Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global social health problem. Societal perceptions of IPV as a predominantly female issue have led to the development of research perspectives, frameworks, measures, and methodologies unable to capture the full scope of male victimization. Research has also been hampered by a reluctance from men to identify as victims, and many do not relate to commonly used terminology of IPV, such as domestic violence. The current study used qualitative methods to explore men's experiences of female-perpetrated IPV in Australia, defined as "boundary crossings." The sample comprised 258 men recruited using a snowball approach through social media platforms and via a monthly newsletter of an online men's health support site. The online survey containing open-ended questions focused on three areas: type of IPV experienced, help-seeking, and reporting behavior. Men reported experience of a range of physical, sexual, verbal, coercive controlling, and manipulative behaviors. Male victims noted how disclosure of abuse to family and friends was variously met with shock, support, and minimization. Participants also reported secondary abusive experiences, with police and other support services responding with ridicule, doubt, indifference, and victim arrest. The use of the term boundary crossing rather than IPV, which is commonly associated with male-against-female violence, appeared to be a useful tool for eliciting information from men who have experienced abuse. Public Significance StatementResearch indicates male victims do not relate to common gendered terminology of IPV such as "domestic violence." Following consultation with support workers of male IPV victims in Australia, a novel approach was adopted. The term "boundary crossings" (defined as behavior that violates or restricts a person's rights) was used to explore men's experiences of female-perpetrated IPV using an online, anonymous survey with open-ended questions. Almost 50% of the respondents disclosed experiences of IPV, covering a range of physical, social, psychological, financial, and legal abuses.

BackgroundThere is limited research on awareness of alcohol warning labels and their effects. The current study examined the awareness of the Australian voluntary warning labels, the ‘Get the facts’ logo (a component of current warning labels) that directs consumers to an industry-designed informational website, and whether alcohol consumers visited this website.MethodsParticipants aged 18–45 (unweighted n = 561; mean age = 33.6 years) completed an online survey assessing alcohol consumption patterns, awareness of the ‘Get the facts’ logo and warning labels, and use of the website.ResultsNo participants recalled the ‘Get the facts’ logo, and the recall rate of warning labels was 16 % at best. A quarter of participants recognised the ‘Get the facts’ logo, and awareness of the warning labels ranged from 13.1–37.9 %. Overall, only 7.3 % of respondents had visited the website. Multivariable logistic regression models indicated that younger drinkers, increased frequency of binge drinking, consuming alcohol directly from the bottle or can, and support for warning labels were significantly, positively associated with awareness of the logo and warning labels. While an increased frequency of binge drinking, consuming alcohol directly from the container, support for warning labels, and recognition of the ‘Get the facts’ logo increased the odds of visiting the website.ConclusionsWithin this sample, recall of the current, voluntary warning labels on Australian alcohol products was non-existent, overall awareness was low, and few people reported visiting the DrinkWise website. It appears that current warning labels fail to effectively transmit health messages to the general public.

BackgroundAlcohol-related harm is a substantial burden on the community in Australia and internationally, particularly harm related to risky drinking practices of young people in the night-time economy. This protocol paper describes a study that will report on the changes in a wide range of health and justice outcome measures associated with major policy changes in the state of Queensland, Australia. A key element includes trading hours restrictions for licensed premises to 2 am for the state and 3 am in Safe Night Precincts (SNPs). Other measures introduced include drinks restrictions after midnight, increased patron banning measures for repeat offenders, mandatory ID scanning of patrons in late-night venues, and education campaigns.MethodsThe primary aim of the study is to evaluate change in the levels of harm due to these policy changes using administrative data (e.g., police, hospital, ambulance, and court data). Other study elements will investigate the impact of the Policy by measuring foot traffic volume in SNPs, using ID scanner data to quantify the volume of people entering venues and measure the effectiveness of banning notices, using patron interviews to quantify the levels of pre-drinking, intoxication and illicit drug use within night-time economy districts, and to explore the impacts of the Policy on business and live music, and costs to the community.DiscussionThe information gathered through this project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Policy and to draw on these findings to inform future prevention and enforcement approaches by policy makers, police, and venue staff.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-017-4811-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Alcohol-related harm in night-time entertainment precincts (NEPs) is disproportionately high for the amount of alcohol consumed within these areas. Previous evaluations of alcohol restrictions targeting NEPs have often looked at restrictions in isolation and not attempted to create a comprehensive theoretical explanation that takes multiple restrictions into account. The aim of this review is to establish which restrictions have been adequately evaluated in previous literature, and to identify any research which may provide the basis for a theoretical model that explains the interactions between different alcohol restrictions in NEPs and their combined impact on alcohol-related-harm Methods: A mapping review was conducted to plot evaluations of the effectiveness of different alcohol restrictions in NEPs at reducing assault and injury rates (protocol PROSPERO 2017: CRD42017069773). Six databases and 145 websites were searched, results were categorised based on the type of restrictions evaluated: Outlet density, trading hours, lockouts, price, patron bans, and drinks restrictions. Results: Forty-eight articles were identified out of 20,743 returned by the systematic search. Thirty-five of these papers were original works, and 13 reviews. Outlet density was examined in 15 of the papers, trading hours in 30, lockouts in 21, price in 2, patron bans in 7 and drinks restrictions in 15. Conclusion: No preexisting theoretical models were identified. Outlet density, trading hours, and price restrictions all had evidence that suggested high levels of effectiveness in NEPs and would be suitable for inclusion in a theoretical model. More research is required before attempting to include lockouts, patron bans and drinks restrictions in a theoretical model. Future research should focus on establishing a theoretical model based on evidence of effective alcohol restrictions and gathering an evidence base for under-researched restrictions.

This commentary introduces the special section on the outcomes of the Queensland Alcohol-related violence and Night-time Economy Monitoring project and outlines the political and policy context of the interventions put in place under the Queensland government's Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence strategy. The development of the strategy was informed by alcohol policy initiatives trialled in other major Australian cities over the past two decades. The articles in this special section examine the impact of the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence policy stages on alcohol-related harms and local economies across selected entertainment precincts (Safe Night Precincts). A rich array of data were utilised, including administrative health and justice data, data reflective of nightlife trading (i.e. foot traffic data, ID scanner data and live music performances) and street surveys. Findings have implications for research, policy and practice and demonstrate the need for comprehensive evaluations that can accommodate the complexities of modern alcohol policy in Australia.