Family Violence

If you thought all domestic violence is by men, have a look at table 5.6 of the New Zealand National Survey of Crime Victims 2001 (New Zealand Ministry of Justice)

Some interesting old NZ and UK studies

Click here for THE OTHER FAMILY VIOLENCE

The Family Violence Taskforce national conference: 4 - 5 July 1999 (NZ) had the title "Children and family violence: effective interventions now". Here are the conference papers.

Ministry of Justice: Publications: Reports: 2000: Annual Review of Responses to Crime including Chapter 6: Family Violence

Ministry of Justice: Publications: Reports: 2000: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 1995: PROCESS EVALUATION

Extracts from a NZ Ministry of Justice publication: Dealing with domestic violence

Family Violence is a highly topical gender issue at present. It is not always clear that the information presented is balanced, however. To illustrate, I have collected some material from the press. There is more on the reporting by The Dominion on a Justice Department survey on domestic violence by men. The results of that survey were published in a report entitled Hitting Home, which was the subject of an Insight radio programme on 18 September 1995. I have compiled some extracts and comments.

In this section I plan to look at several information sources and reports, including one on the costs of family violence by Susan Snively (now reviewed - the review is here, further comment here, but still it is used. In a government media release, 28 January 2001: "A conservative 1994 study estimated that 1 in 7 families in New Zealand were affected by family violence and that had an estimated economic cost of $1.2b annually."). This parallels work being done outside New Zealand, and it is apparent that several common factors apply.

The material currently available for this page includes:

• Domestic Violence Statistics in Australia
• Indirect Aggression, a few links and quotes
• Women's anger, observing violence, and children
• a brief discussion on a Fact Sheet - Partner Abuse of Women, put out by the Injury Prevention Research Centre of the University of Auckland, NZ.
• discussion on a paper by Sergeant J J Taylor of Police National Headquarters on the New Zealand Police Response to Family Violence.
• Hilary Lapsley, writing The Measurement of Family Violence: A Critical Review of the Literature, published by the Social Policy Agency in 1993, is critical of the Straus, Gelles, etc. approach and its identification of battered husbands.
• MenWeb - Fiebert: References Examining Asaults by Women on Their Spouses or Male partners. Research on Battered Men
• Man2Man - the site for battered men
• Schechter and Gary have written on battered women.
• Male and Female Domestic Violence Data, two papers from the People's Equality Network in Australia.
• Link to: Findings about partner violence from the Dunedin multidisciplinary health and development study (Moffitt and Caspi)
• Some Australian intimate homicide data.
• Murder in Families, US Bureau of Justice Statistics (link)
• Spouse Murder Defendants in Large Urban Counties 10/11/95 , US Bureau of Justice Statistics (link)
• Bureau of Justice Statistics Women Offenders (link - US)
• A brief note on 1993 New Zealand family related homicide data.
• discussion on the Hamilton Abuse Intervention Pilot Project (HAIPP):
  • report forms
  • men's education programme
  • Is HAIPP gender biased?
• The Duluth Wheel, criticisms and revised versions by Tom Graves (look at the gender inverted wheel)
• Revised Duluth model a major revision and update by Tom Graves, June 1999
• The Duluth model and New Zealand. The Wheel is also used in this MAF publication: August 98 Rural Bulletin - Domestic Violence. It is also supported by women lawyers in New Zealand. However, alternative interpretations are suggested for child abuse here.
• Link to the Duluth model in Australia (ACT) (in: Domestic Violence. This page gives you access to the body of the report on Domestic Violence prepared by the Community Law Reform Committee for the ACT Attorney General. Here is the government response.)
• MenWeb Gender Polarization in Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programs: The \Duluth Model\
• A Canadian program, Confronting Abusive Beliefs, plus comments by Tom Graves and others.
• and a Canadian document on men and family violence: LCDC - Farm Family Health Vol. 6 No. 1 - Spring 1998 (includes: "A 1996 Health Canada report found that it is as difficult for men and boys as for women and girls to admit that they are abused and more difficult to find help. The report suggested that the current "patriarchy theory" of abuse, the expectation for males to be tough and able to protect themselves, and a lack of recognition of the different forms of sexual abuse contributed to this problem.")
• Is rape for power or for sex, why are people violent?
• The opinion of Phil Goff, Labour Spokesperson on Justice (NZ).
• A brief note on re-establishment grants for domestic violence victims (NZ).
• Judge D R Brown, Hamilton, "Domestic Violence and Children on the Eve of the Domestic Violence Act", paper presented at the New Zealand Law Society Family Law Conference, Wellington, October 1995. Selected extracts and comments. Brown describes the effects of the law changes on custody decisions. In practice, existing laws can have a fundamental influence on these decisions, as evidenced by the US experience with restraining orders. Similar experience in Australia is described in the following extract from their House of representatives Hansard for 20 October 1997: ADJOURNMENT Domestic Violence Orders.
• Link to a summary of the Report on the Domestic Violence Act by the NZ Law Society Domestic Violence Special Projects Committee
• Frivolous or false claims of domestic violence
• "A cult seems to be developing that when people appear on some serious charge - typically involving violence - it is almost an outrage to speak of the presumption of innocence." Chief Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum
• Partner violence is child abuse
• Link to WHO press release: PR-99-20/WHO Recognizes Child Abuse as a Major Public Health Problem
• "What the Simpson verdict may mean for victims of domestic violence": Susanna Lobez interviewed Gloria Allred, a lawyer who represented the family of Nicole Brown Simpson, for The Law Report, Australian Radio National, Tuesday, 10th October 1995 - selected extracts and comments, plus link to full transcript.
• US data on incidence of various types of child abuse, taken from Lapsley H, The Measurement of Family Violence: A Critical Review of the Literature, published by the Social Policy Agency in 1993. (see also this link)
• More discussion on US child abuse.
• Link to information on child abuse in the UK
• A very interesting piece, sent to me by email from Guy Bilodeau in Québec, "From the Inside Out", on child abuse and its possible effects.
• A link to an article from Mother Jones, "Just as Fierce" - "In a provocative essay, feminist and author Katherine Dunn rejects the assumption that women are inherently less aggressive than men."
• A link to the text of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation 12, Violence against women, (Eighth session, 1989)
• There are some details about the case which led to the Domestic Violence Act in New Zealand, controlling custody and access in situations where one partner has been violent, in an article by Ruth Busch in the 1994 Waikato Law Review. Here is a link to the article. Note also The NZ Domestic Violence Act is at: http://rangi.knowledge-basket.co.nz/gpacts/public/text/1995/an/086.html, and the NZ Guardianship Act (which has the relevant changes in section 16A-C) is at: http://rangi.knowledge-basket.co.nz/gpacts/reprint/text/1968/an/063.html
• Waikato Law Review: Volume 4, Special Issue on domestic violence 1996 (one paper includes a footnote stating that, "The 1993 Review of the Family Court recognised domestic violence as "a reflection of power"...")
• Here are text and comments on Alberta's Bill 214 (likely to become the Victims of Domestic Violence Act in 1996).
• Report from the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence (comment and links)
• What do domestic violence statistics measure? and more discussion here
• "Domestic violence is a crime" - is everyone viewed the same way?
• Here is the text of Prone to Violence by Erin Pizzey. This is a New Zealand site. The book is also available in the US.
• A review of Patricia Pearson, (1997) When She Was Bad: Violent Women and the Myth of Innocence. And link to a National Post article by Pearson: How can you stop a fight you can't see?
• Salon.com Books | Backstabbers, a review of "Woman's Inhumanity to Woman," by pioneering feminist Phyllis Chesler
• Violent Women an interesting page, part of Sue's Special Spot
• Comments on Allison Morris (1998) "Victims of Crime: The Women's Safety Survey", New Zealand Law Journal, (February), pp.46-48.
• Some information from the New Zealand National Survey of Crime Victims 1996
• Violence convictions, NZ, 1993 and 1996, by gender, by age and ethnicity
• The Governor General of New Zealand on domestic violence
• Ethnicity and violence in NZ - "The statistics are grim, domestic violence rages amongst Maori at eight times higher than the rate for non-Maori, and child abuse, twelve times higher." Muriel Newman MP, in a speech, "Breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect", 7 July 1999
• Male Violence (discussion of an Australian Law Report programme)
• and for a non-violent ape (?), see Bonobos
• What is violence anyway? See "Violence" and "criminals" - NZ

