Developmental plan for the prevention of domestic violence
Katri Eespere
Social Affairs Ministry
April 14, 2007
Definition
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in private life mostly between people who are
in a close relationship, blood relatives, or legally joined together.
Women, men and children can be victims of domestic violence.
Despite the impartial definition, domestic violence is almost always gender specific
where the perpetrator is a man and the victim is a woman.
Domestic violence is a form of behaviour that is abusive and violent, where power and
control is used over another person or persons, causing them physical and/or emotional
injury.
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Social Affairs Ministry’s Developmental Plan for 2008-2011
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The work group was formed in 2006 (ministries, NGOs, etc.)
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Identification of principal problems and activities to solve them
The objective of the Developmental Plan
... is to prevent the spread of domestic violence in Estonia via services and the
development of preventive measures, continuous mapping of the situation, and effective
reaction by the legal system to incidents of domestic violence.
Main problems
1. The uneven quality of, poor accessibility to, and weak sustainability of services.
2. Inadequate knowledge about domestic violence among specialists and the public
at large.
3. Weak cooperation among specialists involved with the subject.
4. Uneven statistics collected by different institutions and deficiency of sociological
studies that regularly map the situation.
5. Judicial problems.
Strategic secondary objectives 2008-2011
1. Availability of quality services to victims of domestic violence.
2. Improved preventive work by increasing the competence of specialists, raising
public awareness and changing attitudes.
3. Improved cooperation among specialists.
4. Continuous mapping of the situation and the problems.
5. Legal system’s effective reaction to incidents of domestic violence.
1. strategic secondary objective: availability of quality services to victims of
domestic violence
 Existence of shelters in at least four regions in Estonia
 Development of diverse services (counselling, support groups, assistance
to perpetrators, etc.)
 24-hour hotline
 Description of the model women’s shelter
2. strategic secondary objective: improved preventive work
 Training for the specialists network
 Instruction (health workers, young families, etc.)
 Addressing the subject at larger forums for target groups (e.g.,
conferences)
 Work with the media
 Information distribution, e.g., about services via different channels
3. strategic secondary objective: improved cooperation among specialists
 Mapping of problems associated with cooperation
 Development of the network
 Regular roundtables
4. strategic secondary objective: continuous mapping of the situation and the
problems
 Different studies (e.g., Estonian Statistics Office’s victims and violence
study, witnesses to violence study, costs of violence study, pregnancy and
postnatal screening to discover violence, etc.)
 Improvement of statistical data collection
5. strategic secondary objective: legal system’s effective reaction to incidents of
domestic violence
 Sympathetic handling of the criminal procedures
 Explanation of the possibility for a restraining order