Links to all Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Documents are located at
Australia
Victims of Domestic and Family Violence-Related Offences
This chapter presents experimental data about victims of selected Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) –related offences. Victims of selected offences have been determined to be FDV–related where the relationship of offender to victim, as stored on police recording systems, falls within a specified family or domestic relationship or where an FDV flag has been recorded, following a police investigation.
Key findings include:
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FDV-related homicide victims accounted for over a third of total homicide victims, and females accounted for over half of all FDV-related homicide victims.
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FDV-related assault is mostly likely to occur in the age range 25-34 years; and, across all states and territories, females are more likely than males to be victims – at least three times as likely, and up to six times more likely.
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FDV-related sexual assault accounted for over a third of total sexual assaults and there are six times as many female victims as male victims.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2023) Personal Safety Australia 2021-2022.
This release present summary prevalence statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2022 Personal Safety Survey (PSS).
The survey collected information from persons aged 18 years and over about the nature and extent of their experiences of physical and sexual violence, violence, emotional abuse and economic abuse by a cohabiting partner, stalking, sexual harassment and past experiences of childhood abuse and witnessing parental violence before the age of 15.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Personal Safety, Australia, 2016, ABS cat no. 4906.0 (2017).
This release presents information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2016 Personal Safety Survey (PSS).
The survey collected detailed information from men and women about their experiences of violence since the age of 16, as well as experiences of current and previous partner violence, stalking, physical and sexual abuse and harassment, abuse before the age of 15, and general feelings of safety.
The survey results demonstrate that approximately one fifth of women who experienced violence by a current partner and were pregnant at some stage during the relationship experienced violence during their pregnancy. For more than one quarter of these women, pregnancy was the first time they had experienced violence. Nearly one half of women who experienced violence by a previous partner and who were pregnant during the relationship experienced violence during their pregnancy, approximately one half for the first time.
See Tables 17-18, which highlight the link between pregnancy and experiences of violence.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022) Family, domestic and sexual violence data in Australia, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 24 January 2023.
This release brings together a range of sources to report a core set of data in an interactive format, and summarise changes in measures of family, domestic and sexual violence over time. It complements the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare‘s Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia report series. It contains new and updated data for crime rates for family and domestic violence and sexual assault, hospitalisation for family and domestic violence and family and domestic violence crisis payments.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia: continuing the national story 2019.
This is primarily a data report to help inform government policies and plans and to assist in the planning and delivery of violence prevention and intervention programs. It builds on AIHW’s inaugural Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia 2018 report. It presents new information on vulnerable groups, such as children and young women. It examines elder abuse in the context of family, domestic and sexual violence, and includes new data on telephone and web-based support services, community attitudes, sexual harassment and stalking. It also includes the latest data on homicides, child protection, hospitals and specialist homelessness services, while noting notable data gaps on various aspects of family, domestic and sexual violence and work underway to fill the gaps and develop new data sources.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia (Report, 2018).
This report usefully compiles and summarises current statistics on family violence, domestic violence and sexual violence from multiple sources. Its key points are:
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women are at greater risk of family, domestic and sexual violence;
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some groups of women are more vulnerable to all three types of violence (in particular, women who are Indigenous, young, pregnant, separating from a partner or experiencing financial hardship and women with disability);
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children are often exposed to the violence;
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the three types of violence are leading causes of homelessness and adverse health consequences for women and create significant financial cost; and
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family violence is worse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The report also identifies important gaps in the current research on family, domestic and sexual violence. No or limited data is available on:
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children’s experiences, including attitudes, prevalence, severity, frequency, impacts and outcomes of these forms of violence;
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specific at-risk population groups, including Indigenous Australians, people with disability, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, including those in same-sex relationships;
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the effect of known risk factors, such as socioeconomic status, employment, income and geographical location;
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services and responses that victims and perpetrators receive, including specialist services, mainstream services and police and justice responses;
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pathways, impacts and outcomes for victims and perpetrators; and
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the evaluation of programs and interventions.
Backhouse, Corina and Cherie Toivonen, National Risk Assessment Principles for domestic and family violence: Companion resource (ANROWS, 2018).
This review provides a summary of the evidence-base for the National Risk Assessment Principles for domestic and family violence developed on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Social Services. This summary of literature highlights key aspects of the evidence-base that underpin the development and implementation of the Principles, including literature regarding: risk and safety; need and vulnerability; risk assessment and management approaches; intimate partner sexual violence and sexual assault; and multi-agency integrated service responses. It includes discussion of priority populations and the evidence that particular groups experience multiple challenges that heighten the likelihood, impact or severity of violence, as well as experiencing additional barriers to seeking and obtaining support (pp14-20).
Boxall H & Morgan A. 2021. Experiences of coercive control among Australian women. Statistical Bulletin no. 30. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Abstract: Awareness of coercive control within the context of abusive intimate relationships is greater than ever before in Australia. However, there is limited research examining the different patterns and characteristics of abuse, particularly among large Australian samples.
This study examines the characteristics of violence and abuse reported by 1,023 Australian women who had recently experienced coercive control by their current or former partner. The most frequently reported behaviours were jealousy and suspicion of friends, constant insults, monitoring of movements and financial abuse. Over half of the respondents also reported experiencing physical forms of abuse (54%), including severe forms such as non-fatal strangulation (27%). One in three of these women also reported experiencing sexual violence during the survey period (30%). Women were much more likely to seek advice or support when they had also experienced physical or sexual forms of abuse.
Boxall H & Morgan A 2021. Who is most at risk of physical and sexual partner violence and coercive control during the COVID-19 pandemic?. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 618. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Abstract: In this study, data was analysed from a survey of Australian women (n=9,284) to identify women at the highest risk of physical and sexual violence and coercive control during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Logistic regression modelling identified that specific groups of women were more likely than the general population to have experienced physical and sexual violence in the past three months. These were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women aged 18–24, women with a restrictive health condition, pregnant women and women in financial stress. Similar results were identified for coercive control, and the co-occurrence of both physical/sexual violence and coercive control.
These results show that domestic violence during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was not evenly distributed across the Australian community, but more likely to occur among particular groups.
Boxall, Hayley and Anthony Morgan, Repeat Domestic and Family Violence among Young People Research Report No 591, February 2020, Australian Institute of Criminology.
This paper adds to what is known about family violence perpetrated by adolescents. It examines short-term reoffending patterns – including timing, prevalence, the peak period for repeat violence, and cumulative rates – as well as predictors of repeat violence, particularly those relating to prior histories of family violence or breaches of orders, given that this information is readily available to frontline responders. The paper draws on incident data from Victoria Police for almost 4,000 young people aged 12-18 involved in domestic or family violence. Approximately one in four of these young people were involved in repeat violence in the six months following an incident, with the risk peaking at around 30 days following an incident in domestic violence cases and at around three to four weeks for family violence cases. Violence was largely perpetrated against intimate partners or parents. The findings show how the violence histories of young people can be helpful for identifying who will be involved in repeat violence in the short term, and who will be involved in multiple violent incidents. Frequency of prior incidents of violence is a better predictor of future short-term reoffending than prevalence of prior violence, but they are both useful indicators of future risk.
Dearden, Jack, and Jason Payne, ‘Alcohol and Homicide in Australia’ (2009) 372 Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice 1.
The current study builds on limited Australian research on alcohol-related homicide. It examines solved homicides recorded in the National Homicide Monitoring Program over a six year period. A key finding was that alcohol is equally likely to be implicated in intimate-partner homicides as it is in all other homicides. However, homicides involving women killing male intimate partners were far more likely to involve alcohol consumption by victim or offender or both, and that the overwhelming majority of Indigenous intimate-partner homicides were alcohol related.
Douglas, Heather and Robin Fitzgerald, ‘Strangulation, Domestic Violence and the Legal Response’ (2014) 36 Sydney Law Review 231.
This paper presents a useful literature review of recent studies about the risk of attempted strangulation to health and as a predictive factor in death or serious injury. See especially pp232-236.
Dowling C, Boxall H & Morgan A 2021. The criminal career trajectories of domestic violence offenders. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 624. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.52922/ti78016
Abstract: This study examines the officially recorded criminal careers of 2,076 domestic violence offenders and 9,925 non-domestic violence offenders in New South Wales in the 10 years following their first police proceeding. Group-based trajectory modelling was used to examine both domestic violence and non-domestic violence offending. Special attention is given to the degree of versatility in offending, and to the interplay of domestic violence and non-domestic violence offending trajectories. Domestic violence offending often formed part of a broader pattern of offending. While trajectories of low -frequency domestic violence and non-domestic violence offending were most common, domestic violence typically increases as non-domestic violence offences begin to decline. Importantly, there was variability in the offending profiles of domestic violence offenders. This was amplified when non-domestic violence offending was analysed, indicative of a complex array of underlying risk factors.
Dowling, Chistopher and Anthony Morgan, Predicting Repeat Domestic Violence: Improving Police Risk Assessment, (Research Report No 581, October 2019, Australian Institute of Criminology).
This study examines how accurately the Family Violence Risk Assessment Tool (FVRAT) predicts repeat domestic violence. The FVRAT is a 37-item tool used by police in the ACT to inform their responses to domestic violence. The study examines a sample of 350 unique cases of violence involving current or former intimate partners between March and December 2017 in which police used the FVRAT. Repeat domestic violence was measured based on whether a subsequent report of domestic violence was made to police within six months. The study found that the FVRAT is not a strong predictor of repeat domestic violence. However, an empirically refined version of the FVRAT consisting of 10 individually predictive items much more accurately predicts repeat domestic violence.
Dowling, Chistopher and Anthony Morgan, Is methamphetamine use associated with domestic violence? (Australian Institute of Criminology Report No. 563 December 2018).
Report abstract:
There is considerable evidence of the impact of methamphetamine use on violent behaviour. This paper presents findings from a review of existing research on the association between methamphetamine use and domestic violence.
Eleven studies met the criteria for inclusion. Domestic violence is common among methamphetamine users; however, methamphetamine users account for a small proportion of all domestic violence offenders.
