Home → Publications → Reports → Research and public policy series → 56 → Intimate partner violence, severity and correlates of victimisation (in: Women's experiences of male violence : findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS))
Women's experiences of male violence : findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS)
Jenny Mouzos and Toni Makkai
ISBN 0 642 53842 5 ; ISSN 1326-6004
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2004
(Research and public policy series, no. 56)
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Chapter 3 : Intimate partner violence, severity and correlates of victimisation
Physical and sexual violence between intimate partners is neither a new nor a rarely encountered phenomenon. Until relatively recently it was even permitted by law (see High Court case R v L (1991) 174 CLR 379). While the law no longer offers protection to men who beat their wives, there is evidence to suggest that it may still be socially sanctioned. For instance, a national survey in 1995 revealed that about one in five Australians thought that it was acceptable for a man to use physical force against his wife in some circumstances (OSW 1995: 33). Surveys undertaken in various countries indicate that 10-50 per cent of women reported being physically abused by a male partner (Heise et al. 1999). Research has found that violence against women is primarily partner violence rather than violence committed by a stranger (Tjaden & Thoennes 2000).
Domestic violence (also referred to as intimate partner violence) emerged as an issue of concern around the late 1960s and early 1970s (Partnerships Against Domestic Violence 1999). Since then there have been over twenty years of research and practice in Australia concerning domestic violence and other women's issues leading to changes in law, policing practice, justice system processes and increased services for women victims (Bird 2002).
With the recognition of domestic violence as a social problem, a number of city-level studies8 were undertaken to quantify the extent of the problem. Based on a comparison of several data sources (police, hospital and community records, and a crime victimisation survey) an attempt was made to measure the extent of domestic violence in Western Australia between 1993 and 1994 (Ferrante et al. 1996). Findings from this comparative analysis found police recorded a lower incidence of domestic violence than all other sources highlighting the substantial underreporting to police. The predominately private nature of such violence makes it difficult to accurately measure the extent of the problem. Although, 'the discovery of and public debate about the prevalence of assault in many intimate relationships cause other people to question the protection of personal violence as a private act that remains within the realm of privacy' (Cardarelli 1997: 6).
The majority of perpetrators of violence against women are known to the victim (ABS 1996; Woodward & Ferguson 2000), a factor that influences the likelihood of reporting to police. The greater a perpetrator's authority, the more likely the victim's inability to resist or fight back and not report the incident (Gartner & Macmillian 1995). Few studies have examined in depth the circumstances of violence against women. A South Australian study in 1998 gathered information from women through a phone-in and focus groups (Bagshaw et al. 1999). The 111 female victims reported experiencing all forms of abuse - sexual, physical, emotional, verbal, social and economic - often experiencing more than one form of abuse in a violent incident at the hands of their partner. About half of the women reported violence as a daily occurrence. The majority reported that verbal, psychological and emotional abuse occurred most often, usually on a daily basis, and that the effect of this abuse was far more damaging than physical violence. Long after the bruises had healed words continued to cause damage to a victim's self-esteem and self-worth.
Eighty-nine per cent and 84 per cent of women experienced verbal and emotional abuse (Bagshaw et al. 1999). Verbal abuse included attacks on the woman's intelligence, sexuality and capacity as a wife and mother, and included comparisons with other women. Emotional abuse also involved comparisons with other women and blaming the victim for problems in the relationship. In terms of frequency, while victims reported that they might only be physically hurt once or twice in a month, they did state that the fear of violence was present in their daily lives. Threats of violence were as effective as actual violence in controlling their behaviours, primarily where perpetrators had proved that they would follow through. The fear these threats create in the victim can, and often does, keep many from leaving the abusive relationship.
In terms of intimate partner violence the Crime and Safety Survey (ABS 2003) and the Women's Safety Survey (ABS 1996) reveal a number of findings that are often consistent with overseas studies (Dobash & Dobash 1995). Overall current or former partners were responsible for one in five physical assaults against females (ABS 2003). More specifically in terms of intimate partner violence:
- three per cent of women in a current relationship experienced an incident of violence by their partner in the preceding 12 months, while eight per cent reported an incident of violence at sometime during their current relationship (ABS 1996);
- a much higher proportion of women were victimised during a previous relationship (42%), compared to women in a current relationship (8%);
- an estimated nine per cent of victims experienced emotional abuse with a current partner;
- approximately 33 per cent of women who experienced physical violence reporting more than one violent incident; and
- forty-two per cent of women reported experiencing violence from a partner in a previous relationship during pregnancy; for 20 per cent of these women it was their first experience of violence (ABS 1996).
A further analysis of the Women's Safety Survey (ABS 1996) revealed that women who were separated were more likely to experience violence than married women (Coumarelos & Allen 1998). These findings reflect the highly tense and emotional nature of separation itself. It may be the case that violence follows separation, or the decision to separate is due to violence in the relationship.
A 1992 national survey of survivors of sexual assault found that 13 per cent of assaults were committed by boyfriends or dates (Easteal 1992). A slightly higher percentage (16%) was reported in the Women's Safety Survey (ABS 1996) for the same category. The majority of these incidents (64%) took place in residential premises. Similar findings have been reported in Canadian research (Kong et al. 2003).
A review of literature on violence in rural and remote Australia (Health Advisory Committee 2002) noted that violence in these areas differs only slightly from violence in urban areas. Research suggests that violence in rural and remote areas is predominately domestic in nature. In fact, rural and remote areas, particularly Indigenous communities, experience greater levels of violence generally, and domestic violence specifically, than other areas (Mouzos 2001; Mukherjee et al. 1998; Hogg & Carrington 1996; Harding et al. 1995). As is the case in urban areas, women experience domestic violence at higher rates than men.
Defining intimate partner violence
In previous chapters, a number of definitional issues were discussed specifically with regard to what is deemed 'violence against women'. Definitional ambiguity also exists in what is meant by 'intimate partner' violence. As the term 'is neither uniformly or universally defined' (Miller & Wellford 1997: 16), the uncertainty is centred on who should be considered an 'intimate partner', and therefore included in estimates of the phenomenon. Some estimates of intimate partner violence do not include persons in dating relationships such as boyfriends and girlfriends (ABS 1996; Johnson 1996; Medina-Ariza & Barberet 2003), rather they only include current and former marital and de facto partners.
The IVAWS captures detailed information for the most recent incident of partner victimisation and non-partner victimisation. 'Partner' includes the following:
- husband, current or previous;
- de facto, current or previous; and
- boyfriend, current or previous.
In order to maintain consistency with other countries that are participating in the IVAWS, for the purposes of this report, intimate partner violence is defined as actual or threatened physical, sexual, psychological or emotional violence involving current or former spouses (married and de facto partners) or current or former boyfriends. Intimate partners may be cohabiting, but need not be. The term 'intimate partner violence' is broader than terms such as 'domestic violence', 'spouse abuse' and 'wife battering' and it is not limited to marital relationships (American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs 2000).
Measuring intimate partner violence
Various pieces of research have documented the issues involved in measuring intimate partner violence, particularly in relation to non-disclosure of violence (see Hagemann-White 2001).
Many victims are typically silent about their victimisations for multiple reasons: internalised shame, economic dependence, isolation, complications with children, fear of retaliation, religious or familial pressures to keep the family-relationship intact, unresponsiveness and even disbelief from police and other members of the criminal justice system, and until recently a lack of legal options and alternatives (Miller & Wellford 1997: 18).
Women who participated in the IVAWS were instructed to think about times when their male partners had used or threatened to use physical, and/or sexual violence against them. In order to improve disclosure of experiences of intimate partner violence, these sets of questions were situated after the section on non-partner violence, which explored women's experiences of physical and sexual violence by other relatives, work colleagues, friends, acquaintances, other known men, and strangers. These 'acted as sensitising lead-in questions to the potentially more difficult section about partner violence' (Johnson 1996: 135).
