How common is domestic violence against women? The definition of partner abuse in prevalence studies

Abstract

Abstract:We systematically reviewed studies of the prevalence of domestic violence. Selected overseas community studies were compared with all Australian prevalence studies found to be published. Twelve-month prevalence estimates of partner abuse in Australia varied from 2.1 per cent to 28.0 per cent, depending mainly on the definition of domestic violence used in each study. Implications of the lack of a precise definition result in varying operationalised definitions of partner abuse, from all types of violence in relationships (including a single minor violent incident), through to only those violent incidents that are classified as a crime. Recommendations for any future prevalence studies in this field include the need to collect frequency data which reflected the fact that partner abuse against women is a complex behavioural phenomenon involving emotional, physical and sexual abuse against a partner, not just simply physical incidents.

History of domestic violence and health service use among mid‐aged Australian women

“…32 Hegarty and Roberts suggest that distinctions should also be made between sporadic occasions of violence and systematic violence perpetrated by one partner against another. 33 The current study was unable to make such distinctions between behaviours and has defined domestic violence as ever having lived in a violent relationship with a partner or spouse. Nevertheless, the results are compelling and indicate that a history of domestic violence is associated with increased use of health services among mid-aged Australian women.…”

Physical violence, self rated health, and morbidity: is gender significant for victimisation?

“…39 40 Reporting frequency may not increase significantly after experienced violence. There was no association between violence and depression among men, possibly because certain feminised illnesses such as depression are reported less among men generally 41 42 and experienced [45][46][47][48] may be attributable to difference in levels of violence between settings, as well as differences in study design, 19 including the definitions of abuse used, interviewer training, and cultural differences in respondent's willingness to disclose sensitive information. 2 16 Moreover, abused women frequently invalidate and normalise their experiences of violence.…”

Violence against young Australian women and association with reproductive events: a cross‐sectional analysis of a national population sample

“…Intimate partner abuse, often called domestic violence, is a complex multi-dimensional set of coercive behaviours, but is often measured by acts of physical and sexual violence. 18 However, women who are physically abused by intimate partners are also abused in other ways, for instance psychologically or economically. Three questions in the survey addressed violence: • In the last 12 months, have you been pushed, grabbed, shoved, kicked or hit?…”

“…The first two questions are consistent with those asked by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 16 and derived from a valid and reliable but controversial measure, the Conflict Tactics Scale. 18,19 The last question enabled distinction between women who report partner violence and others. These three questions were combined to produce a composite variable, with five mutually exclusive categories determined to be both logical and consistent after preliminary cross-tabulations.…”