There is evidence that methamphetamine users are more likely than non-users to perpetrate domestic violence. Importantly, methamphetamine use is frequently present along with other risk factors. This means methamphetamine use probably exacerbates an existing predisposition to violence, rather than causing violent behaviour.
Grech, Katrina, and Melissa Burgess, ‘Trends and Patterns in Domestic Violence Assaults: 2001 To 2010’ (Issue Paper 61, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2011).
A NSW study. ‘Forty-one per cent of all incidents of domestic assault are alcohol related. This percentage varies, however, from a low of 35 per cent in the Sydney Statistical Division to a high of 62 per cent in the Far West Statistical Division. The rate of recorded domestic assault for Indigenous women is more than six times higher than for non-Indigenous women.’ This study deals with a variety of risk factors in depth, with a special focus on alcohol and related geographic issues.
Hulme, Shann, Anthony Morgan and Hayley Boxall,Domestic Violence Offenders, Prior Offending and Reoffending in Australia, Research Report No 580, September 2019, Australian Institute of Criminology.
Developing effective strategies to reduce domestic violence offending requires an understanding of perpetrator characteristics, offending patterns and recidivism. This study consolidates the Australian evidence base through a systematic review of 39 quantitative studies that examined domestic violence offending and reoffending. Despite the wide range of data sources, samples and measures of violence, findings are remarkably consistent across studies. The findings further reinforce the importance of targeting male perpetrated violence, and reducing violence in Indigenous communities. Alcohol featured in a significant proportion of domestic violence incidents. Finally, the study demonstrates the importance of reducing repeat offending, particularly among prolific offenders, to reduce overall rates of violence.
Kaspiew, Rae, et al, ‘Evaluation of the 2012 Family Violence Amendments’ (Synthesis Report, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2015).
Building on findings of the Survey of Recently Separated Parents 2012, the Longitudinal Study of Separated Families, and the 2009 AIFS Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms, this report examines the impacts of changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in the area of family law and has three parts:
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Responding to Family Violence - a survey of family law practices and experiences which primarily involved online surveys of the practices and perspectives of family law system professionals (n=653)
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the Experiences of Separated Parents Study (ESPS), which comprised two cross-sectional quantitative surveys - the Survey of Recently Separated Parents [SRSP] 2012 (n= 6,119) and the Survey of Recently Separated Parents 2014 (n=6,079) providing pre-reform and post-reform data on parents’ experiences of separation and the family law system; and
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the Court Outcomes Project (CO Project) involving:
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Court Files Study: an examination of quantitative data from 1,892 family law court files providing insight into patterns in orders made by judicial determination and consent made in the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, and the Family Court of Western Australia, including in relation to parental responsibility and parenting time (pre-reform: n=895; post reform n=997);
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an examination of patterns in courts filings based on administrative data from the three family law courts; and
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an analysis of published judgments applying to the 2012 family violence amendments.
One of the ‘Key messages’ from the report is that parents who use family law systems tend to be those affected by complex issues including family violence, mental ill-health, substance abuse and safety concerns for themselves and/or their children. This is discussed in detail in chapter 2. In particular, it was found that each cohort of separated parents studied had similar patterns of family violence (p 10). Around two-thirds of separated parents indicated that they had a history of emotional abuse or physical violence prior to or during separation and this continued for a slightly lower proportion after separation (p 10). It noted the ‘prevalence of physical violence diminished after separation, as did the prevalence of emotional abuse, though to a much less significant extent’ (p 10). The exposure of children to family violence for each cohort of separated parents is discussed at p 14. Chapter 4 sets out the evaluation findings on whether the 2012 family violence amendments had supported increased disclosure of family violence and child abuse concerns to family law system professionals, the screening and assessment practices and responses to disclosures of family violence and/or child safety concerns.
Kaspiew, R., Carson, R., Rhoades, H., Qu, L., De Maio, J., Horsfall, B., & Stevens, E. (2022). Compliance with and enforcement of family law parenting orders: Views of professionals and judicial officers (Research report, 01/2022). ANROWS.
This report sets out the findings of one part of a four-part research program that examines compliance with and enforcement of family law parenting orders. These findings are based on two elements: the views of 343 professionals who work with separated parents who completed an online survey, and those of 11 judicial officers who exercise family law jurisdiction and participated in one-on-one interviews. The other three parts of the research program are based on data collection from family law court files involving contravention applications, an online survey of parents and carers with family law parenting orders, and an analysis of the approaches applied to contravention in three international jurisdictions. (p11)
Systemic factors include shortcomings in the identification, assessment and management of risk. (p13)
When working with parents for the development of parenting orders, it is critical that practitioners ensure that safety and risk are adequately assessed and considered in the parenting arrangements. (p14)
This evidence demonstrates that the parents who obtain family law parenting orders are a particularly complex group, with concentrated levels of risk indicators. In light of the small proportion of parenting orders that involve contravention matters…, it is important to emphasise that the contravention regime is applied to a small subset of a particularly complex group of families. (p17)
Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues, Parliament of New South Wales, Domestic Violence Trends and Issues in NSW (Report No 46, 2012).
A NSW report. At paragraphs 2.25 - 2.27 (pp16-7), the Committee notes key indicators of most likely victims: women over 18 years in a heterosexual relationship; women with children being up to three times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than women without children. From paragraph 5.25 (p101) onwards, the Committee deals with factors that exacerbate violence against women, including: “alcohol and drug use, exposure to pornography, violence in the media and exposure to violence as a child”. The Committee notes that the same factors have an impact on one’s likelihood to be a perpetrator of domestic violence. Paragraphs 9.127 - 9.147 (from p251) examine ‘unworkable apprehended domestic violence order conditions’. The committee concludes in paragraphs 9.148 - 9.156 that conditions contained in an order should be individually tailored to the situation, the protected person, and the perpetrator; thus minimising the risk of breach and further violence.
Leung, F and Trimboli, L. (2022). Improving police risk assessment of intimate partner violence. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
This research aimed to develop a tool with better predictive accuracy than the NSW’s Domestic Violence Safety Assessment Tool.
The sample comprised 234,454 incidents between intimate partners recorded from January 2016 to December 2018 in the Central Referral Point (CRP) database, provided by Victim Services NSW. Four predictive models of a victim’s risk of intimate partner re-victimisation were evaluated. These were a) NRAP-all: a model with all 16 risk factors identified in the National Risk Assessment Principles (NRAP) developed by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS); b) NRAP-10: a model with only the 10 high-risk factors identified by ANROWS in the NRAP; c) SAFVR: the Static Assessment of Family Violence Recidivism (SAFVR), developed by the New Zealand Police; and d) DVSAT-8: a model with the eight items from the NSW DVSAT that are most predictive of repeat victimisation. The best performing model was further simplified, keeping only the best predictors. This simplified model was then used to predict re-victimisation.
Of the four models, only the two NRAP models had acceptable predictive performance (i.e., with an Area under the Curve (AUC) above 0.7). The model with the highest AUC was the NRAP model that combined all 16 risk factors identified by ANROWS (with an average AUC of 0.732). When tested on unseen data, its out-of-sample AUC was similar, at 0.738. The simpler NRAP-10 model performed only slightly worse with an average AUC of 0.728. Further analysis found that the best performing NRAP model could be simplified, with almost no loss in predictive performance. Of the 16 risk factors in the NRAP model, a simplified model using only the best five predictors delivered an out-of-sample AUC of 0.734.
This study demonstrates that a risk assessment instrument with a small number of variables can identify victims who are most at risk of future intimate partner violence. With an appropriately selected risk threshold to match service capacity, the simplified model could help control the volume of referrals at a desired level.
In the current study, the five variables that most strongly predicted repeat victimisation in the subsequent 12 months were: two measures of previous history of family and domestic violence; pregnancy and new birth; the victim’s self-perception of risk of future violence; and misuse of drugs or excessive alcohol consumption.
Miles, H & Bricknell, S. (2024) Homicide in Australia 2022-2023 (National Homicide Monitoring Program) Sydney: Australian Institute of Criminology, Statistical Report 46.
Between 1 July 2022 and 1 June 2023, there were 232 homicide incidents recorded by Australian state and territory police. In 2022-23, 34 per cent (n=79) of homicide incidents were domestic homicides.
Of the 79 domestic homicides in 2022-23, nearly half (50%, n=38) were intimate partner homicides. Intimate partner homicides comprised 16 per cent of homicide incidents in Australia in 2022-23.
Another 11 homicides (5% of all homicide incidents) were filicides (where a parent killed their son or daughter), 16 (7%) were parricides (where a parent was killed by their son or daughter), four (2%) were siblicides (a brother or sister killed a sibling) and 10 (4%) were homicides of other family members or kin (p6).
Mooney, Rosemary and Deborah Byrne, Understanding the relationship between family violence and brain injury (The Brain Injury Association of Tasmania, 2016).
This report provides a summary of the key issues surrounding the complex relationship between injury and family violence in Australia. It notes that half of the people who perpetrate family violence have an existing brain injury (but not all people living with a brain injury perpetrate family violence). Research demonstrates that there is an association between brain injury and increased aggressive behaviour. Moreover, the types of abuse victims of family violence often report (being hit in the face, head and neck, being shaken, and being choked) are all risk factors for brain injury. Research has established that at least one third of women who have experienced family violence has sustained a brain injury. However, the needs of women who live with traumatic brain injury are not being met (p.1).
It notes that ‘[v]ictims of family violence are seldom screened for brain injury which means that the phenomenon of brain injury as a consequence of family violence is under reported; the same is true for perpetrators of family violence. Prevalence rates are therefore difficult to estimate due to under reporting, under diagnosis, and under researching of brain injury, making it an ‘invisible’ problem’ (p.1).
It concludes that the relationship between brain injury and family violence shown in this report points to an ‘urgent need for education and training across all intersecting areas in relation to implementing brain injury screening and the provision of targeted services that are appropriate and effective for people living with a brain injury’ (p.2). This report makes fourteen recommendations.
Morgan, Anthony, Hayley Boxall and Rick Brown, Targeting repeat domestic violence: Assessing short term risk of reoffending (Australian Institute of Criminology Report No. 552 June 2018).
Report abstract:
Drawing on repeat victimisation studies, and analysing police data on domestic violence incidents, the current study examined the prevalence and correlates of short-term reoffending.
The results showed that a significant proportion of offenders reoffended in the weeks and months following a domestic violence incident. Individuals who reoffended more quickly were more likely to be involved in multiple incidents in a short period of time. Offenders with a history of domestic violence—particularly more frequent offending—and of breaching violence orders were more likely to reoffend. Most importantly, the risk of reoffending was cumulative, increasing with each subsequent incident.
The findings have important implications for police and other frontline agencies responding to domestic violence, demonstrating the importance of targeted, timely and graduated responses.
Morgan A & Boxall H 2020. Social isolation, time spent at home, financial stress and domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 609. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
In this study data from a large online survey of Australian women is used to examine whether the increased time spent at home, social isolation and financial stress resulting from COVID-19 containment measures were associated with a higher likelihood of physical and sexual violence among women in current cohabiting relationships with and without a history of violence.
An increase in the amount of time spent at home with a partner did not in itself increase the likelihood of violence among either group. However, the probability of repeat or first-time violence was between 1.3 and 1.4 times higher for women who had less frequent contact with family and friends outside of the household during the pandemic.
While financial stress prior to the pandemic was a strong predictor of violence for both groups, the probability of first-time violence was 1.8 times higher among women who experienced an increase in financial stress. We conclude that the pandemic was associated with an increased risk of violence against women in current cohabiting relationships, most likely from a combination of economic stress and social isolation.
Myhill A, Hohl K. The “Golden Thread”: Coercive Control and Risk Assessment for Domestic Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2019; 34(21-22):4477-4497.
Abstract: Research on risk assessment for domestic violence has to date focused primarily on the predictive power of individual risk factors and the statistical validity of risk assessment tools in predicting future physical assault in sub-sets of cases dealt with by the police. This study uses data from risk assessment forms from a random sample of cases of domestic violence reported to the police. An innovative latent trait model is used to test whether a cluster of risk factors associated with coercive control is most representative of the type of abuse that comes to the attention of the police. Factors associated with a course of coercive and controlling conduct, including perpetrators’ threats, controlling behavior and sexual coercion, and victims’ isolation and fear, had highest item loadings and were thus the most representative of the overall construct. Sub-lethal physical violence—choking and use of weapons—was also consistent with a course of controlling conduct. Whether a physical injury was sustained during the current incident, however, was not associated consistently either with the typical pattern of abuse or with other context-specific risk factors such as separation from the perpetrator. Implications for police practice and the design of risk assessment tools are discussed. We conclude that coercive control is the “golden thread” running through risk identification and assessment for domestic violence and that risk assessment tools structured around coercive control can help police officers move beyond an “incident-by-incident” response and toward identifying the dangerous patterns of behavior that precede domestic homicide.
Noonan, Patrick, Annabel Taylor and Jackie Burke, Links between alcohol consumption and domestic and sexual violence against women: Key findings and future directions (ANROWS, 2017).
This literature review found that “there is little evidence that alcohol use is a primary cause of violence against women. The paper does, however, identify that there are clear associations, and in some cases, strong correlations between alcohol use and violence against women, including, for instance, in the severity of the violence.” The relationship between alcohol and violence against women manifests in three ways:
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Alcohol use is linked with the perpetration of violence against women.
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Alcohol use is linked with women’s victimisation by violence.
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Alcohol is used as a coping strategy by women who have experienced violence
International
Barlow, Charlotte and Siobhan Weare, ‘Women as Co-Offenders: Pathways into Crime and Offending Motivations’ (2019) 58(1) The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice 1089. 86-103.
This article examines a qualitative study in the UK which aimed to investigate co-offending women’s pathways into, and motivations for engaging in, criminal behaviour. It considers not only the impact of co-offending relationships on women’s criminality, but also factors which intersect with these relationships in their lives. Interviews with eight women who accessed a women’s advice and support centre were conducted. Findings showed that while co-offending relationships were a central pathway into offending, this often intersected with other circumstances in the women’s lives, including drug addiction, socio-economic circumstances, and ‘significant life events’. Moreover, women who co-offended with female friends were more likely to acknowledge their agency than those who co-offended with intimate male partners. Findings also demonstrated the significance of understanding the complex nature of the lives co-offending women, and the decision-making process.
Block, Carolyn, ‘Reducing Intimate Partner Homicide Rates: What are the Risk Factors for Death when a Woman is being Abused?’ in Australian Institute of Criminology, Domestic-related Homicide: Keynote Papers from the 2008 International Conference on Homicide (Report No 104, Research and Public Policy Series, 2009) 62.
This paper summarised the most important findings of the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study (CWHRS). The CWHRS involved interviews with 705 women who screened positive for domestic violence, and was designed to inform service providers of how to identify risk factors for intimate partner homicides. CWHRS found that, while past violence is a significant risk factor (particularly where there has been a threat of use of a weapon, an attempt to strangle her, or abuse of substances (p69)), women who have not experienced a previous violent incident may still be at high-risk of death (p72). The study also found that girls as young as 11 were killed by an intimate partner (see the age breakdowns and abuse types on p81). Other important findings included: ‘(1) leaving as both a protective factor against but also a risk factor for death, (2) the importance of choking/attempted strangulation as a risk factor for death, (3) risk factors for an abused woman killing her abuser, and (4) the voices of women about help-seeking’ (p63).
Block reports that women who had experienced a strangulation or choking attempt by the perpetrator in the last year were twice as likely to be killed as women who had not, with the CWHRS finding that:
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‘12 percent of women whose partner had tried to choke or strangle them in the past year were in the homicide sample, versus six percent of abused women who had not experienced a choking incident in the past year. Clinic/hospital women who said their partner had tried to choke or strangle them in the past year were more likely (16% versus 8%) to experience a very severe or life-threatening incident on follow-up (weapon use or threat, lost consciousness, permanent injury, internal injury, head injury or attempted murder)’ (p70).
Brownridge, Douglas, et al., ‘The Elevated Risk for Non-Lethal Post-Separation Violence in Canada: A Comparison of Separated, Divorced, and Married Women’ (2008) 23(1) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 117.
This Canadian study used a nationally representative sample (n=7,369), and made two contributions to the existing literature:
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first, compared with married women, separated women reported 9 times the prevalence of violence by their ex-husbands, and divorced women reported 4 times the prevalence of violence (pp 128-9); and
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second, the risk factors for the married, divorced and separated women were different. Sexually proprietary behaviour (for example, jealousy or possessiveness) and patriarchal dominance were significant risk factors only for married women, not for separated or divorced women (pp 129-30). In contrast, important risk factors for separated women were age and Indigenous status (p 130-1).
Thus, there may be different circumstances influencing post-separation violence and intimate partner violence.
Campbell, Jacquelyn, et al, ‘Risk Factors for Femicide in Abusive Relationships: Results from a Multisite Case Control Study’ (2003a) 93(7) American Journal of Public Health 1089.
This 11-city study sought to identify risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships. Proxies of 220 intimate partner femicide victims identified from police or medical examiner records were interviewed, along with 343 abused control women. Pre-incident risk factors associated with increased risk of intimate partner femicide included: perpetrator’s access to a gun and previous threat with a weapon; perpetrator’s stepchild in the home; and estrangement, especially from a controlling partner. Never living together and prior domestic violence arrest were associated with lowered risks. Significant incident factors included the victim having left for another partner and the perpetrator’s use of a gun. Other significant bivariate-level risks included stalking, forced sex, and abuse during pregnancy.
Campbell, Jacquelyn, et al, ‘Assessing Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide’ (2003b) 250 National Institute of Justice Journal 14.
This study examines the effectiveness of a particular risk assessment tool, the Danger Assessment Tool developed in 1985, in measuring women’s risk in abusive relationships. It ‘found that despite certain limitations, the tool can with some reliability identify women who may be at risk of being killed by an intimate partner’ (p14). The Danger Assessment found that women whose abusers used or threatened use of a weapon were 20 times more likely to be killed, while the correlation between threatened or attempted suicide required further analysis. Other risk factors identified included: partner attempting to strangle the woman; partner violently and constantly jealous; partner controls most or all of the woman’s daily activities; partner’s use of alcohol and illicit drugs; and the woman ever being beaten while pregnant. Limitations of the tool include that, while the Danger Assessment process correctly assessed 83% of women who were murdered as high-risk, it also assessed 40 percent of abused women who were not killed as high-risk, demonstrating that the tool can only operate as a guide for identifying a woman’s risk of death.
Fleury, Ruth E, Cris M Sullivan & Deborah I Bybee, ‘When Ending the Relationship Does not End the Violence: Women’s Experiences of Violence by Former Partners’ (2000) 6(12) Violence Against Women 1363.
A US study of 278 women with abusive partners leaving a women’s shelter were interviewed across two years. More than one third of the women were assaulted by their former partner during the time of the study. Those who were in a relationship longer before the first incident of violence were more likely to be assaulted after the end of the relationship suggesting that the violence may have started as a means by which the perpetrator could maintain control over the victim. There was also evidence that perpetrators who were highly sexually suspicious of the victim were more likely to be violent towards the victim after separation.
Folkes, Stephanie, N, Zoe Hilton and Grant T Harris, ‘Weapon Use Increases the Severity of Domestic Violence but Neither Weapon Use Nor Firearm Access Increases the Risk or Severity of Recidivism’ (2012) 28(6) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 1143.
A Canadian study. This reanalysis of 1,421 police reports of domestic violence by men found that 6% used a weapon during the assault and 8% had access to firearms. Firearm access was associated with assault severity, but this was mostly attributable to use of non-firearm weapons. Weapon use was associated with older age, lower education, and relationship history as well as to assault severity. Victims were most concerned about future assaults following threats and actual injuries. Although firearm access and weapon use were related to actuarial risk of domestic violence recidivism, neither predicted the occurrence or severity of recidivism. The study concluded that, consistent with previous research in the United States and Canada, firearm use in domestic violence is uncommon even among offenders with known firearm access. Weapon use is characteristic of a subgroup of offenders who commit more severe domestic violence, and seizure of weapons may be an effective intervention.
