Emotional abuse: Data shows victims share key characteristics

One in four women and one in six men have experienced partner emotional abuse since the age of 15.

Single parents, people with an intellectual or psychological disability, and those experiencing financial stress are more likely to be victims, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says.

Data shows an estimated 2.2 million adult women (23 per cent) and 1.4 million adult men (16 per cent) have experienced emotional abuse by a partner at some point since the age of 15.

Of the females, 6.1 per cent (575,400 people) are being abused by a current partner. For men the percentage is lower at 5.2 per cent (473,600 people).

The ABS has conducted a new analysis of a Personal Safety Survey report from 2016, and National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics director, Will Milne, said it's shedding further light on experiences of partner emotional abuse, commonly known as coercive control.

The analysis also found childhood experiences of abuse and exposure to violence, increased the risk of experiencing partner emotional abuse later in life.

"Women and men who experienced childhood abuse or witnessed parental violence as a child, were about twice as likely to experience partner emotional abuse in their adulthood," Mr Milne said.

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The rate was highest for women who were both physically and sexually abused as a child.

"They were three times more likely to experience partner emotional abuse in adulthood [57 per cent], than women who did not experience childhood abuse [18 per cent]," Mr Milne said.

Those who experienced emotional abuse were more likely to have also experienced other forms of domestic violence.

"We found that over half of women [58 per cent] and a quarter of men [26 per cent] who experienced partner emotional abuse, had also experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner. The rate of partner violence was over eight times higher than for those who had not experienced emotional abuse," Mr Milne said.

Emotional abuse, also commonly referred to as coercive control, occurs when a person is subjected to certain behaviours or actions aimed at preventing or controlling their behaviour, causing them emotional harm or fear.

These behaviours are characterised in nature by their intent to manipulate, control, isolate or intimidate the person they are aimed at.

They are generally repeated behaviours and include psychological, social, financial (also known as economic abuse), and verbal abuse. Examples include: