Data from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) indicates that 16586 cases of domestic violence cases were reported in 2020.

In 2018, 9393 domestic violence cases were reported with the figure rising to 18629 in 2019.

Revealing the data on Joy News' The Law Sunday, DOVVSU Coordinating Director, Chief Supt. Kyeremeh said out of the cases reported in 2020, 913 were emotional abuse cases and 77 were economic cases.

Also, 3731 cases of non-maintenance cases were reported in 2019, with the figure dropping to 1548 in 2020.

According to Mrs Kyeremeh, although the figures dropped in 2020, they are still high and thus there's a cause for concern.

Expounding on what emotional abuse entails, she said "they are certain acts that make another person constantly unhappy, humiliated, ridiculed. The person feels unworthy. It could be by action, insinuation, or words."

She said that it is mostly unemployed women who suffer under the hands of their husbands since they look up to them for support.

"For instance when they [men] have issues with their partners, they would threaten them [wives] in one way or the other. And then you see the person holding knife.

"For instance; if you’re with your partner or children, and then you keep insulting the person. Maybe in public."

Economic abuse she said, is the "Deprivation or threatened deprivation of a property that the person has a material interest. It doesn’t matter if the person does not own the property or didn’t buy the property."

A typical example is when men use their power to overpower their wives or children. For example; "if you annoy me, I won’t pay your school fees. If you tell your parents A, B, C, I won’t do this or that."

Citing these examples of economic and emotional abuse, Mrs Kyeremeh warned victims to look out for the signs and report them to DOVVSU.