Differential disclosure: A comparative analysis of domestic violence reporting in face-to-face and self-completion modes of the Crime Survey for England and Wales

• In Event: Critical Issues in Intimate Partner Violence and Gender-Based Violence

Abstract

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is a vital source of victimisation data in England and Wales, including being the source of official national statistics on domestic violence. In the CSEW, the data for the official national statistics on domestic violence are gathered through a self-completion module asked after the main face-to-face questionnaire. Despite differences in phrasing and the types of violence/abuse covered, some domestic violence data is also collected via the main face-to-face questionnaire. This face-to-face domestic violence data continues to be used by some researchers due to its ability to capture the frequency of violence, which is not possible in the self-completion mode. Existing research indicates that domestic violence disclosure is between four (Walby et al., 2014) to seven (ONS, 2018) times higher in the self-completion compared to the face-to-face questionnaire. The existing analysis is limited in its scope as it does not disaggregate domestic violence by perpetrator type (intimate partner vs. other family member) and does not sufficiently explore how disclosure might differ by victim socio-demographic characteristics. To address this gap, this paper aims to describe the differences in prevalence of domestic violence in the face-to-face and the self-completion mode of the CSEW by perpetrator type and victim socio-demographic characteristics. By doing so it aims to provide an enhanced understanding of which victim sub-groups are more or less likely to be included in secondary analyses of domestic violence using either the face-to-face or self-completion mode of the CSEW.

Author

• Merili Pullerits, City, University of London