needed in their journeys to safety and wellbeing.

We received responses from 246 people from all 32 local authority areas in Scotland, via several methods including an online survey. This report presents analysis of 279 adult victims and survivors of partner abuse in Scotland who answered our online survey.

65%
of survivors developed mental health needs

as a result of the domestic abuse
31%
had disclosed to a work colleague

about the abuse
38%
disclosed to a GP about the abuse at some point

However only 2.4% of survivors who accessed a specialist service were referred by a GP

Key findings

Survivors experienced two types of domestic abuse on average with 96% experiencing mental or emotional abuse
Survivors experienced domestic abuse for an average of 5 and a half years
65% of survivors developed mental health needs as a result of the domestic abuse
The majority of survivors had told someone about the domestic abuse – but experienced abuse for four years on average before telling someone
31% of survivors had accessed a specialist domestic abuse service
Survivors who didn’t access a specialist domestic abuse service still disclosed to three people
The most common barriers identified were not being aware of the support available and feelings of shame and embarrassment

Whole Lives Scotland: National survivor survey

of survivors developed mental health needs

had disclosed to a work colleague

disclosed to a GP about the abuse at some point

Key findings

Whole Lives Scotland

Whole Lives Scotland report

SafeLives Scotland