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Adults underestimate risk of abuse posed to women by ex-partners, UK data shows

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 691 words · By Priya Bharadia
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What to know about Adults underestimate risk of abuse posed to women by ex-partners, UK data shows

The risk posed to women by ex-partners in cases of abuse is underestimated by large swathes of the British public, according to the charity Refuge.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left14%
Center86%
Right0%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The risk posed to women by ex-partners in cases of abuse is underestimated by large swathes of the British public, according to the charity Refuge.

Why it matters

Data from the charity’s helpline found that 42% of people who call Refuge for help identify a former partner as their abuser, a statistic which underlines how common it is for an ex to be a cause of harm after a relationship has ended.

Common ground

Despite this, a survey of the wider national population found that many UK adults did not name a former partner as a probable culprit in ongoing abuse.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/30/adults-underestimate-risk-of-abu…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7
verified Verified By Reference 3
schedule Pending 1
help
Claim 1: “Charlotte Eastop stated that a 'huge proportion' of calls came from victims of post-separation abuse.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in any sources to confirm Charlotte Eastop's statements about post-separation abuse calls.
help
Claim 2: “Sasha’s ex-partner used metadata from photos to geolocate her street and track down her home.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in any sources to support claims about Sasha's ex-partner using metadata for geolocation.
help
Claim 3: “Sasha’s ex-partner followed her to family events and community gatherings with her son, including the Notting Hill carnival.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in any sources to confirm attendance at Notting Hill carnival by Sasha's ex-partner.
help
Claim 4: “Abusers may use family courts to 'constantly and subtly bend' court-ordered agreements.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in any sources to support claims about abusers manipulating family court agreements.
verified
Claim 5: “Coercive and controlling behaviour became an offence in England and Wales in 2015.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries on Clare's Law and controlling behavior do not mention criminalization of coercive behavior in 2015.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Clare's Law, often known officially as a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme or similar, designates several ways for police officers to disclose a person's history of abusive behaviour to those who ma…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare's_Law
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Controlling behavior in relationships are behaviors exhibited by an individual who seeks to gain and maintain control over another person. Abusers often utilize tactics such as intimidation or coercio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlling_behavior_in_relati…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and does not always involve physical violence…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marital_rape
verified
Claim 6: “YouGov data commissioned by Refuge found that 71% of UK adults identified that a woman is most likely to be abused by somebody she knows, of which 12% recognised an ex-partner as the most likely abuser.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia results for UK-related topics do not include data about public perceptions of abuse perpetrators.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — .uk is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom. It was first registered in July 1985, seven months after the original generic top-level domains such as .com and the f…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.uk
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Reform UK, often known simply as Reform, is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It is placed on the right-wing to far-right on the political spectrum, and has been described a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_UK
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It compr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom
help
Claim 7: “The risk posed to women by ex-partners in cases of abuse is underestimated by large swathes of the British public, according to the charity Refuge.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to support or refute the claim about public underestimation of ex-partner abuse risks.
help
Claim 8: “Post-separation abuse was criminalised through the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and came into force in April 2023.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia to confirm the Domestic Abuse Act 2021's implementation date.
schedule
Claim 9: “Post-separation abuse is a criminal offence, but more training is needed for police and judiciary members.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 10: “Data from the charity’s helpline found that 42% of people who call Refuge for help identify a former partner as their abuser.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries retrieved are unrelated to Refuge helpline data; no evidence confirms or denies the 42% statistic.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Refuge is a place or state of safety. It may also refer to a more specific meaning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In Buddhism, refuge or taking refuge refers to a religious practice which often includes a prayer or recitation performed at the beginning of the day or of a practice session. Its object is typically …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge_in_Buddhism
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The imagery of the Refuge Tree, also referred to as Refuge Assembly, Refuge Field, Merit Field, Field of Merit or Field of Accumulation (Tibetan: ཚོགས་ཞིང་།, Wylie: tshogs zhing) is a key part of a vi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge_tree
help
Claim 11: “Sasha’s ex-partner made threats of suicide and laughed when she checked on him.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in any sources to verify threats of suicide or laughter by Sasha's ex-partner.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.