The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released new analysis of Personal Safety Survey (PSS) data, shedding further light on experiences of partner emotional abuse in Australia, also commonly known as coercive control.
According to the 2016 PSS, an estimated 2.2 million adult women (23 per cent) and 1.4 million adult men (16 per cent) have experienced emotional abuse by a partner at some point since the age of 15.
ABS Director of the National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics, Will Milne, said the new analysis identified a number of socio-demographic characteristics that were associated with higher rates of partner emotional abuse.
“People more likely to experience partner emotional abuse were single parents, people with intellectual or psychological disability, and those experiencing financial stress,” Mr Milne said.
The analysis also found that childhood experiences of abuse and exposure to violence increased the risk of experiencing partner emotional abuse later in life.
“Women and men who experienced childhood abuse or witnessed parental violence as a child were about twice as likely to experience partner emotional abuse in their adulthood.
“The rate was highest for women who were both physically and sexually abused as a child. We found they were three times more likely to experience partner emotional abuse in adulthood (57 per cent) than women who did not experience childhood abuse (18 per cent),” Mr Milne said.
The data also showed that those who experienced emotional abuse were more likely to have also experienced other forms of domestic violence.
“We found that over half of women (58 per cent) and a quarter of men (26 per cent) who experienced partner emotional abuse had also experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner. The rate of partner violence was over eight times higher than for those who had not experienced emotional abuse,” said Mr Milne.
Further results from the new analysis, including detailed information about the abusive behaviours experienced (such as social/financial abuse), frequency, and impacts of emotional abuse are presented in the article ‘Domestic Violence: Experiences of Partner Emotional Abuse,‘ available on the ABS website.
If you or anyone you know is in need or crisis please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline 131 114.
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The data showed us that about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men have experienced emotional abuse by a partner. In terms of numbers, this is about 2.2 million women and 1.4 million men.
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Emotional abuse, also commonly known as coercive control, is a pattern of abusive behaviours that aims to manipulate, control, intimidate or isolate another person.
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The analysis showed that people most at risk of emotional abuse were single parents, people living with psychological or intellectual disability, and those experiencing financial stress like having difficulty paying bills or mortgage payments.
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We also found that men and women who had experienced abuse as a child were about twice as likely to experience abuse from a partner as an adult.
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The data shows that around half of all women and a quarter of all men who had experienced emotional abuse had also experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner. That is about 1.3 million women and 400,000 men who have experienced both emotional abuse and partner violence.
