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)

Chapter 5 : Childhood victimisation and the cycle of violence

The domestic violence literature has argued that physically abusive behaviour is transmitted across generations. Violence taught either through witnessing or direct experience as a child increases the risk that the behaviour will be reproduced as an adult (Gelles 1979; 1980; Steinmetz 1987; Straus & Smith 1990; Kaufman & Zigler 1989; Simmons et al. 1995; Mihalic & Elliot 1997). There is also a growing body of literature that finds a relationship between witnessing and experiencing violence as a child and later victimisation in adulthood (Mathias, Mertin & Murray 1995; Sternberg et al. 1993; Egeland 1993; National Research Council 1993; Tomison 1996).

A further analysis of the Women's Safety Survey (ABS 1996) in Australia, found that a history of violent victimisation, either as a child or adult, was a strong predictor of future victimisation regardless of age, educational attainment, employment status, income or marital status. Childhood physical abuse predicted adult physical victimisation in the last 12 months, multiple victimisation, and emotional abuse in the last 12 months. Furthermore, childhood sexual abuse predicted sexual violence in the last 12 months, and multiple incidents of violence since the age of 15 years (Coumarelos & Allen 1998).

A survey of 5000 Australians aged between 12 and 20 years from all states and territories, undertaken between 1998 and 1999, found that almost one quarter (23%) of young women reported that they had witnessed at least one act of violence against their mothers or stepmothers (Indermaur 2001). Young people who experienced or witnessed domestic violence in their homes were twice as likely to be both victims and perpetrators of violence in their intimate relationships than those who were not exposed to domestic violence. The researchers concluded that:

Overall, the best predictor of perpetration (and victimisation) of violence in young people's relationships was found to be witnessing a certain type of male to female violence in the home. There seems, therefore to be support for the 'cycle of violence' thesis (Indermaur 2001: 4-5).

Similar findings are also found in the international literature. A survey from the United States found that males and females who had experienced both abuse as children and witnessed parental violence, had a one in three chance of encountering marital violence in the study year, double the overall rate of annual marital violence (16% for the sample) (Straus & Smith 1990). Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey in the United States revealed that women who reported being sexually abused before the age of 18 were victimised as adults at a rate of twice that of women who did not report any childhood abuse (Tjaden & Thoennes 1998). The Canadian Violence Against Women Survey found that men who witnessed mothers being abused were three times as likely to be violent toward their wives; women exposed to violence against mothers were twice as likely to be victims by their own partners (Johnson 1996).

Meta-analyses of previous studies have confirmed the single study findings. A review of 52 comparative studies of marital violence concluded that witnessing violence between parents was a consistent risk marker for spouse abuse among both males and females. The majority of studies also found an association between being a victim of childhood violence and spouse abuse, although the association was less consistent than witnessing parental violence (Hotaling & Sugarman 1986).

While there is general support for the idea of a 'cycle of violence', some studies have found a stronger relationship between childhood sexual abuse and violence as an adult. A phone-in survey of 347 sexual assault victims in Victoria found that almost two-thirds of women callers (198 out of 304) disclosed having experienced child sexual assault. The most common perpetrator was a parent, usually a father or stepfather, with whom the victim had lived (D'Arcy 1999). An examination of 38 studies of the long-term sequelae of childhood abuse in women found that sexual re-victimisation had the strongest effect size for all of the behavioural and psychological outcomes examined across the studies (Neumann et al. 1996). A similar analysis of childhood victimisation and subsequent adult victimisation produced significant effects, which the authors concluded, 'establishes a link between child sexual abuse and adult sexual victimisation' (Roodman & Clum 2001: 202). Other research has found that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse were at greater risk for adult abuse than women generally (Siegel & Williams 2003; Messman-Moore & Long 2000).