Glass, Nancy, et al, ‘Non-fatal Strangulation is an Important Risk Factor for Homicide of Women’ (2008) 35(3) Journal of Emergency Medicine 329.
The study examines non-fatal strangulation by an intimate partner as a risk factor for major assault, or attempted or actual homicide of women. A case control design was used to describe non-fatal strangulation among actual and attempted homicides (n=506) and abused controls (n=427). The results demonstrate non-fatal strangulation as an important risk factor for homicide of women by intimate partners, underscoring the need to screen for non-fatal strangulation when assessing abused women in emergency department settings.
Graham, Kathryn; Sharon Bernards, Sharon C. Wilsnack and Gerhard Gmel; ‘Alcohol May Not Cause Partner Violence But It Seems to Make It Worse: A Cross National Comparison of the Relationship Between Alcohol and Severity of Partner Violence’ (2011) 26(8) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 1503.
This study assesses whether severity of physical partner aggression is associated with alcohol consumption at the time of the incident, and whether the relationship between drinking and aggression severity is the same for men and women and across different countries. National or large regional general population surveys were conducted in 13 countries as part of the GENACIS (Gender, Alcohol and Culture – an International Study) collaboration. Respondents described the most physically aggressive act done to them by a partner in the past 2 years, rated the severity of aggression on a scale of 1 to 10, and reported whether either partner had been drinking when the incident occurred. Severity ratings were significantly higher for incidents in which one or both partners had been drinking compared to incidents in which neither partner had been drinking. The relationship did not differ significantly for men and women or by country. The authors concluded that alcohol consumption may serve to potentiate violence when it occurs, and this pattern holds across a diverse set of cultures.
Jaffe, Peter, Katreena Scott, ‘Risk Factors for Children in Situations of Family Violence in the Context of Separation and Divorce’ (Department of Justice Canada, 2014).
This report provides a summary of the expanding literature in the field of family violence, with specific attention to factors that increase the risk of harm to children during the critical time of parental separation. The report also summarises policies and practices for intervention and prevention as identified by Canadian experts and current research reports. The review highlights the many factors that increase children’s risk of harm to their psychological and physical well-being (e.g., exposure to domestic violence; history of maltreatment; parental stress; social isolation of the family; inadequate resources and support) in the context of family violence and separating parents. The authors propose a model to guide judges, lawyers and court-related professionals to consider when looking at potential harm to children based on their vulnerabilities as well as the risks that parents may present. Findings of risk can lead to court mandated interventions and safeguards in determining parental access to their children. This analysis requires consideration of barriers to required services such as language and cultural barriers as well as poverty.
Livingston, Michael, ‘The Ecology of Domestic Violence: The Role of Alcohol Outlet Density’ (2010) 5(1) Geospatial Health 139.
This study assesses whether alcohol outlet density is related to the incidence of domestic violence and whether this relationship is due to alcohol availability or to co-occurring economic disadvantage and social disorganisation. The study found that the density of hotels (or pubs), but not packaged liquor outlets or restaurants and bars, was significantly associated with rates of domestic violence, even controlling for socio-demographic factors. Socio-economic disadvantage was also found to be associated with domestic violence rates. The results present a mixed picture of the links between alcohol availability and domestic violence, and are suggestive of the need for more research. The study provides valuable insights into substance abuse as a risk factor for domestic violence.
Lyons, et al., Risk Factors for Child Death During an Intimate Partner Homicide: A Case-Control Study (2021) 26(4) Child Maltreatment 356-362 doi: 10.1177/1077559520983901
This research used the US National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) data (2003–2017) to compare all IPH incidents with a child corollary victim (n = 227) to all IPH incidents where a child was present but not killed (n = 350). We examined risk factors for child fatality during an IPH. For each risk factor, we calculated the odds ratio for child death during the IPH, adjusting for multiple comparisons. Perpetrator history of suicidal behavior, rape of the intimate partner victim, a non-biological child of the perpetrator living in the home, and perpetrator job stressors increased odds while prior separation of the IPV victim from the perpetrator decreased the odds of a child death during an IPH incident.
McFarlane, Judith, Jacquelyn Campbell and Kathy Watson, ‘Intimate Partner Stalking and Femicide: Urgent Implications for Women's Safety’ (2002) 20(1-2) Behavioral Sciences and the Law 51.
Researchers conducted a case control study of 821 women in 10 U.S. cities. A sample of 437 women who were killed or nearly killed by their intimate partners was compared with a control sample of 384 abused women residing in the community. The researchers assessed the relative significance of a set of risk factors for predicting femicide (homicide of a woman by her intimate partner) or near femicide (cases that could have but did not result in death for the victim). Compared with the control group of abused women (49%), significantly more of the killed/nearly killed women had histories of stalking (79%) in their abusive relationships. Multivariate analyses indicated that being “followed or spied on” by the abuser in the 12 months before the lethal or near lethal incident resulted in a nearly 2.5-fold risk. More detailed analyses identified five threat factors (in the perpetrator’s behavior towards the victim) that increased odds of femicide/attempted femicide: (a) threatened to harm children if the woman left, (b) frightened the woman with a weapon before the incident, (c) left scary notes on the woman’s car before the incident, (d) threatened to kill the woman, and (e) frightened or threatened the woman’s family before the incident.
Mechanic, Mindy B, Terri L. Weaver & Patricia A. Resick, ‘Risk Factors for Physical Injury Among Help-Seeking Battered Women: An Exploration of Multiple Abuse Dimensions’ (2008) 14(10) Violence Against Women 1148.
This US study assessed the nature and extent of minor and severe injuries among a help-seeking sample of battered women. It assessed the roles of physical violence, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and stalking in predicting minor and severe injuries in battered women. Length of relationship abuse and severity of physical aggression were the most robust predictors of minor and severe physical injuries. Consistent with other research findings, psychological abuse and stalking together contributed uniquely to the prediction of severe injuries.
Messing, JT, Thomas, KA, Ward-Lasher, AL & Brewer, NQ 2021, ‘A Comparison of Intimate Partner Violence Strangulation Between Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 36, no. 5/6, pp. 2887–2905.
US based study. Abstract: Strangulation is a common and dangerous form of intimate partner violence (IPV). Nonfatal strangulation is a risk factor for homicide; can lead to severe, long-term physical and mental health sequelae; and can be an effective strategy of coercion and control. To date, research has not examined strangulation within same-sex couples. The objective of this cross-sectional, observational research is to identify whether and to what extent the detection of strangulation and coercive control differs between same-sex and different-sex couples in police reports of IPV. Data (n = 2,207) were obtained from a single police department in the southwest United States (2011-2013). Bivariate analyses examined differences in victim and offender demographics, victim injury, violence, and coercive controlling behaviours between same-sex (male-male and female-female) and different-sex couples (female victim-male offender). Logistic regression was used to examine associations between strangulation, victim and offender demographics, coercive controlling behaviours, and couple configuration. Strangulation was reported significantly more often in different-sex (9.8%) than in female and male same-sex couple cases (5.2% and 5.3%, respectively; p <.05). Injury, however, was reported more frequently in same-sex than in different-sex couples (p <.05). Couple configuration (p <.05), coercive control (p <.05), and injury (p <.05) significantly predict strangulation. Findings suggest that nonfatal strangulation occurs within at least a minority of same-sex couples; it is possible that underdetection by law enforcement makes it appear less common than it actually is. Regardless of couple configuration, timely identification of strangulation and subsequent referral to medical and social service providers is essential for preventing repeated strangulation, life-threatening injury, and the long-term health effects of strangulation.
Messing, Jill Theresa, Wilson, Janet Sullivan and Jacquelyn Campbell, ‘ Differentiating among Attempted, Completed, and Multiple Nonfatal Strangulation in Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence’ (2018) 28(1) Women’s Health Issues 104-111.
The identification of intimate partner violence (IPV) in health care settings is difficult, and strangulation increases the risk of death among women experiencing IPV. Previous literature suggests that women rarely seek treatment and care after IPV strangulation, and those who do, may not disclose prior assaults or the cause of the injury, thus leading to misdiagnoses and inadequate treatment plans. The authors examined the prevalence and correlates of non-fatal strangulation among 1008 women survives of intimate partner violence. Trained researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with women survivors of IPV referred by police. Results showed that each strangulation was independently significantly associated with sexual violence when compared to non-strangulation. Multiple strangulation was associated with more IPV injury and risk factors for homicide, including loss of consciousness and miscarriage (see pages 107-108). The authors found that strangulation was a prevalent form of IPV and has significant health risks to women. Women’s health practitioners are best placed to identify the signs and symptoms of strangulation, help women to understand the consequences and potential future fatality associated with strangulation, and direct them to appropriate resources to reduce the risk of mortality and morbidity.
Miner, Emily, et al, ‘Risk of Death or Life-Threatening Injury for Women with Children Not Sired by the Abuser’ (2012) 23(1) Human Nature 89.
This US study further explores the previously identified link between the presence of children sired by a woman’s previous partner (step-children) and an increased risk of abuse and femicide by her current partner. The current research secured data from samples of 111 non-abused women, 111 less severely abused women, 128 more severely abused women, and 26 victims of intimate partner femicide from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study. The study found that women who have genetic children in the household sired by a previous partner experience an increased risk of severe forms of abuse (by their current partner) compared with women whose children were all sired by their current partner. It also identified a trend of increasing representation of women with children sired by previous partners as victims of abuse as the severity of the abuse increases.
National Institute of Justice, ‘How Effective Are Lethality Assessment Programs for Addressing Intimate Partner Violence?’ (Office of Justice Programs, June 11 2018).