Given that prior research suggests differences in the prevalence of violence by a current versus a former male intimate partner, the presentation of estimates derived from the IVAWS will be divided into the following three sections:
- Any intimate partner violence.
- Current intimate partner violence.
- Former intimate partner violence.
Any intimate partner violence
This section focuses on any intimate partner (current and former male intimate partners) physical and sexual violence during the 12 months and five years preceding the survey, as well as over the woman's lifetime (that is, since the age of 16 years). The estimates are based on the number of women who reported that they had a current or former intimate partner (n=6,438), and whether or not they experienced any form of violence from a current or former intimate partner. Women who did not have a current or former intimate partner were therefore excluded from the analysis. It is important to reiterate that these estimates also include violence from current or former boyfriends.
The results from the survey indicate that 34 per cent of women who had a current or former intimate partner experienced at least one form of violence during the lifetime from a partner (Figure 11) compared with 57 per cent of all the women interviewed (see Figure 3). Approximately one in ten women with current or former male partners experienced partner violence during the five years preceding the survey, and less than five per cent during the past 12 months.
Similar to the general overview of violence in the previous chapter, women who suffered violence from intimate partners were more likely to experience physical rather than sexual violence. Less than one third of the women who had a current or former intimate partner suffered physical partner violence over their lifetime, compared with just over one in ten women who suffered sexual violence (Figure 11). Few women experienced sexual violence by a partner during the twelve months preceding the survey (1%).
Figure 11 : Women's experiences of any intimate partner violence (a)
(a) These estimates are based on women who had current or former intimate partners
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=6,438
An examination of the different forms of intimate partner violence indicates that women were equally likely to report having been threatened with violence and actually experiencing at least one type of physical violence (Table 7). The overwhelming majority of women who were threatened with violence also reported an act of physical violence (85%) during the same or different incident.
The most common forms of physical violence by current or former intimate partners were pushing, grabbing, twisting arms, pulling hair; threatening to use violence; and throwing or hitting her with something (Table 7). In terms of sexual violence, the previous chapter revealed that in general women were more likely to report experiencing 'sexual touching' as opposed any other forms of sexual violence. A different pattern emerges in the examination of intimate partner violence. Of the women who had a current or former intimate partner, between five and seven per cent of these women reported that their partner had forced them to have sexual intercourse at some stage during their lifetime (Table 7). This is the most common form of sexual violence perpetrated by intimate partners. A further three to four per cent of these women reported that their partners had attempted to force them to have sexual intercourse, and a similar proportion experienced unwanted sexual touching. It has been suggested that other forms of violence often accompany sexual violence (Johnson 1996). Of the women who experienced an incident of sexual violence, 73 per cent also experienced physical violence.
In general, of the women who had a current or former intimate relationship, 22 percent experienced more than one type of violence, compared with about 12 per cent of women who only experienced one form of violence from a current or former intimate partner (Figure 12).
Figure 12 : Women's experiences of one or more forms of violence by any intimate partner (a)
(a) These estimates are based only on women who had current or former intimate partners
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=6,438
Current intimate partner violence
Other work has found that women with a current intimate partner are less likely to report experiences of violence from that partner. Of the women who were in a current relationship (spouse, de facto partner, or boyfriend) at the time of their participation in the IVAWS (n=5,074), between nine and 11 per cent reported that they had experienced violence from their current partner over their lifetime (Figure 13). As the time frame reduces the experience of violence from a current partner also declines to three per cent. Women were more likely to report experiencing physical (9% lifetime) rather than sexual violence (1% lifetime).
Some researchers suggest that under-reporting of violence by women in current relationships may be a factor contributing to the lower levels of violence by current as compared to previous intimate partners (Johnson 1996: 136). Women may not want to identify their relationship as being violent, because they are either not willing or able to admit to themselves, or not willing or able to disclose safely to an interviewer. However, relationships marked with violence would be more likely to terminate than those that are peaceful or violence-free (Johnson 1996).