Women's experiences of childhood victimisation

It has been suggested that due to the increased awareness of both physical and sexual violence, many victim/survivors may be speaking out regarding their experiences of violence. This has particularly been the case for survivors of childhood and/or previous (adult) sexual assault (Neame & Heenan 2003). While much has been documented in terms of under-reporting and non-disclosure of violence, especially for child sexual abuse, few national surveys of women (and men) have focused on the incidence of physical and/or sexual violence that the woman may have experienced as a child.

Previous national surveys, such as the Crime and Safety Survey (ABS 2003) are limited in that they do not ask women (or men) to reflect on their experiences of childhood violence, but the IVAWS captures this information. Specifically, the women were asked whether their own biological father/mother, any foster father/mother or stepfather/mother or anyone their mother lived with (that is, a parent), had been physically violent towards them before the age of 16 years. The women were also asked to reflect on experiences of sexual violence before the age of 16, and to indicate whether anyone had forced or attempted to force them into any sexual activity. Information on physical violence by anyone other than parents was not captured in the IVAWS.

Childhood victimisation

The results indicate that exposure to violence begins at an early age for many of the women in this sample. Twenty-nine per cent of women who were surveyed reported that they had experienced physical and/or sexual violence before the age of 16 years (n=1946; Figure 31). Almost one in five women reported that they had been physically abused as a child by a parent (18%). Fathers were more likely than mothers to physically abuse their child (61%). Although the proportion of women who reported being sexually abused by a parent as a child was low (about 2%), the overwhelming majority of perpetrators were fathers (only two women had been sexually abused by their mothers).

A further 16 per cent of women reported that someone other than a parent had sexually abused them before the age of 16 years (Figure 31). Over a quarter of the women who reported being physically abused by a parent also reported being sexually abused by a person other than a parent before the age of 16 years (27%). There were no women who reported being sexually abused by a parent as well as a person other than a parent.

Women who were sexually abused in their childhood by a non-parent reported that the most common perpetrator was a friend or friend of the family (20%), or an acquaintance or neighbour (17%; Figure 32). Just over one in ten women reported that the perpetrator was a stranger (13%). One third were abused by a relative, with an uncle the most common perpetrator within the extended family (9%).

Relationship between childhood victimisation and adult victimisation

Previous research outlined at the beginning of this chapter finds a relationship between childhood victimisation and subsequent victimisation in adulthood. Women's responses from the IVAWS were used to test this theory. Lifetime prevalence estimates were calculated for physical, sexual and any violence for the women who reported any childhood abuse and for the women who did not experience any abuse in their childhood. The results from this analysis indicate that experiences of either physical and/or sexual abuse as a child significantly increase the likelihood of victimisation in adulthood (Figure 33 and Table 16). Women who experienced abuse during childhood were one and a half times more likely to experience any violence in adulthood (78% versus 49%; Figure 33). The risk of sexual violence in adulthood doubles for women who were abused as a child (54% versus 26%; Figure 33).

The levels of violence experienced by women over the lifetime were higher for women who were abused as children compared to women who did not suffer childhood abuse. This pattern held irrespective of the type of childhood abuse suffered by the women (Table 16). A similar pattern was found for physical and sexual violence experienced in the last twelve months. Women who were abused as children experienced higher levels of victimisation in the last twelve months compared with women who were not abused as children. Others who have found similar findings suggest that such results should be viewed with caution, due to the possibility that differences reflect women's willingness to disclose victimisation rather than differences in actual victimisation (Tjaden & Thoennes 2000). Nevertheless, these results suggest a strong relationship between the experience of violence as a child and subsequent victimisation as an adult.

Previous research has also tried to explain why women who are abused as children would be more likely to experience violence as adults. In other words, what fosters a 'cycle of violence'? Some suggest that women who experience childhood violence or who witnessed parental violence are more likely to be victimised as adults because they have low self esteem, and have learnt from persons within the immediate family that violent behaviour is a legitimate response to situations (Straus et al. 1997). In other words, they become desensitised to violence. Others suggest that women subjected to violence by a parent in childhood may develop a 'hostile, rebellious orientation', and consequently, be more likely to affiliate with and become involved with similar males (Simons et al. 1993).

