Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice is the largest independent advice provider in the United Kingdom.

The organisation provides assistance across a number of aspects of life, including financial, legal, and consumer topics as well as working to improve public policy.

The Challenge

Following changes to the laws around domestic abuse in the UK, we were commissioned by Citizens Advice to conduct polling among the British public to explore their understanding and experience of, and attitudes towards domestic abuse.

Our approach

We interviewed 2,063 British adults online, weighting the data set to be representative of British adults aged 18+.

The research found that just 1 in 5 people (22%) think it is always easy to tell what counts as domestic abuse, and that people are more than twice as likely to say that domestic abuse can be psychological than financial, with only 2 in 5 (39%) aware of the financial side of abuse compared to four in five (86%) who are aware of the psychological side.

The outcome

Citizens Advice used the research findings in their report ‘A link in the chain’, which looks at the role of informal networks (friends, family, colleagues and neighbours) in recognising and supporting victims of domestic abuse.

This is included in a series of publications in which Citizens Advice explores the role of civil society in minimising domestic abuse.