Which Women Are More Likely To Be Abused?: Public Housing, Cohabitation, and Separated/Divorced Women

• NCJ Number: 226005
• Journal: Criminal Justice Studies Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 283-293
• Author(s): Walter S. DeKeseredy; Martin D. Schwartz; Shahid Alvi
• Date Published: December 2008
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study of the risk for intimate partner violence among women living in public housing estates in eastern Ontario (Canada) focused on whether separated/divorced women were more likely to be abused than married women and whether cohabiting women reported violent victimization at a higher rate than separated, divorced, or married women.

Abstract

The findings confirm previous research in showing that separated or divorced women report higher rates (22.6 percent) of domestic violence than women in marital relationships (12.2 percent). Cohabiting relationships were also at higher risk for male violence against women than in marital relationships; 42.9 percent of the cohabiting women in public housing reported being violently victimized, compared to 12.2 percent of the married women. These findings, along with findings from previous research, confirm that regardless of where they live and their economic status, cohabiting women are most at risk of being violently abused by male partners. The authors advise that several methodological improvements are necessary for future research in this area; for example, more precise measures of the timing of abuse and relationships with male abusers are necessary. It would be helpful to know whether separated/divorced women left an abusive relationship and suffered no further abuse, or whether they left any type of relationship and were then victimized in the first year after the separation or divorce. In addition, male perpetrators of violence against their existing or former partners must be surveyed in order to identify factors that motivate men to abuse estranged partners. Questionnaires were distributed by members of the public housing community, yielding 325 useable questionnaires as part of the Quality of Neighborhood Life Survey, which included questions from the Conflict Tactics Scale-2 that measures psychological, physical, and sexual abuse in heterosexual, gay, or lesbian relationships. 2 figures, 1 table, and 56 references