Incest misinformation in New Zealand....

• Hon Deborah Morris, Associate Minister of Women's Affairs - Launch of Rape Awareness Week 4 May 1998: "The prevalence of incest as described in the incest report makes for stark reading. The report reveals that over 30 percent of sexual violence survivors helped by Rape Crisis last year were abused by blood relatives. Thirty two percent of women in New Zealand are subjected to sexual abuse before the age of 16. Of those abused before age 12, 44 percent were abused by family members."

• WAIKATO TIMES, 7 MAY 1998, Edition 2, Page 3: "Police say Rape Crisis' Hamilton Incest figures wrong" By: McGEHAN Kris "Police say Rape Crisis' claims that Hamilton leads the country in incest cases are wrong and legally incorrect. In The Incest Report released earlier this week, Rape Crisis said Hamilton had the highest number of incest cases throughout New Zealand last year. The report said 59 out of 185 complaints to the Hamilton Rape and Sexual Abuse Healing Centre last year involved incest. But head of Hamilton CIB, Detective Chief Inspector Rex Miller, said the group, using its own broad definition of incest, was misleading the public. Mr Miller said Rape Crisis was causing undue public concern. There was only one case of incest reported to Hamilton police last year."

Links

Report on Domestic Violence by the Community Law Reform Committee of the Australian Capital Territory, placed on the www, 22 Dec. 1995. Government response (Also a report including homicide information here)

Higher Education Center Against Violence and Abuse

B.C. Institute on Family Violence

International Justice Statistics (at the US Bureau of Justice Statistics site)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FACTOIDS by Richard J. Gelles

The Gender Paradigm In Domestic Violence: Research And Theory by Donald G. Dutton and Tonia L. Nicholls - a good summary of studies on gender aspects of partner violence

MenWeb - Men's Issues: Facts and Myths About Domestic Violence

MenWeb-Domestic violence. 835,000 battered men each year, silent too Long...

Who is killing whom? Accurate statistics on the real causes of death in Canada among men and women

Domestic Violence Against Men In Colorado (includes articles, etc.)

Stop Abuse For Everyone

FAMILY VIOLENCE A report from: Family Resources & Research

Young Australians and domestic violence, an Auatralian Institute of Criminology report at AIC: Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice

Family of Men ("The Family Of Men Support Society works to reduce family violence through community education and the introduction of a formal support system for men. Our goal is to provide immediate and adequate options for men who find themselves at risk of either hurting their partner or being hurt themselves.") Includes article: JOURNAL: VIOLENCE AND VICTIMS DOES PATRIARCHY CAUSE WIFE ASSAULT? by Donald Dutton. See also Dutton's 1994 paper, Wife Abuse - it's not the patriarchy, (summarised here).

VAW Resources: Table of Contents (incl. Reviewing Domestic Violence Fatalities) (US)

Canadian police DV data from Statistics Canada

Quebec, 1997 conjugal violence statistics - note the nature of violence, allegations, injuries, stalking and threats.

Stop Abuse for Everyone (SAFE) - covers violence against men, plus gay and lesbian violence.

Both Sides Now: Understanding men's experience of destructive relationships and domestic violence.

Male Victims of Domestic Violence

TRAGIC TOLERENCE...of domestic violence, on-line book by Paul Szabo

Amen (Ireland) Home Page (advice for men in violent relationships) Note: Abstract: A Focus On Male Victims: Dissertation

The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of marriage, family and the American community (a Heritage Foundation backgrounder)

The Invisible Boy: Revisioning the Victimization of Male Children & Teens, prepared by the Canadian Foster Family Association (CFFA) on behalf of the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence of Health Canada.

