Women's Initiation of Physical Violence Against an Abusive Partner Outside of a Violent Episode. (September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fanslow, Janet L.; Gulliver, Pauline; Dixon, Robyn; Ayallo, Irene
• Is Part Of: Journal of interpersonal violence. Volume 30:Number 15(2015)
• Page Start: 2659
• Page End: 2682
• Publication Date: 2015-09
• Subjects: women's violence against male partners -- intimate partner violence -- factors associated with women's use of violence; Violence -- Periodicals; Sex crimes -- Periodicals; Violence -- Périodiques; Crimes sexuels -- Périodiques; 364.15
• DOI: 10.1177/0886260514553632
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0886-2605

Abstract

This article explores women's use of physical violence against an abusive male partner, outside of the context of a violence episode. Data were drawn from the New Zealand Violence Against Women Study, a cross-sectional household survey conducted using a population-based cluster-sampling scheme. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with women initiating physical violence against their male partners. Of the 845 women who had experienced physical violence perpetrated by their intimate partner, 19% reported physically mistreating their partner at least once outside of a male initiated violent episode, while 81% never initiated violence against their partner. Analyses showed that women's initiation of violence under these circumstances was strongly associated with either or both partners having alcohol problems, her recreational drug use, her number of violent partners, and her mother being hit or beaten by her father when she was a child.