Domestic Violence Law Reform and Women’s Experience in Court: Th ...

Half of the women reporting violence in a current relationship and three quarters of those reporting violence in a previous relationship said they had experienced more than one incident of violence (p. 51). Twelve percent of women who had experienced violence from a current or previous male partner—41,700 women—currently lived in fear as a result of the violence (p. 42). Young women (aged 18–24) were found to be most vulnerable to violence from a current or former partner (p. 50). A more recent prevalence survey based on a smaller, randomly selected sample of women aged 18–69 across Australia found that 34% of those who had a current or former intimate partner (spouse, de facto, or boyfriend) had experienced at least one form of physical or sexual violence from that partner at some stage—4% in the last 12 months (Mouzos & Makkai, 2004, p. 44).

Campaigns against domestic violence have sought to measure the economic cost as well as the incidence of violence.⁴ For example, in 2004 Australia’s leading economic consulting agency, Access Economics, produced a report commissioned under the Australian government’s Partnerships Against Domestic Violence program, which estimated that in 2002–2003 there were 408,100 victims of domestic violence in Australia, 87% of them women, with 98% of perpetrators being male; that 263,800 children lived with victims of domestic violence and 181,200 children witnessed domestic violence; and that the total cost of the violence was $8.1 billion (pp. vi–vii). This figure included an estimated $3.5 billion in pain, suffering, and premature mortality and $4.6 billion in costs to health care, production, consumption, administration, second generational costs, and costs of transfers (p. vii). The bulk of the cost of domestic violence ($4.1 billion) was borne by its victims, but $1.3 billion of the cost fell upon federal and state governments, and a further $1.2 billion fell upon the general community (p. vii).

Other statistical studies of domestic violence have been conducted among various subpopulations, such as adults attending hospital emergency departments (e.g., Roberts, 1995) and women visiting general practitioners (e.g., Mazza, Dennerstein, & Ryan, 1996). These are often groups amongst whom a higher prevalence of violence might be expected than in the general population (see, e.g., Mazza et al., 1996, p. 15). The same might be expected for parties engaged in family law proceedings, while, clearly, 100% of applicants for intervention orders will report a history of violence—although, as discussed subsequently, this will not necessarily always be physical and/or sexual violence.