Women who have been sexually abused as children are also at risk of developing 'traumagenic dynamics' where the sexuality of a child 'is shaped in a developmentally inappropriate and interpersonally dysfunctional fashion as a result of sexual abuse' (Finkelhor & Browne 1985: 531). Research suggests that this traumatic sexualisation in women who have been abused in childhood manifests itself in a number of behaviours, such as promiscuity, or prostitution, which in turn could expose women to a greater number of 'high risk' situations in which victimisation might occur (see Siegel & Williams 2003). Nonetheless, it seems that what is transmitted from one generation to another is a vulnerability to victimisation.

However, not all women who experienced childhood violence reported experiencing subsequent violence as adults. Twenty-two per cent of women who were victimised as children reported that they had not experienced any physical and/or sexual victimisation since the age of 16. This suggests that not all women exposed to violence as a child become vulnerable to further victimisation as adults. This may of course depend on the severity and frequency of violence experienced as a child, but it may also depend on the child's resiliency and ability to cope with the situation. Coping mechanisms are able to buffer or palliate the negative impact of violence victimisation or assist in overcoming the after-effects (Lobmann et al. 2003).

A number of protective factors have been identified which increase a person's resiliency. These include:

• psychological 'hardiness';
• experience of more positive than negative behaviours;
• high self-esteem;
• involvement with extended family and those in the community;
• support from teachers and friends; and
• family members' participation in mutual and independent activities (APA Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family 1996).

The fact that most women who experienced violence as a child also experienced violence as an adult has important implications for policy. This will be discussed in subsequent chapters.

Table 16 : Women's experiences of childhood victimisation and subsequent adult victimisation over the lifetime, percentages

	Lifetime physical violence			Lifetime sexual violence			Lifetime any violence
Physical abuse by a parent	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE
Experienced childhood abuse	72	70 - 75	2	55	52 - 58	3	80	78 - 82	2
Did not experience childhood abuse	43	42 - 44	2	30	29 - 31	2	52	51 - 53	1
Sexual abuse by a parent	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE
Experienced childhood abuse	78	72 - 85	4	59	51 - 67	7	85	80 - 91	3
Did not experience childhood abuse	47	46 - 49	1	34	33 - 35	2	56	55 - 58	1
Any abuse by a parent	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE
Experienced childhood abuse	72	70 - 75	2	55	52 - 58	3	80	78 - 82	1
Did not experience childhood abuse	43	42 - 44	2	30	28 - 31	2	52	51 - 53	1
Sexual abuse by a non-parent	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE	%	95 CI	RSE
Experienced childhood abuse	69	66 - 72	2	56	53 - 59	3	78	76 - 81	2
Did not experience childhood abuse	44	43 - 46	2	30	29 - 31	2	53	52 - 54	1
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, IVAWS 2002/03 weighted data [computer file], n=6,677

Children witnessing violence

In addition to experiencing violence as a child, witnessing violence is also said to increase the likelihood of subsequent victimisation as an adult. In the words of one of the women who participated in the IVAWS: 'When children witness violence and abuse they can reciprocate the behaviour in their own lives' (Respondent no. 892). Although limited in scope, the IVAWS also asked women who experienced intimate partner violence whether children ever witnessed any violent incidents by their current husband/partner/boyfriend or previous husband/partner/boyfriend. The IVAWS did not ask the women whether their partners or they themselves witnessed violence between their parents during childhood.

Excluding the women who indicated that they had no children living with them at the time, over a third of women who experienced intimate partner violence reported that their children had witnessed a violent incident (36% or n=616; Figure 34). The exposure of these children to violence within the family increases their risk of either perpetrating the violence at a later stage, becoming victims themselves, or both. As others have noted, violence against women, and particularly, intimate partner violence, impacts not only the women, but also on other family members, and especially the children who may witness the violence.