The article analyses the effectiveness of Lethality Assessment Programs (LAP) in addressing intimate partner violence (IPV). LAP was developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence in 2003 as a means for first responders to identify high-risk victims of IPV, and provide them with the tools to make decisions of self-care. As part of the program, police officers used an 11-question Lethality Screen to evaluate a victim’s risk for lethal violence, and warned high-risk victims of their dangerous circumstances and offered to connect them with a social services provider. If victims agreed, they were put in contact, by phone, to a provider to receive victim advocacy services, safety planning, and referral for additional services. The researchers collected data on 700 female victims of IPV in seven police jurisdictions in Oklahoma.
Although the program did not appear to have a significant impact on reducing the incidence of IPV, it did seem to significantly reduce the severity and frequency of the violence that survivors experienced. It also appeared to increase help seeking and safety planning. Women who participated in the program were more likely to remove or hide their partner’s weapons, to obtain formal services for domestic violence, to establish safety strategies with friends and family, and to obtain protection against their partner. The researchers also found that victims who received assistance through the LAP reported greater satisfaction with the police response. Consequently, LAP was described as a ‘collaborative police-social service intervention with an emerging evidence base.’
The article was based on Police Departments' Use of the Lethality Assessment Program: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation.
Patch, Michelle, Jocelyn Anderson and Jacquelyn Campbell, ‘Injuries of Women Surviving Intimate Partner Strangulation and Subsequent Emergency Health Care Seeking: An Integrative Evidence Review’ (2018) 44(4) Journal of Emergency Nursing 384.
This article reviewed the literature on women’s injuries and their subsequent experiences in seeking health care after encountering non-fatal intimate partner strangulation (NF-IPS). Research shows that NF-IPS is higher in women than in men. Although injuries may be subtle or minimised, they may have severe health consequences. In recent years, there have been calls for nursing and other health care providers to improve practices related to strangulation screening, assessment and treatment. Overall, NF-IPS was associated with multiple negative physical (eg injuries to head/neck or neurological, vascular or respiratory systems) and psychological (eg anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation or post-traumatic stress) outcomes for women. Studies suggested that women are reluctant to seek health care after being strangled. Reasons for their reluctance include wanting a safe place first, not wanting to share personal experiences, an abuser being present in the room during the visit, and feelings of hopelessness.
Petersson, Joachim and Thunberg, Sara, (2022) Vulnerability Factors among Women Victimized by Intimate Partner Violence and the Presence of Children, 37 Journal of Family Violence 1057-1069, doi: 10.1007/s10896-021-00328-8
This study aimed to a) examine the presence of children in relation to victim vulnerability factors and assessed risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) re-victimization, and b) examine the police response, in terms of risk management, in IPV cases with and without children, respectively. Data from a sample of 1407 women who had reported IPV victimization to the Swedish police was analyzed. The material consisted of risk assessments conducted by the police using the Swedish version of the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) checklist, as well as the recommended risk management strategies. Victim vulnerability factors that were most strongly associated with an elevated risk rating for IPV re-victimization were generally the same for both groups of victims. The presence of children was related to a higher risk rating for imminent IPV re-victimization and to recommendations of more than standard levels of risk management strategies.
Rossiter, KR. et al., ‘Domestic Homicide in Immigrant and Refugee Populations: Culturally-Informed Risk and Safety Strategies’ (Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative, Domestic Homicide Brief 4, February 2018).
The purpose of this Briefing Paper is to highlight risk assessment, risk management, and safety planning for immigrant and refugee populations. The paper provides definitions of key terms, such as ‘migrant’, ‘protected persons’ and ‘permanent residents’. It also identifies unique risk factors for domestic homicide, using the Immigrant Power and Control Wheel (p6). The authors highlight the importance in recognising that ‘domestic violence and homicide among immigrant and refugee populations are not rooted specific in cultures, but in patriarchy’ (p 5). The authors identify several factors that contribute to increased risk of domestic violence and homicide among immigrant and refugee populations (p4):
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Acculturation level
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Cultural norms and expectations
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Geographic and social isolation
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Length of residency in host country
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Loss of socioeconomic status
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Loss of culture, family structures and community leaders
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Power imbalances between partners
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Stress associated with migration
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Post-migration strain and stigma
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Strict or changing gender roles
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Traditional patriarchal beliefs
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Unresolved pre-migration trauma
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Victim/survivor immigration status
Barriers to services for immigrant and refugee women are addressed, along with the need for culturally-informed strategies for risk assessment, risk management, and safety planning. Examples of culturally-specific risk assessment tools are provided.
Spencer, Chelsea and Stith, Sandra, (2020) Risk Factors for Male Perpetration and Female Victimization of Intimate Partner Homicide: A Meta-Analysis. 21(3) Trauma, Violence & Abuse 527-540. doi: 10.1177/1524838018781101
This meta-analysis examined results from 17 studies. Primary findings from this research suggest the strongest risk factors for intimate partner homicide were the perpetrator having direct access to a gun, perpetrator’s previous nonfatal strangulation, perpetrator’s previous rape of the victim, perpetrator’s previous threat with a weapon, the perpetrator’s demonstration of controlling behaviors, and the perpetrator’s previous threats to harm the victim. Implications for law enforcement personnel, medical professionals, victim advocates, mental health professionals, and other professionals who may be in contact with potential IPH perpetrators and victims are discussed.
Vivienne, Elizabeth, ‘Custody Stalking: A Mechanism of Coercively Controlling Mothers Following Separation’ (2017) 25(2) Feminist Legal Studies 185-201.
This study adds to the literature in relation to post-separation violence by introducing the new concept of ‘custody stalking’. Custody stalking is a parents’s use of custody and/or child protection proceedings to obtain care time with children far in excess of their involvement prior to separation (p 187). Elizabeth views custody stalking as a specific pattern of coercive control, derived from the unique insights former partners have about how to torment women (p 187). The study was conducted through interviews with 12 mothers who had experienced domestic violence (p 190). The study found that custody stalking causes grief, damages psychological wellbeing and has a detrimental effect on their mothering relationships. However, the losses experienced by mothers in this study are described as ‘culturally invisible’ (p 187-8)
Wallace, M. et al., (2021) ‘Homicide during pregnancy and the post-partum period in the United States, 218-2019’. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 138(5): 762- 769, doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004567
Objective: To estimate the national pregnancy associated homicide mortality ratio, characterize pregnancy-associated homicide victims, and compare the risk of homicide in the perinatal period (pregnancy and up to 1 year postpartum) with risk among nonpregnant, nonpostpartum females aged 10–44 years.
Methods: Data from the National Center for Health Statistics 2018 and 2019 mortality files were used to identify all female decedents aged 10–44 in the United States. These data were used to estimate 2-year pregnancy-associated homicide mortality ratios (deaths/100,000 live births) for comparison with homicide mortality among nonpregnant, nonpostpartum females (deaths/100,000 population) and to mortality ratios for direct maternal causes of death. We compared characteristics and estimated homicide mortality rate ratios and 95% CIs between pregnant or postpartum and nonpregnant, nonpostpartum victims for the total population and with stratification by race and ethnicity and age.
Results: There were 3.62 homicides per 100,000 live births among females who were pregnant or within 1 year postpartum, 16% higher than homicide prevalence among nonpregnant and nonpostpartum females of reproductive age (3.12 deaths/100,000 population, P,.05). Homicide during pregnancy or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy exceeded all the leading causes of maternal mortality by more than twofold. Pregnancy was associated with a significantly elevated homicide risk in the Black population and among girls and younger women (age 10–24 years) across racial and ethnic subgroups.
Conclusion: Homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and the postpartum period in the United States. Pregnancy and the postpartum period are times of elevated risk for homicide among all females of reproductive age.
White, Catherine et al., ‘I thought he was going to kill me’: Analysis of 204 case files of adults reporting non-fatal strangulation as part of a sexual assault over a 3 year period’ (2021) 79 Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2021.102128
One of the aims of this study was to identify the prevalence of NFS in patients presenting to a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (in the UK for an acute forensic medical examination after a report of rape or sexual assault. Data from case files of all patients attending in a three year period, January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019, were analysed. The case files included 204 (9.28%) NFS cases. Conclusion: The study shows that NFS in sexual assault is a gendered crime, with most victims female and most assailants male. NFS is prevalent and this prevalence increases where the alleged perpetrator is a partner or ex-partner. Many are assaulted in their own homes, homes frequently shared with children. Visible NFS injuries are not the norm yet fear of death is not uncommon. Over 1 in 6 (15.7%) reported loss of consciousness suggesting that they were victims of a near lethal assault. That 27% had previously been a victim of NFS by the same alleged perpetrator indicates that there are considerable numbers potentially living in fear and at risk. Awareness of the risk of NFS, and an enhanced response to it, is required by those looking after victims and all those in the criminal justice system.
Zilkins, R.R., Phillips, M.A., Kelly, M.C., Mukhtar, S.A., Semmens, J.B., & Smith, D.A., ‘Non-fatal strangulation in sexual assault: A study of clinical and assault characteristics highlighting the role of intimate partner violence’ (2016) 43 Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine 1.
Western Australian Study. A total of 1064 women were included in the study; 79 (7.4%) alleged non-fatal strangulation during sexual assault. This study identifies and quantifies NFS risk factors in female sexual assault and highlights the strong association with intimate partner sexual assault. Notes as follows:
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7.4% of all female sexual assault cases involved non-fatal strangulation (NFS)
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58% of non-fatal strangulation sexual assault cases involved intimate partners
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23% of sexual assaults by an intimate partner involved NFS
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NFS was most frequent in 30–39 year olds sexually assaulted by an intimate partner
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External physical signs of NFS were absent in 49% who gave a history of NFS.