Figure 13 : Women's experiences of current intimate partner violence (a)
(a) These estimates are based only on women who had a current intimate partner
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=5,074
The most common form of physical violence experienced by women with current male intimate partners was being pushed, grabbed, twisted their arm or pulled their hair, with between five and six per cent of women reporting that they suffered this type of violence at the hands of a current partner over their lifetime (Table 8). Few women reported experiencing sexual violence from a current intimate partner (Figure 13 and Table 8). Half of the women who experienced violence from a current intimate partner reported experiencing more than one form of violence (Figure 12).
The literature on violence against women suggests, 'the control of women [by men] is a central element of abuse' (Medina-Ariza & Barbaret 2003: 308). In addition to measuring the prevalence of physical and sexual violence against women, the IVAWS also measures emotionally abusive and controlling behaviours by current male partners. Such information is elicited from women through five separate items asking the women how often their current intimate partner exhibited such behaviour towards them ('all the time', 'frequently', 'sometimes', 'never'). Such behaviours included the male insisting on knowing her whereabouts, calling her names or putting her down, jealousy guarding her interactions with other males, limiting her access to family and friends, and damaging or destroying her property or possessions.
While the majority of women reported never experiencing such behaviours (Figure 14), between 37 and 40 per cent (2% RSE) of women in current relationships reported experiencing9 at least one type of controlling behaviours from their intimate partners. The most common type of controlling behaviour was name calling, insults or behaviour that put the woman down or made her feel bad, with 28 per cent of women reporting experiencing this behaviour (Figure 14).
Figure 14 : Women's experiences of controlling behaviours by a current intimate partner (a)
(a) These estimates are based only on women who had a current intimate partner
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=5,074
Women who experience controlling behaviours are more likely to experience higher levels of violence (Johnson 1996; 2001). About three per cent of women reported that they experienced any violence from a current intimate partner during the 12 months preceding the survey (Figure 13). In contrast, 6 percent of women who experienced any controlling behaviours reported violence from a current intimate partner (Figure 15). Women whose current partners damaged or destroyed property or possessions, reported levels of violence almost eight times higher during the previous 12 months than the average for current intimate partner violence in general (23% versus 3%).
Figure 15 : Women's experiences of current intimate partner violence during the previous 12 months by controlling behaviours (a)
(a) These estimates are based only on women who had a current intimate partner
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=5,074
Previous intimate partner violence
Nationally and internationally research has found that the prevalence of violence is higher for previous partners than current partners. IVAWS confirms that women experienced higher levels of violence from a previous partner than a current partner (see Figures 14 and 16).10 To reiterate, about one in ten women in a current relationship reported that they ever experienced violence from their current partner (Figure 14). In contrast, between 35 and 37 per cent of women who have had a past relationship reported that they had experienced violence from a previous partner (within a previous relationship as well as after the relationship) (Figure 16).
Of the women who had previous partners, one third reported that they had experienced at least one form of physical violence from previous partners, and 14 per cent reported ever experiencing sexual violence from previous partners. Just over one in ten women reported that they experienced violence from former intimate partners during the five years preceding the survey, and less than three per cent reported experiencing violence during the last twelve months (Figure 16).
Figure 16 : Women's experiences of previous intimate partner violence (a)
(a) These estimates are based only on women who had a previous intimate partner
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=4,861
Previous male partners are responsible for greater levels and more severe violence than current male partners. Previous male partners were just as likely to use threats of violence as actual violence (Table 9). During their lifetime, between 21 and 23 per cent of women reported that their previous intimate partner had threatened to use violence against them, and between 19 and 21 per cent reported that their previous partner had pushed, grabbed, twisted their arm or pulled their hair (Table 9). Very few women reported that their current partner had used or threatened to use a knife or gun on them.11 While between five and seven per cent of women who had a former relationship reported that their previous partner had used or threatened to use a knife or gun on them. They were also more likely to report that their previous partner had slapped, kicked, bitten, hit them with a fist or forced or attempted to force them to have sexual intercourse (Table 9).
