Women's Experiences of Male Violence: Findings From the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS)

• NCJ Number: 207552
• Author(s): Jenny Mouzos; Toni Makkai
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 162 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Australian Institute of Criminology Research and Public Policy Series No. 56; downloaded November 22, 2004.

Annotation

These findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS), which was conducted between December 2002 and June 2003, pertain to three types of violence against women: actual and threats of physical assaults; sexual assaults, including unwanted sexual touching; and psychological intimidation and control.

Abstract

A total of 6,677 women between the ages of 18 and 69 responded to the survey. The survey found that in the past 12 months, 10 percent of the respondents experienced at least one incident of physical and/or sexual violence, with physical violence being more prevalent (8 percent) than sexual violence (4 percent). The most common form of physical violence during a respondent's lifetime was threats of physical harm (33 percent), and these threats were often accompanied by actual physical violence. Unwanted sexual touching was the most common form of sexual violence. Over one-third of the women who had a current or former intimate partner reported experiencing at least one form of violence during their lifetime. Overall, 29 percent of the respondents reported they had experienced physical and/or sexual violence before they were 16 years old. Few women had reported the most recent incident of physical and/or sexual violence to police. The analyses of the survey responses suggest a number of intervention and prevention measures. These include early interventions to reduce the risks and harms associated with childhood abuse; teaching youth how to develop healthy relationships; increasing assistance for women in escaping violent intimate situations, including information on available support, improvements in support services, and their increased accessibility; public education and awareness that the violence respondents reported constitutes crime; and criminal justice innovations such as specialized courts for domestic/family violence. 23 tables, 46 figures, 168 references, and appended survey methodology and comparison with other victimization surveys regarding violence against women