Overview
The following factors are commonly identified in academic literature, domestic violence death reviews and a range of risk assessment tools as key signifiers of risk for the escalation of domestic and family violence. It is not an exhaustive list and other resources may include additional factors. The distinguishing characteristic of domestic and family violence is that it can present in many forms and can occur within a variety of relationships and is most likely to involve a complex pattern of controlling behaviour and violence over a period of time, rather than a single incident. This is often referred to as coercive control. One study has described coercive control as the ‘golden thread’ running through risk identification and assessment for domestic violence. It is likely therefore that risk will heighten where a perpetrator increasingly engages in multiple forms of violence or abuse, or does so more frequently, intensely or severely. Judicial recognition of this is critical to understanding the ongoing and ever-changing risks of domestic and family violence unique to the circumstances of each case before the court, and the need to regularly reassess risk throughout the course of judicial proceedings. It is also important to recognise, more broadly, that certain groups within the community as identified in this bench book may be at greater risk of experiencing domestic and family violence, and may be more vulnerable to its impacts. Some people may belong to multiple groups that have been identified as being particularly at risk of domestic and family violence.
It has become increasingly common for agencies, including police, to employ in an attempt to identify victims at risk of escalation of domestic and family violence victimisation, and in particular, intimate partner homicide. Those tools are only effective if they accurately identify those victims who are at significant risk. Recent research has observed that risk assessment tools which fail to take account of the gendered nature of domestic and family violence may be ineffective.
Victim fear
According to an evaluation of risk assessment tools carried out in NSW, the victim’s self-perception of risk of future intimate partner violence is one of the strongest predictors of future intimate partner violence. A victim’s intuitive sense of being in danger has been identified as a key lethality indicator present in 53.2 per cent of intimate partner violence related homicides recorded in Queensland between 2011 and 2018. It is vital that victims are believed, regardless of how agencies assess their presentation. The Queensland Death Review and Advisory Board observed that agencies had assessed risk with a focus on the victims’ presentation rather than victims’ expressed concerns for their safety, and resulted in failures to refer victims to High-Risk teams for support. The Queensland Death Review and Advisory Board further observed that victims who do not fit agency understandings of the ideal victim may not have their fears taken seriously if they present as ‘jovial’ or ‘happy’, resulting in miscalculation of actual level of risk or potential future harm. Regardless of presentation, victim fear and help-seeking behaviours were the highest level lethality indicator observed across the period examined in the Queensland Death Review and Advisory Board Annual Report 2021-22.
Past domestic and family violence and escalation
The risk of life-threatening injury or death is reported to be higher where the past violence experienced by a victim occurred within the last year and included at least one incident where the perpetrator used or threatened to use a firearm or knife or strangled or choked the victim, or where the perpetrator made a death threat of any kind to the victim, or where the frequency or severity of incidents of threatened or actual physical violence increased in the lead up to the life-threatening injury or death. Some victims however may never experience any form of actual or threatened physical violence and yet may still be at risk of death; in some reported cases, the homicide is the first incident. However, in many of these cases the homicide was preceded by coercive and controlling behaviour. In these cases, there may be other important signifiers of risk evident in the perpetrator’s behaviour, such as: physical violence outside the intimate relationship; misuse of alcohol or drugs; intense jealousy towards the victim; or exercising a high level of prolonged control over the victim’s daily activities and life. Research demonstrates links between the experience of domestic and family violence and the development of mental health conditions in victims and this may place victims at risk of self-harm and suicide.
An escalation in victim experience of domestic and family violence was observed in 37 percent of intimate partner homicides recorded in Queensland between 2011 and 2018. The presentation of victims to agencies on multiple occasions may be an indication that violence is escalating in frequency and severity, heightening risk of death and serious injury. Indicators of escalation may include:
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Victims taking further protective action, such as seeking to vary a protection order by strengthening conditions may indicate a change in circumstances or that current conditions are ineffective;
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Victim action to secure safety of children through legal processes may increase potential risk of violence.
Non-fatal strangulation
US research indicates that women who had experienced non-fatal strangulation by the perpetrator in the last year were twice as likely to be killed as women who had not. Women who had experienced non-fatal strangulation were also six times more likely to be a victim of attempted murder by their abusive partner. Strangulation is sometimes referred to as garrotting or choking. Strangulation has been identified as one of the behaviours that often forms part of a pattern of behaviours underpinning coercive control. A Western Australian study highlights the strong association between non-fatal strangulation and intimate partner sexual assault.
Weapons and threats to kill
Limited Australian research in this area necessitates referencing Canadian and US sources. It is important to note that firearms are more prevalent and easier to obtain in the US than in Canada and Australia. A Canadian study found that where a firearm was present in the home, the risk of severe harm caused by weapons was heightened. This was the case even though the firearm was generally not used, and the harm was caused by another kind of weapon.
US research indicates that the severity of abuse related harm is significantly heightened when weapons are involved. Studies found that women whose abusers used or threatened use of a weapon were 20 times more likely to be killed (with or without a weapon) than women whose abusers did not use or threaten weapon use. A Chicago study of women subjected to lethal and non-lethal harm found that 23 per cent of abuse incidents involving a firearm had a lethal outcome. In the same study, 35 per cent of incidents involving a knife had a lethal outcome. An analysis of the results from 17 studies that measured completed or attempted intimate partner homicide found that the perpetrator’s direct access to guns increased the likelihood of intimate partner homicide compared to intimate partner violence by 11 times.
Separation
Victims, and their family and friends, may not always recognise domestic and family violence where there has been a prolonged history of controlling behaviours by the perpetrator and no acts of physical violence or harm. For some victims, leaving an intimate relationship will be the first time they identify an experience of domestic and family violence by their former partner, although research suggests that usually there are indications of controlling behaviours within the relationship prior to separation. Where violence has occurred during the relationship, it is common for perpetrators to continue or escalate the violence after separation in an attempt to gain or reassert control over the victim, or to punish the victim for leaving the relationship. Where women leave an intimate relationship and first experience or continue to experience violence after separation, their former partner may experience an intense sense of loss of control and the violent response may be severe, life threatening or lethal. The Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Review and Advisory Board in its 2022 Annual Report noted a strong correlation between separation and homicide. Between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2022, 50.6 per cent of Queensland victims of intimate partner homicide were known to have separated (40.5 per cent) or intended (10.1) to separate from the perpetrator. In the Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015, 42.1 per cent of the 38 family violence intimate partner homicide incidents in Victoria between 2011 and 2015 involved individuals who had separated, 23.7 per cent in the three months preceding their death and 15.8 per cent involved individuals with intention to separate or separation pending.
The NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team Annual Report 2019-2021 recorded that in 61.3 percent of all intimate partner homicides where a female was killed by a former partner, the victim and perpetrator had separated within three months of the killing and where a female was killed by a current partner in 51.1 per cent of cases one or both parties had indicated an intent to end the relationship, most often within three months of the killing, concluding that in over two thirds of intimate partner homicides involving a female victim and male offender the relationship had ended or was breaking down. This indicates that the period during and directly after separation may be high risk for women in relationships involving domestic and family violence. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that in 2019 domestic and family violence-related homicide victims accounted for over a third of the total number, and females accounted for almost two-thirds of all victims.
Importantly, in the context of separating parents, there is also an increased risk of harm to children’s psychological and physical wellbeing due to exposure to domestic violence, history of maltreatment, parental stress, social isolation of the family, and inadequate resources and support.
Pregnancy of victim
The NSW Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues found that pregnant women are 230 per cent more likely than non-pregnant women to experience domestic and family violence.
47.5 per cent of the respondents in the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey had experienced violence by a former partner while pregnant. For 24.1 per cent of these respondents, pregnancy was the first time they had experienced violence. Of the respondents who had experienced violence by a current partner, 18 per cent experienced the violence during pregnancy, 5.2 per cent for the first time. Notably in the US, homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and the postpartum period – with the majority of these homicides occurring in the home-pregnancy and the postpartum period are recognised as times of elevated risk for homicide among all females of reproductive age.
Misuse of alcohol or drugs by perpetrator
National death review data indicates that problematic substance abuse was a factor in over 60 per cent of homicides where a male offender killed a female victim. A quarter of male homicide offenders engaged in problematic drug and alcohol use in the lead up to or at the time of the homicide, over half engaged in problematic alcohol use at the time of the homicide (27.1 per cent used alcohol and no other drug) and one third engaged in problematic drug use in the lead up to or at the time of the homicide (8.3 per cent engaged in problematic drug use only). The Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015 found that 35.3 per cent of family violence homicide offenders misused substances at the time of the fatal incident. The accessibility of alcohol also has a relationship to the risk of violence. Australian research indicates that rates of violence are heightened in areas where takeaway alcohol is available for purchase.
Stalking
In assessing the relative significance of risk factors for predicting lethal or near lethal harm to victims of domestic and family violence, a large sample size study across ten US cities revealed that significantly more of the women killed or nearly killed than those who were not had histories of stalking in their abusive relationships. The same study indicated that being “followed or spied on” by the abuser in the 12 months before the lethal or near lethal incident resulted in a nearly 2.5-fold risk. A later study showed that psychological abuse and stalking contributed uniquely to the prediction of severe injuries. The New South Wales Domestic Violence Death Review Team’s 2021 report identified that almost a third of the 245 female intimate partner homicide victims killed by a male predominant abuser had been stalked during the relationship. In over half of the 109 cases where the relationship had ended the male predominant abuser stalked the female predominant victim after the relationship had ended.
Coercive and controlling, jealous, obsessive behaviours by the perpetrator
Findings from the New South Wales Domestic Violence Death Review Team’s 2019-2021 Report indicate a strong correlation between accounts of coercive control in relationships prior to homicide; of male homicide perpetrators identified as the predominant abuser:
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96.7 per cent used emotional and/or psychological abuse against the female predominant victim before the homicide, including verbal denigration, threats regarding child custody, victim-blaming, gaslighting, exploiting a victim’s mental illness, unfounded allegations of infidelity and threats of self-harm or suicide to control a victim.
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15.1 per cent had an identifiable history of sexual abuse (this figure is suspected to not reflect the true prevalence of sexual abuse in these relationships);
•
59.2 per cent used social violence against the female predominant victim, including controlling the victim’s contact with family and friends, abuse, threats or rudeness to the victim’s friends or family, intentional relocation away from support networks, friends and family, restricting access to transport, and controlling the victim’s personal appearance;
•
31.4 per cent used economic and/or financial violence against the female predominant victim, including withholding and controlling use of and access to money, scrutinising spending and unrealistic expectations for expenditure on necessities, preventing the victim from working or controlling wages and coerced debt.