Severity of intimate partner violence
Available research in the United States indicates that two out of five women who experienced violence from an intimate partner reported being injured (41%; Tjaden & Thoennes 1998). Based on the results from the Violence Against Women Survey in Canada, the proportion of women who were injured during an assault from a husband or common-law partner was higher, with almost half of the cases resulting in injury to the woman, and in almost half of the cases that involved injury, the woman received medical attention (Johnson 1996). The most common injuries reported by victims of intimate partner violence were relatively minor in nature (for example, bruises and scratches). About five per cent of female victims of intimate partner violence in the United States reported experiencing serious injuries, such as knife wounds, internal injuries, broken bones, and loss of consciousness (Rennison & Welchans 2000).
A number of factors have been found to increase the risk of injury for women. These include:
- experiencing violence before marriage or common-law union;
- having a partner who was drinking;
- having children witness the violence;
- experiencing more than one violent episode by the same partner;
- fearing one's life was in danger; and
- experiencing high levels of emotional abuse (Thompson, Saltzman & Johnson 2001).
Age is another factor found to predict greater likelihood of injuries. Women aged between 18 and 24 years had higher rates of violence and were significantly more likely to incur injury than victims in other age groups (Tjaden & Thoennes 2000). Such information is important because 'knowledge of a woman's status on certain factors can help public health practitioners to intervene more effectively with women at risk for experiencing violence-related injuries perpetrated by spouses' (Thompson, Saltzman & Johnson 2003: 455).
The IVAWS collected injury information in relation to the woman's most recent incident of partner violence. About 2,214 women reported that they had experienced intimate partner violence. These women subsequently provided details in relation to their most recent incident of violence from a current or former intimate partner.
Physical injuries sustained
In accord with international findings, two in every five women in the IVAWS who experienced intimate partner violence reported that they were injured in the most recent incident of violence (Figure 17). There were no differences based on the type of violence.
Figure 17 : Women who experienced intimate partner violence by type of violence and whether they sustained injuries in the most recent incident by a current or former partner
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=2,214
There were however, differences based on whether the women experienced the violence from a current intimate partner or previous intimate partner. Consistent with previous findings women are more at risk of injury from a former partner than a current partner. A higher proportion of women sustained injuries from a previous intimate partner than from a current intimate partner during the most recent incident of violence (Figure 17). Just over a third of women who experienced violence from a current partner sustained injuries compared with 42 per cent of women who experienced violence from a previous intimate partner.
Type of injuries sustained
The most common type of injuries inflicted by an intimate partner were minor in nature. Four out of five women who sustained injuries during the most recent incident of partner violence, suffered bruises and associated swelling. Cuts, scratches and burns were sustained by 22 per cent of women from their intimate partner. Few women who experienced intimate partner violence reported sustaining fractures during the most recent incident (4%; Figure 18).
Figure 18 : Women who were injured by an intimate partner by type of injuries sustained
Note: Does not add to 100% due to multiple responses
* Other injury includes miscarriage (1%), genital injury (2%), Posttraumatic stress (1%), and other injury (2%)
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=882
Generally, women who present for treatment are more likely to have experienced more severe injuries, than those women who do not present for treatment (American Medical Association Council for Scientific Affairs 2000). In the IVAWS, over a quarter of the women who sustained injuries were injured so badly they required medical attention regardless of whether or not they received it (29%). Unfortunately, we do not know how many women actually received medical treatment. Some of the women who sustained injuries also reported that they were pregnant at the time that they experienced the most recent incident of intimate partner violence (7%).
Another measure of severity is whether the women felt their life was in danger during the most recent incident of partner violence. Just under a third of women felt that their life was in danger (30%). However, perceptions of danger are higher for previous partners (35%) than for current partners (15%).
