Alesha Dixon, Avon’s beauty and empowerment ambassador, joined a group of female and male survivors of domestic violence outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Tuesday. Photo: PA

Many women do not understand what constitutes domestic violence and awareness of the issue, which is shrouded in myth and misunderstanding, is “shockingly low”, charity research in the UK has revealed.

Yet more than half (51 per cent) of the women questioned said they knew or suspected that someone in their life had experienced domestic violence, and two women are killed by current or former partners every week in England and Wales.

The research, part of Avon UK’s Speaking Out In Her Name campaign, in conjunction with Refuge and Women’s Aid, was presented at the Houses of Parliament in the hope that domestic violence will receive the same level of attention as other high-profile issues such as drink-driving.

The three organisations believe that education is key to improving awareness and changing attitudes of future generations.

Alesha Dixon, Avon’s beauty and empowerment ambassador, led a group of women – domestic violence survivors, families of victims and campaigners – across Westminster Bridge on a symbolic walk of hope to commemorate the women who have died as a result of domestic violence.

A survey of 2,000 women aged 16 to 55 revealed a lack of understanding about what domestic violence is, with more than half (56.6 per cent) of women saying they either disagreed or did not know if excessive jealousy counted as domestic violence.

Nearly half (47.4 per cent) either disagreed or did not know if going through a female partner’s private electronic messages counted as domestic violence.

Just over half either disagreed (35.1 per cent) or did not know (16 per cent) whether a partner making all the monetary decisions was domestic violence.

Although physical and sexual violence was widely recognised as domestic violence by the majority of women questioned, there was still a level of uncertainty in younger women.

One in four women will experience domestic violence in their lives, making it the single biggest issue that will affect young women and their peers

One in five (20 per cent) 16- to 18-year-olds did not think or were unsure if pressure from a partner to have sex or do other sexual things constituted domestic violence, while 18 per cent did not think or were unsure if slapping or hitting was a sign of domestic violence.

When asked what they thought they should do if they knew someone was experiencing domestic violence, 70 per cent of the women said they should call a domestic violence helpline.

But when asked what they would do, only 58 per cent said they would do this, and this figure dropped to 45 per cent and 35 per cent respectively in the youngest age groups.

Only 50 per cent of 16- to 18-year-olds said they would know where to go for help if affected by domestic violence.

In contrast, over 90 per cent said they would know where to go for help if they needed contraception, and 77 per cent knew which resources to tap into for mental health issues.

Despite the organisations believing education is key, only seven per cent of the women said their knowledge of domestic violence came from school, rising to 15 per cent of 16- to 18-year-olds.

Dixon said: “One in four women will experience domestic violence in their lives, making it the single biggest issue that will affect young women and their peers.

“Yet the results of research show that awareness of domestic violence is still shockingly low and that’s why it’s so important that we raise awareness about a subject that is too often ignored.”

Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, said: “Refuge has worked hard to bring domestic violence out of the shadows ever since we opened the world’s first refuge in 1971.

“But this issue is still shrouded in myth and misunderstanding. The Government needs to invest in powerful awareness-raising campaigns to change the attitudes that allow violence and fear to darken so many homes up and down the country.

“It is essential that unhealthy attitudes and beliefs about violence against women in all professional and public spheres are challenged and addressed too.

“Changing social attitudes is not an add-on. It is at the very root of preventing and ending domestic violence.”