A huge national survey has thrown up some alarming headlines about Australians’ attitudes to violence against women.
VicHealth’s poll of 17,500 people looked at the community’s knowledge, attitudes and responses to physical and other forms of violence, finding improvements since the first survey in 1995 but also some “concerning” negative findings.
Get the low-down on what Australians think about the problem:
1. We know that violence is not just physical
Since the first survey in 1995, more and more people are recognising that violence against women includes a wide range of behaviours designed to intimidate and control women – not just physical assault.
This can include emotional, psychological, social and financial forms of abuse and control, as well as harassment over the phone or internet.
VicHealth says it is important to recognise “coercive control” because evidence suggests non-physical forms of violence can cause equal if not greater harm than physical forms.
2. We get confused about who commits violence
The bad news on Australians’ understanding of the subject is that since 1995, there has been a decrease in people who agree that violence is perpetrated mainly by men (down from 50 per cent to 30 per cent). ABS data shows that twice as many women as men experienced violence by a current partner in the last year. Other key findings:
• a decrease in those who recognise that women are more likely than men to suffer physical harm and fear as a result of this violence (down from 89 per cent to 86 per cent).
• fewer people agreed that violence against women was common. Males (59 per cent) are less likely than females (76 per cent) to agree that violence against women is common.
• Only four in 10 Australians are aware of the greater risk of violence experienced by women with disabilities.
• a decrease in understanding that women are at greater risk of sexual assault by a person they know than by a stranger, despite evidence that a woman is three times more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone she knows.
3. We don’t really understand why it happens
The survey put three possible ’causes’ of domestic violence to respondents, with almost two-thirds saying that the main cause is men not being able to control their anger.
But VicHealth says inequality between the sexes and an adherence to rigid gender roles are more significant causes.
The cause with the highest level of supporting evidence – a belief that men should dominate relationships – was chosen by less than one in five respondents.
4. Your background can affect your attitudes
The survey focuses heavily on attitudes towards violence against women “because they influence expectations of what is acceptable behaviour”. Researchers say there are five key attitudes: justification, excusing, trivialising, minimising the impact, and blame-shifting.
Only a small minority of the general community (depending on the scenario) agrees that physical force against a current partner is justified.
But when the answers are broken down into various groups, differences emerge.
- 12 per cent of people aged 75+ (compared with 6 per cent overall) think that a male is justified in using physical force if his current partner admits to having sex with another man.
- 13 per cent of those who migrated to Australia from 2005 onwards are of the view that a man is justified in using physical force against his current partner if she admits to having sex with another man, 10 per cent if she makes him look stupid or insults him in front of his friends and 11 per cent if she ends or tries to end the relationship.
- Labourers are more likely than managers or professionals to agree that each of these behaviours justify the use of physical force.
- Indigenous people are more likely than non-Indigenous to justify the use of violence against a current partner in these circumstances (16 per cent, 11 per cent and 14 per cent for the various scenarios).
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The proportion of females who agree that a man is justified in using physical force if his partner admits to having sex with another man has increased from 4 per cent in 2009 to 6 per cent in 2013.
5. Many of us think violence can be excusable
VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter says there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to changing peoples’ attitudes.
“What we do know is that violence is a choice. It’s not an instinct,” she said.
“It is never acceptable and no woman ever invites it or deserves it.”
The report says excusing violence undermines support for the notion that it is a choice and that people using it ought to be held accountable.
Even though up to one in five believe there are circumstances in which violence can be excused, since 2009 there has been a decrease in the number who believe that domestic violence can be excused if the violent person is regretful afterward.
More men than women still think regret is an excuse (26 per cent vs 17 per cent).
When it comes to sexual violence, more Australians now agree that rape results from men not being able to control their need for sex. The proportion of women agreeing with this statement increased from 32 per cent in 2009 to 41 per cent in 2013, outstripping the 39 per cent to 44 per cent among men.
6. Most of us can’t understand why women stay
Attitudes that “trivialise” violence make it harder for women in violent relationships to leave, either by downplaying the impact of the problem or questioning her motivations for staying. Nearly eight in 10 agree that it is hard to understand why women stay in a violent relationship.
- More than half agree that “women could leave a violent relationship if they really wanted to”.
- 17 per cent agree that domestic violence is a private matter, and this is up from 14 per cent in 2009.
- Nearly 1 in 10 (9 per cent) agree that it is a woman’s duty to stay in a violent relationship.
7. Coercive control is not taken as seriously as physical violence
Compared with physical violence and forced sex, Australians are less inclined to see non-physical forms of control, intimidation and harassment as “serious”. “However, there is growing evidence that non-physical forms of violence can cause equal if not greater harm,” says VicHealth.
Physical and sexual violence are frequently accompanied by other forms of abuse designed to control, intimidate and belittle women and isolate them from sources of social support and economic independence. This pattern is commonly referred to as ‘coercive control’. This distinctive pattern of violence is understood to be a significant barrier to women leaving a violent relationship. It is also a contributor to the particularly high health, social and economic burden associated with partner violence.
Compared to other age groups, those aged 75 and over are less likely to regard the majority of these behaviours as very serious, in particular “forces partner to have sex” (55 per cent compared with 76 per cent overall).
Despite the old saying that money makes the world go round, financial abuse is the behaviour least likely to be recognised as serious, with nearly 1 in 4 respondents believing that it was not serious. The proportion believing that this is serious actually went down between 1995 and 2013.
8. Victim-blaming attitudes are proving hard to shift
Holding women at least partially responsible for violence against them is another attitude that makes it more difficult to hold perpetrators to account.
This latest survey suggests these attitudes have barely shifted in recent years:
- Up to 1 in 5 believes that there are circumstances in which women bear some responsibility for violence. There has been no change since 2009.
- More than one in 10 agree that domestic violence can be excused if the victim is heavily affected by alcohol or “if a woman goes into a room alone with a man it’s her fault if she is raped”.
- 16 per cent believe “women often say no when they mean yes” and almost one in five believe that “if a woman is raped while drunk or affected by drugs she is at least partially responsible”.
9. Many of us believe men should dominate relationships
Because attitudes to gender equality influences attitudes to violence against women, the survey asks people what they think of men’s and women’s roles inside and outside the home.
Most Australians support gender equality in the public arena, such as workplaces. Most acknowledge that women still experience inequality in the workplace.
More than a quarter believe that men make better political leaders.
Up to 28% of Australians endorse attitudes supportive of male dominance of decision-making in relationships, a belief identified as a risk factor for partner violence
10. Most of us want to help, but many don’t know where to go
Almost all of those surveyed said they would either physically intervene or do something else to help if they witnessed physical violence against a family member or close friend.
Fewer people agreed that they would know where to seek help for a domestic violence issues (down from 62 per cent in 2009 to 57 per cent in 2013).
Despite the high number of people saying they would try to help, more than 80 per cent say that most people would turn a blind eye to domestic violence.
“The fact that such a sizeable proportion of respondents feel this is the case suggests a widely held belief that community indifference is still a significant barrier to be overcome in dealing with domestic violence,” says the report.