NCJ Number
222516
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2008 Pages: 406-417
Date Published
April 2008
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A total of 2,135 female residents of a shelter for victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) were interviewed about batterers' use of the sex industry (i.e. pornography and strip clubs) and the men's controlling behaviors, so as to compare the controlling behaviors of men who did and did not use the sex industry.
Abstract
Although the study found significant positive correlations between batterers' use of the sex industry and their use of more aggressive violence and a higher degree of controlling behaviors toward the women compared to those men who did not use the sex industry, the percentage of variance ranged from moderate to weak. Consequently, the findings raise more questions than they have answered. More research in this area is clearly needed. Forty percent of the women (862) indicated their male partners used the sex industry. The 2,135 women who participated in the study were interviewed between 1998 and 2002 within the first 24 hours of their arrival at the shelter. A respondent's perception of her partner's use of the sex industry was measured with two questions on the intake form: "Does your partner view pornography?" and "Does your partner use the sex industry?" Measures of controlling behavior were four questions that inquired about the partner's use of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and stalking behavior. For each of these behaviors, the women had five response choices that ranged from "never" to "frequently." 3 tables and 40 references