Nearly 10 pct of men in Australian state have faced legal action for domestic violence: study

SYDNEY, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — Almost 10 percent of men in New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s most populous state, have faced legal action from police for domestic and family violence offenses, a government study said on Tuesday.
According to the research, which was published by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), 6.3 percent of people born in the east coast state of NSW were found to have been proceeded against by police for a family and domestic violence offense by the age of 37.
It found that the rate was significantly higher for men at 9.6 percent compared with 3.0 percent of women.
Conducted in collaboration with the Griffith Criminology Institute at NSW’s Griffith University, the study examined three population cohorts – those born in the state in 1984, 1994 and 2004 – and analyzed offenses recorded by NSW Police.
Overall it found that 1.2 percent of people born in NSW were responsible for more than 50 percent of recorded family and domestic violence offenses. Family and domestic violence offenses accounted for nearly half of all criminal offenses committed by people in the three cohorts.
Rick Brown, deputy director of the AIC, said the research highlights the high prevalence of family and domestic violence perpetration in Australia.
“By identifying and targeting those who commit domestic violence, especially early in their offending trajectory, we can not only reduce violence against intimate partners and family members but prevent crime more generally,” he said in a statement.
“This report is the first estimate of the prevalence of recorded family and domestic violence offending in a population sample in Australia, and is an important step towards increasing the visibility of family and domestic violence perpetrators,” Brown said.
One in four Australian women and one in 14 men have experienced violence from an intimate partner since the age of 15, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier in September announced that Australia’s federal, state and territory governments agreed to invest 4.7 billion Australian dollars (3.1 billion U.S. dollars) in a five-year plan to prevent domestic violence and support victims.
A government-commissioned report released in August called for Australia to treat domestic violence as a national emergency. ■