Female students consider sexual abuse as the worst form of domestic violence, in contrast to male students who view physical abuse as the most serious, according to a survey released yesterday.
The survey suggests the need for further awareness since young women might feel offended by certain sexual behaviour that men might not consider as such.
As a result, the report says there needs to be more education on the repercussions of sexual abuse, especially among young men.
The report recommends further studies to extract a better picture of the situation, saying that cases of violence are underreported, especially among young people.
In total, 399 young people between the age of 16 and 22 in post-secondary and tertiary education took part in this survey.
It formed part of the No To Violent Relationships campaign led by the Malta Girl Guides in conjunction with Aġenzija Żgħażagħ and the National Council for Women.
The aim of this exercise was to investigate the perceptions of young people on sexual, physical, verbal, and other kinds of abuse.
Sexual abuse topped the list with 55 per cent of respondents, followed by physical abuse and verbal abuse. However, twice as many females as males considered sexual violence worse than physical abuse.
On the other hand, the report says that even though males are conscious that physical abuse is unacceptable, they might underestimate how females feel about their sexual approach.
67%
proportion of student respondents who would keep a case of abuse under wraps
Young people were also asked for their views about the factors that lead to violent relationships.
A third of respondents mentioned low self-esteem, whereas one in every five said some people may actually feel they “deserve being mistreated or hurt”.
Both men and women said the boyfriend is the most susceptible perpetrator of physical violence, followed by peers and by people in higher positions.
The majority of respondents, or 39 per cent, said that abuses should be reported to the police since they constitute a crime, whereas a third would reports such cases to social workers. Sixty seven per cent said they would keep a case of abuse under wraps if they feared consequences from the perpetrator.