•
30.6 per cent stalked the female predominant victim during the relationship and 51.4 per cent did so after the relationship had ended, including physical following, hiring someone to surveil the victim, loitering near or breaking into the victim’s home or work, reading a victim’s diary, using devices to track the victim’s location, persistently messaging a victim’s phone or social media, maintaining surveillance over the victim’s phone, email or other accounts, covertly recording the victim’s activities, and engaging with the victim on social media/dating sites under a false identity.
In addition, 72.7 per cent of male predominant abusers used physical violence against the female predominant victim before her death.
Analysis of the National Death Review Network’s National Minimum Dataset identified the following types of coercive and controlling behaviour exhibited by male primary domestic violence abusers who killed female domestic violence victims in its 2022 report:
•
81.6 per cent emotionally and/or psychologically abused their victim;
•
63.2 per cent socially abused their victim;
•
41.5 per cent stalked their victim;
•
27.4 per cent financially abused their victim;
•
16 per cent were identified as having sexually abused their victim (this is recognised as likely an undercount of the true incidence of sexual violence).
This was in addition to the 79.7 who used physical violence against their victim.
A recent study which interviewed loved ones of female intimate partner homicide victims found that coercive control was present in all informant’s narratives of the relationship between the victims and homicide perpetrators. The Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015 found that 78.9 per cent of domestic and family violence homicide victims were identified as having a prior history of domestic and family violence victimisation at the hands of the homicide perpetrator.
The controlling behaviours referred to in the previous paragraphs (sometimes referred to as coercive control) may involve the perpetrator spatially confining or restraining the victim; asserting exclusive possession over the victim; monopolising the victim’s skills and resources; restricting the victim’s access to finances and employment; or preventing the victim from keeping in touch with social networks, escaping the abusive relationship, or seeking help and support. The effect may be to physically and socially isolate the victim, and, over time, undermine the victim’s sense of identity, independence and self worth, and place them at greater risk of further domestic and family violence.
Suicide threat by perpetrator
There is evidence to suggest a correlation between severe domestic and family violence and threat of suicide by the perpetrator. The NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team Annual Report 2017-2019 recorded that 23 per cent of all male intimate partner perpetrators suicided after murdering their intimate partners. In the period 2000-2010 in Victoria, of the 31 homicide-suicides, 17 involved intimate partners and the Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015 found that 14 per cent of the 85 family violence homicide perpetrators suicided at the time of the incident or subsequently. The Ombudsman Western Australia reported that, in the period 2012-2015, of the 35 domestic and family violence related deaths, 8 were homicide-suicides where in all cases the male killed the female and subsequently suicided.
Step-child in the family
A number of studies have investigated the prevalence and severity of domestic and family violence against women with children fathered by someone other than the perpetrator. A comparative study found that women with some or all children not fathered by the perpetrator were 30 per cent more likely to experience lethal harm and 20 per cent more likely to experience at least one life-threatening violent incident than women whose children were all fathered by the perpetrator; further, these women represented 65 per cent of the homicide victims in the study. An earlier study found that the presence of a step-child in the family more than doubled the risk of the mother being killed. A recent Swedish study observed that the presence of any children (not just step-children) was related to a higher risk rating for imminent intimate partner violence re-victimization and warranted recommendations of more than standard levels of risk management strategies.
Parenting proceedings and other court proceedings
An Australian study found that domestic and family violence is a common experience among separated parents, with mothers reporting physical or emotional abuse in greater proportions than fathers. Another study reported high rates of ongoing fear and abuse associated with post-separation parenting arrangements and decision-making. A 2015 court outcomes project found that more than one third of all parenting matters filed in the then Family Court of Australia and then Federal Circuit Court of Australia raised allegations of family violence, while a study of the experiences of separated parents found that a significant proportion of mothers who had experienced family violence may have difficulty corroborating it because they had not previously disclosed it to police or other agencies. In these circumstances, a parent may use their joint parenting role or related judicial options as a means of exercising ongoing control over their former partner and may be considered as systems abuse and part of a pattern of abusive behaviours aimed at controlling the victim, sometimes referred to as coercive control. The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report found that protection orders were a feature in over 40 per cent of the 240 cases where a male intimate partner homicide offender killed a female intimate partner, demonstrating a history of police or court intervention due to domestic or family violence, and in 49 of those cases there was a current protection order in place at the time of the homicide, the vast majority naming the female victim as the protected person. Active family law proceedings were identified in only 3.8 per cent of the total 290 cases in the focused dataset, reflecting the fact that many disputes relating to separation, property division and child arrangements are settled informally. It notes that the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Board has identified that there is no process whereby the family court system is notified of domestic violence deaths involving parties engaged with the court.
Overview
The following factors are commonly identified in academic literature, domestic violence death reviews and a range of risk assessment tools as key signifiers of risk for the escalation of domestic and family violence. It is not an exhaustive list and other resources may include additional factors. The distinguishing characteristic of domestic and family violence is that it can present in many forms and can occur within a variety of relationships and is most likely to involve a complex pattern of controlling behaviour and violence over a period of time, rather than a single incident. This is often referred to as coercive control. One study has described coercive control as the ‘golden thread’ running through risk identification and assessment for domestic violence. It is likely therefore that risk will heighten where a perpetrator increasingly engages in multiple forms of violence or abuse, or does so more frequently, intensely or severely. Judicial recognition of this is critical to understanding the ongoing and ever-changing risks of domestic and family violence unique to the circumstances of each case before the court, and the need to regularly reassess risk throughout the course of judicial proceedings. It is also important to recognise, more broadly, that certain groups within the community as identified in this bench book may be at greater risk of experiencing domestic and family violence, and may be more vulnerable to its impacts. Some people may belong to multiple groups that have been identified as being particularly at risk of domestic and family violence.
It has become increasingly common for agencies, including police, to employ in an attempt to identify victims at risk of escalation of domestic and family violence victimisation, and in particular, intimate partner homicide. Those tools are only effective if they accurately identify those victims who are at significant risk. Recent research has observed that risk assessment tools which fail to take account of the gendered nature of domestic and family violence may be ineffective.
Victim fear
According to an evaluation of risk assessment tools carried out in NSW, the victim’s self-perception of risk of future intimate partner violence is one of the strongest predictors of future intimate partner violence. A victim’s intuitive sense of being in danger has been identified as a key lethality indicator present in 53.2 per cent of intimate partner violence related homicides recorded in Queensland between 2011 and 2018. It is vital that victims are believed, regardless of how agencies assess their presentation. The Queensland Death Review and Advisory Board observed that agencies had assessed risk with a focus on the victims’ presentation rather than victims’ expressed concerns for their safety, and resulted in failures to refer victims to High-Risk teams for support. The Queensland Death Review and Advisory Board further observed that victims who do not fit agency understandings of the ideal victim may not have their fears taken seriously if they present as ‘jovial’ or ‘happy’, resulting in miscalculation of actual level of risk or potential future harm. Regardless of presentation, victim fear and help-seeking behaviours were the highest level lethality indicator observed across the period examined in the Queensland Death Review and Advisory Board Annual Report 2021-22.
Past domestic and family violence and escalation
The risk of life-threatening injury or death is reported to be higher where the past violence experienced by a victim occurred within the last year and included at least one incident where the perpetrator used or threatened to use a firearm or knife or strangled or choked the victim, or where the perpetrator made a death threat of any kind to the victim, or where the frequency or severity of incidents of threatened or actual physical violence increased in the lead up to the life-threatening injury or death. Some victims however may never experience any form of actual or threatened physical violence and yet may still be at risk of death; in some reported cases, the homicide is the first incident. However, in many of these cases the homicide was preceded by coercive and controlling behaviour. In these cases, there may be other important signifiers of risk evident in the perpetrator’s behaviour, such as: physical violence outside the intimate relationship; misuse of alcohol or drugs; intense jealousy towards the victim; or exercising a high level of prolonged control over the victim’s daily activities and life. Research demonstrates links between the experience of domestic and family violence and the development of mental health conditions in victims and this may place victims at risk of self-harm and suicide.
An escalation in victim experience of domestic and family violence was observed in 37 percent of intimate partner homicides recorded in Queensland between 2011 and 2018. The presentation of victims to agencies on multiple occasions may be an indication that violence is escalating in frequency and severity, heightening risk of death and serious injury. Indicators of escalation may include:
•
Victims taking further protective action, such as seeking to vary a protection order by strengthening conditions may indicate a change in circumstances or that current conditions are ineffective;
•
Victim action to secure safety of children through legal processes may increase potential risk of violence.
Non-fatal strangulation
US research indicates that women who had experienced non-fatal strangulation by the perpetrator in the last year were twice as likely to be killed as women who had not. Women who had experienced non-fatal strangulation were also six times more likely to be a victim of attempted murder by their abusive partner. Strangulation is sometimes referred to as garrotting or choking. Strangulation has been identified as one of the behaviours that often forms part of a pattern of behaviours underpinning coercive control. A Western Australian study highlights the strong association between non-fatal strangulation and intimate partner sexual assault.
Weapons and threats to kill
Limited Australian research in this area necessitates referencing Canadian and US sources. It is important to note that firearms are more prevalent and easier to obtain in the US than in Canada and Australia. A Canadian study found that where a firearm was present in the home, the risk of severe harm caused by weapons was heightened. This was the case even though the firearm was generally not used, and the harm was caused by another kind of weapon.
US research indicates that the severity of abuse related harm is significantly heightened when weapons are involved. Studies found that women whose abusers used or threatened use of a weapon were 20 times more likely to be killed (with or without a weapon) than women whose abusers did not use or threaten weapon use. A Chicago study of women subjected to lethal and non-lethal harm found that 23 per cent of abuse incidents involving a firearm had a lethal outcome. In the same study, 35 per cent of incidents involving a knife had a lethal outcome. An analysis of the results from 17 studies that measured completed or attempted intimate partner homicide found that the perpetrator’s direct access to guns increased the likelihood of intimate partner homicide compared to intimate partner violence by 11 times.
