Around half of Estonians have experienced domestic abuse in some form, yet only a small proportion of people ever reach formal support services. At the same time, approximately 160,000 working-age people undergo occupational health examinations in Estonia every year, many of whom may not otherwise seek help or come into contact with the healthcare system. This creates a unique opportunity to identify domestic abuse and intervene early, helping to build a safer and more violence-free society.
What are we doing?
In partnership with the North Estonia Medical Centre, we are developing what is believed to be the world’s first occupational health model for identifying both victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse. The seven-month pilot project is meant to develop a systematic approach to identifying domestic abuse through Estonia’s occupational health system and develop a model that could eventually be used more widely in violence prevention, both in Estonia and internationally.
As part of the pilot project, we will:
- train occupational health professionals in the fundamentals of domestic abuse and trauma-informed communication;
- develop a set of simple screening questions (3–5 questions) to help identify both people experiencing abuse and those who use violence;
- test the questions during occupational health consultations;
- develop practical guidance and a toolkit for identifying domestic abuse in occupational healthcare;
- collect and analyse feedback from occupational health professionals using a feedback framework developed in cooperation with Praxis.
The project is being carried out in cooperation with international partners from Finland (Miessakit ry) and Norway (Per Isdal and Alternative to Violence).
The pilot project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the President Kaljulaid Foundation.
Project duration: 1 August 2026 – 1 April 2027