Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Violence against women and men in Australia: what the personal safety survey can and can't tell us
Other Titles:	DVIRC Quarterly
Authors:	Flood, Michael
Keywords:	Statistics
Categories:	Statistics
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Domestic Violence & Incest Resource Centre
Citation:	4, Summer 2006
Notes:	General Overview: This Australian article examines the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Personal Safety Survey:and finds that it contains useful information about the occurrence of physical violence but cannot tell us who is experiencing the control, abuse and coercion associated with domestic violence. Discussion: The author examines the similarities and differences between men’s and women’s experiences of violence as documented in the survey. Men are assaulted twice as often as women and are more likely to be assaulted by strangers and in public places. Women are more likely to be assaulted by partners, ex-partners, male relatives and friends, and are more likely to be assaulted in their homes or their partner’s homes. Both men and women are most at risk of violence from men. Father’s rights groups have used the survey findings to assert that men experience one quarter of the total domestic violence experienced. However, the survey only measures the incidence of certain physical acts of violence, such as pushing, kicking, hitting, choking and stabbing. The survey does not tell us if these acts were part of a systematic pattern of abuse, were isolated incidents, were in self defence or whether they caused fear. Definitions of domestic violence usually include the exercise of power and control using both physical and non-physical tactics. Other research shows that women are much more likely to be subjected to frequent, prolonged and extreme violence, to be injured, to experience post-separation violence and to use violence only in self-defence.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12652
ISSN:	1324-4264
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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