Separation
Victims, and their family and friends, may not always recognise domestic and family violence where there has been a prolonged history of controlling behaviours by the perpetrator and no acts of physical violence or harm. For some victims, leaving an intimate relationship will be the first time they identify an experience of domestic and family violence by their former partner, although research suggests that usually there are indications of controlling behaviours within the relationship prior to separation. Where violence has occurred during the relationship, it is common for perpetrators to continue or escalate the violence after separation in an attempt to gain or reassert control over the victim, or to punish the victim for leaving the relationship. Where women leave an intimate relationship and first experience or continue to experience violence after separation, their former partner may experience an intense sense of loss of control and the violent response may be severe, life threatening or lethal. The Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Review and Advisory Board in its 2022 Annual Report noted a strong correlation between separation and homicide. Between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2022, 50.6 per cent of Queensland victims of intimate partner homicide were known to have separated (40.5 per cent) or intended (10.1) to separate from the perpetrator. In the Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015, 42.1 per cent of the 38 family violence intimate partner homicide incidents in Victoria between 2011 and 2015 involved individuals who had separated, 23.7 per cent in the three months preceding their death and 15.8 per cent involved individuals with intention to separate or separation pending.
The NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team Annual Report 2019-2021 recorded that in 61.3 percent of all intimate partner homicides where a female was killed by a former partner, the victim and perpetrator had separated within three months of the killing and where a female was killed by a current partner in 51.1 per cent of cases one or both parties had indicated an intent to end the relationship, most often within three months of the killing, concluding that in over two thirds of intimate partner homicides involving a female victim and male offender the relationship had ended or was breaking down. This indicates that the period during and directly after separation may be high risk for women in relationships involving domestic and family violence. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that in 2019 domestic and family violence-related homicide victims accounted for over a third of the total number, and females accounted for almost two-thirds of all victims.
Importantly, in the context of separating parents, there is also an increased risk of harm to children’s psychological and physical wellbeing due to exposure to domestic violence, history of maltreatment, parental stress, social isolation of the family, and inadequate resources and support.
Pregnancy of victim
The NSW Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues found that pregnant women are 230 per cent more likely than non-pregnant women to experience domestic and family violence.
47.5 per cent of the respondents in the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey had experienced violence by a former partner while pregnant. For 24.1 per cent of these respondents, pregnancy was the first time they had experienced violence. Of the respondents who had experienced violence by a current partner, 18 per cent experienced the violence during pregnancy, 5.2 per cent for the first time. Notably in the US, homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and the postpartum period – with the majority of these homicides occurring in the home-pregnancy and the postpartum period are recognised as times of elevated risk for homicide among all females of reproductive age.
Misuse of alcohol or drugs by perpetrator
National death review data indicates that problematic substance abuse was a factor in over 60 per cent of homicides where a male offender killed a female victim. A quarter of male homicide offenders engaged in problematic drug and alcohol use in the lead up to or at the time of the homicide, over half engaged in problematic alcohol use at the time of the homicide (27.1 per cent used alcohol and no other drug) and one third engaged in problematic drug use in the lead up to or at the time of the homicide (8.3 per cent engaged in problematic drug use only). The Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015 found that 35.3 per cent of family violence homicide offenders misused substances at the time of the fatal incident. The accessibility of alcohol also has a relationship to the risk of violence. Australian research indicates that rates of violence are heightened in areas where takeaway alcohol is available for purchase.
Stalking
In assessing the relative significance of risk factors for predicting lethal or near lethal harm to victims of domestic and family violence, a large sample size study across ten US cities revealed that significantly more of the women killed or nearly killed than those who were not had histories of stalking in their abusive relationships. The same study indicated that being “followed or spied on” by the abuser in the 12 months before the lethal or near lethal incident resulted in a nearly 2.5-fold risk. A later study showed that psychological abuse and stalking contributed uniquely to the prediction of severe injuries. The New South Wales Domestic Violence Death Review Team’s 2021 report identified that almost a third of the 245 female intimate partner homicide victims killed by a male predominant abuser had been stalked during the relationship. In over half of the 109 cases where the relationship had ended the male predominant abuser stalked the female predominant victim after the relationship had ended.
Coercive and controlling, jealous, obsessive behaviours by the perpetrator
Findings from the New South Wales Domestic Violence Death Review Team’s 2019-2021 Report indicate a strong correlation between accounts of coercive control in relationships prior to homicide; of male homicide perpetrators identified as the predominant abuser:
•
96.7 per cent used emotional and/or psychological abuse against the female predominant victim before the homicide, including verbal denigration, threats regarding child custody, victim-blaming, gaslighting, exploiting a victim’s mental illness, unfounded allegations of infidelity and threats of self-harm or suicide to control a victim.
•
15.1 per cent had an identifiable history of sexual abuse (this figure is suspected to not reflect the true prevalence of sexual abuse in these relationships);
•
59.2 per cent used social violence against the female predominant victim, including controlling the victim’s contact with family and friends, abuse, threats or rudeness to the victim’s friends or family, intentional relocation away from support networks, friends and family, restricting access to transport, and controlling the victim’s personal appearance;
•
31.4 per cent used economic and/or financial violence against the female predominant victim, including withholding and controlling use of and access to money, scrutinising spending and unrealistic expectations for expenditure on necessities, preventing the victim from working or controlling wages and coerced debt.
•
30.6 per cent stalked the female predominant victim during the relationship and 51.4 per cent did so after the relationship had ended, including physical following, hiring someone to surveil the victim, loitering near or breaking into the victim’s home or work, reading a victim’s diary, using devices to track the victim’s location, persistently messaging a victim’s phone or social media, maintaining surveillance over the victim’s phone, email or other accounts, covertly recording the victim’s activities, and engaging with the victim on social media/dating sites under a false identity.
In addition, 72.7 per cent of male predominant abusers used physical violence against the female predominant victim before her death.
Analysis of the National Death Review Network’s National Minimum Dataset identified the following types of coercive and controlling behaviour exhibited by male primary domestic violence abusers who killed female domestic violence victims in its 2022 report:
•
81.6 per cent emotionally and/or psychologically abused their victim;
•
63.2 per cent socially abused their victim;
•
41.5 per cent stalked their victim;
•
27.4 per cent financially abused their victim;
•
16 per cent were identified as having sexually abused their victim (this is recognised as likely an undercount of the true incidence of sexual violence).
This was in addition to the 79.7 who used physical violence against their victim.
A recent study which interviewed loved ones of female intimate partner homicide victims found that coercive control was present in all informant’s narratives of the relationship between the victims and homicide perpetrators. The Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015 found that 78.9 per cent of domestic and family violence homicide victims were identified as having a prior history of domestic and family violence victimisation at the hands of the homicide perpetrator.
The controlling behaviours referred to in the previous paragraphs (sometimes referred to as coercive control) may involve the perpetrator spatially confining or restraining the victim; asserting exclusive possession over the victim; monopolising the victim’s skills and resources; restricting the victim’s access to finances and employment; or preventing the victim from keeping in touch with social networks, escaping the abusive relationship, or seeking help and support. The effect may be to physically and socially isolate the victim, and, over time, undermine the victim’s sense of identity, independence and self worth, and place them at greater risk of further domestic and family violence.
Suicide threat by perpetrator
There is evidence to suggest a correlation between severe domestic and family violence and threat of suicide by the perpetrator. The NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team Annual Report 2017-2019 recorded that 23 per cent of all male intimate partner perpetrators suicided after murdering their intimate partners. In the period 2000-2010 in Victoria, of the 31 homicide-suicides, 17 involved intimate partners and the Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015 found that 14 per cent of the 85 family violence homicide perpetrators suicided at the time of the incident or subsequently. The Ombudsman Western Australia reported that, in the period 2012-2015, of the 35 domestic and family violence related deaths, 8 were homicide-suicides where in all cases the male killed the female and subsequently suicided.
Step-child in the family
A number of studies have investigated the prevalence and severity of domestic and family violence against women with children fathered by someone other than the perpetrator. A comparative study found that women with some or all children not fathered by the perpetrator were 30 per cent more likely to experience lethal harm and 20 per cent more likely to experience at least one life-threatening violent incident than women whose children were all fathered by the perpetrator; further, these women represented 65 per cent of the homicide victims in the study. An earlier study found that the presence of a step-child in the family more than doubled the risk of the mother being killed. A recent Swedish study observed that the presence of any children (not just step-children) was related to a higher risk rating for imminent intimate partner violence re-victimization and warranted recommendations of more than standard levels of risk management strategies.
Parenting proceedings and other court proceedings
An Australian study found that domestic and family violence is a common experience among separated parents, with mothers reporting physical or emotional abuse in greater proportions than fathers. Another study reported high rates of ongoing fear and abuse associated with post-separation parenting arrangements and decision-making. A 2015 court outcomes project found that more than one third of all parenting matters filed in the then Family Court of Australia and then Federal Circuit Court of Australia raised allegations of family violence, while a study of the experiences of separated parents found that a significant proportion of mothers who had experienced family violence may have difficulty corroborating it because they had not previously disclosed it to police or other agencies. In these circumstances, a parent may use their joint parenting role or related judicial options as a means of exercising ongoing control over their former partner and may be considered as systems abuse and part of a pattern of abusive behaviours aimed at controlling the victim, sometimes referred to as coercive control. The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report found that protection orders were a feature in over 40 per cent of the 240 cases where a male intimate partner homicide offender killed a female intimate partner, demonstrating a history of police or court intervention due to domestic or family violence, and in 49 of those cases there was a current protection order in place at the time of the homicide, the vast majority naming the female victim as the protected person. Active family law proceedings were identified in only 3.8 per cent of the total 290 cases in the focused dataset, reflecting the fact that many disputes relating to separation, property division and child arrangements are settled informally. It notes that the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Board has identified that there is no process whereby the family court system is notified of domestic violence deaths involving parties engaged with the court.