Correlates of intimate partner victimisation
This section examines some of the correlates of current intimate partner victimisation. The focus is on identifying the common socio-demographic characteristics of the women who experienced violence from a current intimate partner as well as the common characteristics of their partners. The objective is to identify specific characteristics that could be considered as 'risk factors' or 'risk markers' for intimate partner violence.
Socio-demographic factors
Table 10 presents the prevalence estimates of violence during the 12 months preceding the survey based on the socio-demographic characteristics of the women who experienced intimate partner violence, and their current male partners. Research suggests that violence in intimate relationships is related more to the characteristics of the male than the characteristics of the woman (Piispa 2000). While younger women experienced higher rates of violence by their current partners (between 3 and 7% for the youngest age group), compared to older women (between 2 and 3% for women aged between 45 and 54 years; Table 10), the differences were not significant. Levels of violence according to the age of the male partners follow a similar pattern, with a higher proportion of males in the younger age group being violent towards their intimate partners.
Different levels of violence were also found for women according to marital status. Women in de facto relationships were found to experience slightly higher levels of violence from their current intimate partner during the 12 months preceding the survey (between 3 and 6%) than married women (between 2 and 3%) or women who have a boyfriend (between 2 and 4%). A similar result has been found in Canada (Johnson 1996), as well as recent research in Australia that focused on lethal violence. This research highlighted that women in cohabiting relationships incurred a higher risk of being killed by a partner than married women (Shackelford & Mouzos forthcoming).
Other factors
Other non-socio-demographic factors have been linked with an increased risk of violence. Alcohol is an example. There is a plethora of research available that suggests that alcohol is correlated with violence (Hotaling & Sugarman 1986; Pernanen 1991; Makkai 1997; 1998). Research has found that abusive males with alcohol or drug problems inflict violence against their partners more frequently, are more apt to inflict serious injuries, are more likely to be sexually assaultive, and are more likely to be violent outside the home than abusers without a history of substance abuse (Browne 1997). A relationship between alcohol and male intimate partner violence has been found to exist even after statistically controlling for socio-demographic variables, hostility, and marital satisfaction (Leonard & Blane 1992; Leonard 1993). However, recent research has found that male controlling behaviours over female partners made a more important statistical contribution to predictions about violence than did alcohol, age, type of relationship, or class variables.
The acting-out of negative attitudes toward women, especially men's rights to degrade and devalue their female partners through name-calling and putdowns, was an especially important predictor and, once entered [in the logistic regression model], reduced the effects of alcohol abuse to non-significance (Johnson 2001: 68).
The IVAWS asks about the current partner's drinking behaviour in terms of drunkenness (Figure 19). Women whose partners got drunk a couple of times a month or more experienced higher levels of violence (between 4 and 7%) than women of partners who got drunk less (Figure 19). A separate question was asked about whether or not the male partner was drinking or using drugs at the time of the most recent incident of partner violence. Fifty per cent of women indicated that their partner was neither drinking or using drugs; 35 per cent reported that he was drinking alcohol; four per cent said he was using drugs, and six per cent reported that he was both drinking alcohol and using drugs.
Figure 19 : Women's experiences of current intimate partner violence in the past year, by their partners' use of alcohol and whether their partner is violent outside of the family
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=5,073
Another factor worth examining is the use of violence by male partners against persons other than their intimate partners. Males who had been violent towards anyone outside the family, for example in bars or in the workplace, were six times more likely to inflict violence on their intimate partner during the past year than males who were not violent outside the family (Figure 19).
Identifying risk factors for intimate partner violence
The analysis thus far has indicated that the occurrence of current intimate partner violence may be associated with a number of socio-demographic characteristics of the women and their current partners, as well as some factors associated with the male partners' behaviour. However, it is unclear whether such factors would continue to be risk factors for intimate partner violence when the influences of other factors are controlled. In other words, if the age of both the female and her partner were controlled for, would marital status (i.e. being in a de facto relationship) still be a risk factor for victimisation? In order to overcome the limitations associated with bi-variate analysis in understanding the significant risk factors for violence against women (see Coumarelos & Allen 1998), a logistic regression model was fitted to the data. The goal was to estimate the relative risk of experiencing physical violence from the male intimate partner over the lifetime. Given the small number of women who reported experiencing current intimate violence during the last twelve months, and sexual violence overall, the model was restricted to physical violence over the lifetime.