Nottinghamshire's Secret Shame - "Nottinghamshire's social services department spent two years investigating Satanic ritual abuse and witchcraft, that never really happened."

National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse (US)

Child Abuse and Neglect Clearinghouse Home Page (US)

Child Abuse: Statistics, Research, and Resources (by Jim Hopper)

Child Abuse and Neglect data at the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Health Canada

A New Zealand proposal - FAMILY VIOLENCE: Guidelines for Providers to Develop Practice Protocols, A Discussion Document (September 1997)

Link to: Ministry of Justice: Publications: Reports: Domestic Violence Legislation and Child Access in New Zealand, May 1999 This report is discussed at: Contact Between Children and Violent Parents a UK report issued by the Children Act Sub-Committee of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Board on Family Law, June 1999 (see Appendix 4).

Link to: Ministry of Justice: Publications: Reports: 1998: Crime to Sentence:  Trends in Criminal Justice, 1986 to 1996:  INDEX

It's Always His Fault by Sally L. Satel, on the web page of the Independent Women's Forum

The Last Time I Hit A Woman by Adam Evenson at responsibleOpposing.com

A Man's Life * Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence against Men (UK, TV Channel 4)

Adult Male Experience of Heterosexual Abuse (Lewis, A., 2000, 'An Enquiry into the Adult Male Experience of Heterosexual Abuse', Unpublished M.A. thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney)

MenWeb - Men's Issues: Men almost as likely to be victims of unwanted sexual advances

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors191.pdf ("Domestic Violence: Findings from a new British Crime Survey self-completion questionnaire" by Catriona Mirrlees-Black, London: Home Office, 1999)

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors170.pdf ("Understanding the Sentencing of Women" by Carol Hedderman and Loraine Gelsthorpe, London: Home Office, 1997)

Link to: Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report - Women Offenders (US, 1999)

Link to a paper: The Complex Issues in Researching "False Memory Syndrome" by Dr Kathryn Gow

Link to NZ Law Commission preliminary paper 41: Battered defendants: victims of domestic violence who offend (pdf)

Link to: frontline: the child terror: tapes & transcripts (false allegations, US)

Link to: The Free Radical Online - Femi-Fascism Flourishes (NZ comment on the Domestic Violence Act)

Link to: REFERENCES EXAMINING ASSAULTS BY WOMEN ON THEIR SPOUSES OR MALE PARTNERS: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Link to: A View from the Girls: Exploring Violence and Violent Behaviour (Outline of a UK research project)

Link to: Jim Brown interview from the August 4, 1999 Larry King show on Domestic Violence and the Los Angeles County District Attorney.

Link to: Projekt kvinnofrid: Regeringen/factsheet, Violence against women (policy in Sweden, to 1998)

Link to: National Clearinghouse on Family Violence (Health Canada)

Link to: Crime and Violence: The Economics of Civil War, Crime, and Violence (World Bank)

Link to: FAMILY VIOLENCE, A report from: Family Resources & Research

Link to: CrimeLibrary.com/Notorious Murders/Women Who Kill

Sexual abuse by women:

• Female Perpetration of Child Sexual Abuse: An Overview of the Problem

• Panorama on the sexual abuse of children by women: summary; full transcript

Potential misuse of family violence legislation:

• Demographics Of Restraining Orders In Colorado
• MenWeb - Battered Men: DV as a Hate Crime.
• MN Exclusive Young Men Should be Cautious of Marriage: Judge Shows Young Men that a Wife Can Destroy a Family at Her Whim ("One-third of all restraining orders are used merely for leverage in divorce cases, a retiring judge in Bristol County Probate Court, Malcolm Jones, revealed last year.")

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K.S.Birks@massey.ac.nz

Last updated 28 August 2006

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