Four sets of risk factors have been identified in the literature - the socio-demographic characteristics of the partners in the relationship, prior history of violence by the female partner, general male behaviour in terms of alcohol and violence, and male controlling behaviours of the female partner. The specific measures that were used to measure these risk factors were:
Characteristics of the relationship
- Marital status (where 1 is married and 0 is de facto/boyfriend).
- Combined household income (where 1 is greater than $850 per week and 0 is less than $850 per week).
- Educational attainment of both the male and female (where 1 is the male has the same or lower educational attainment than the female and 0 is the male has higher educational attainment than the female).
- Length of the current intimate relationship in years (continuous variable).
General male behaviour
- Males' drinking behaviour (where 1 is the male gets drunk a couple of times a month or more and 0 is the male never drinks/never gets drunk or gets drunk a couple a times a year or less).
- Males' violent behaviour outside of the family (where 1 is the male is violent outside of the family and 0 is the male is not violent outside of the family).
History of violence experienced by the female partner
- Previous intimate partner violence during the lifetime (where 1 is the female experienced previous intimate partner violence and 0 is no prior intimate partner violence).
- Physical/sexual abuse as a child by a parent or non-parental child abuse (where 1 is the female was physically/sexually abused as a child and 0 is no prior abuse).
Male controlling behaviours of the female partner
- Experienced at least one type of controlling behaviour (sexual jealousy, limits contacts with family and friends, calls her names and insults her, follows her or keeps track of her whereabouts, or damages property12 (where 1 is experienced controlling behaviour and 0 did not experience controlling behaviour).
Age of the women and their male partners was not included in the model as both variables were highly correlated with the length of the relationship (.82 and .78). In other words, the age of the woman and her male intimate partner increased with the length of the intimate partner relationship.
The significant risk factors identified in the model were the length of the relationship, prior childhood victimisation, and factors associated the males' behaviour (controlling behaviour and violent outside of the family) (Table 11). Neither socio-demographic characteristics of the women nor their male partners nor history of prior intimate partner violence were found to be significant risk factors. This finding is consistent with previous research (see Johnson 2001). An interaction effect was found for being married and the males drinking behaviour. If the woman is married and her partner gets drunk a couple of times a month or more the odds of experiencing physical violence are increased by a factor of almost three. The strongest risk factor for current intimate partner physical violence was the males' controlling behaviours. If the woman's intimate partner engaged in controlling behaviours, the odds of experiencing physical violence over the lifetime are increased by a factor of six (Table 11).
Using the coefficients in the model, the probability that current intimate partner physical violence will be experienced during the lifetime can be calculated based on the various factors. For example, for a woman who has been married for five years, her partner gets drunk a couple of times a month or more, displays controlling behaviours, and has a tendency to be violent outside of the family, the probability that she will experience at least one incident of physical violence from her current partner over the lifetime is .58 (or 58%).
These results indicate that the strongest risk factors for intimate partner physical violence are associated with the male's behaviour - his drinking habits, general levels of aggression, and his controlling behaviour. These findings have significant implications for policy and will be discussed in the concluding chapter.
- 8 Refers to studies that are undertaken at the jurisdictional level, rather than nationally.
- 9 They indicated that they experienced the behaviour either 'all the time', 'frequently' or 'sometimes'.
- 10 These estimates are calculated only for women who reported that they had been in a previous intimate relationship (n=4861). This includes former spouses, former de facto partners and former boyfriends.
- 11 The counts were too small to produce a statistically reliable estimate.
- 12 Based on the woman indicating that her partner displays this behaviour 'all the time', 'frequently' or 'sometimes'.
- Previous chapter: Prevalence and severity of violence
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