20 | New Scientist | 19 October 2019
DEATHS from domestic violence
have hit a five-year high in the UK,
with 173 people killed by a partner
or relative in 2018. The newly
published figures have been
labelled a “national travesty”
by women’s support groups, who
are calling for urgent government
action. “We know that these are
not isolated incidents or one-offs,”
says Lucy Hadley at Women’s Aid.
The UK government has
promised to tackle this violence
through its Domestic Abuse Bill,
which was introduced by former
prime minister Theresa May.
During its second reading this
month, May said it would be
important to “identify the
programmes that work” before
it is subjected to a final vote. But
how do we know what is effective?
Most domestic violence is
committed by men against
women – but not all. There are also
examples of women hurting male
partners and violence between
same-sex couples. In the UK,
about three-quarters of victims
are women. Domestic violence is
a problem beyond the UK. In
Australia, on average one woman
a week is killed by a current or
former partner (see graphs, right).
In the US, more than 1500 women
were killed by their partner in 2017.
Between 17 and 25 per cent of
women in all three nations say
they have experienced abuse
at the hands of a male partner.
Obtaining evidence on the best
ways to stop domestic violence is
difficult. People who participate
in studies may be too scared
to report abuse, making data
unreliable. Nevertheless, we are
starting to get a sense of what
helps, says Michele Robinson
at Australia’s National Research
Organisation for Women’s Safety.
Domestic violence interventions
conventionally involve criminal
penalties for perpetrators andA 2008 survey found that almost
nine out of 10 New Zealanders
said the ads made them feel like
change was possible.
Despite these apparent shifts,
police call-outs for domestic
violence have risen in Australia
and New Zealand in recent
years. However, that doesn’t
necessarily mean the campaigns
are failing, says Joanne Spangaro
at the University of Wollongong
in Australia. “It might be that
people now feel safer to come
forward or more confident that
they’re going to be believed by
the police,” she says.Back to school
Many experts believe we also
need to intervene at a young age
to change sexist attitudes before
they become entrenched. There
is some evidence they are right.
The International Center for
Research on Women, a non-profit
organisation based in Washington
DC, found that classes on gender
equality in 80 high schools in
India changed the way that boys
thought about gender. They
were less likely to agree with
statements like “a wife should
always obey her husband”.
Community programmes
have also been found to be
effective, including one called
SASA! This scheme – partly
named for its four phases: start,
awareness, support and action –
was trialled in Uganda, where
more than half of all married
women under the age of 50 have
experienced abuse from partners.
Researchers from the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine randomly assigned eight
similar communities to try the
programme or continue as normal.
In the SASA! communities, more
than 11,000 activities, including
theatre performances,Behind closed doors
Domestic violence is particularly difficult to study, but at last evidence
is beginning to reveal the best way to tackle it, reports Alice KleinSafe refuges (above)
are a commonly used
intervention to protect
people from domestic
violence. An Australian
advertising campaign
(below) tried to change
attitudes to abusecounselling and shelter for those
affected. Now there is an emerging
focus on trying to stop the abuse
before it happens, by reshaping
“violence-supportive beliefs”,
says Robinson.
In 2016, Australia launched
ads on TV, in newspapers and
on buses to challenge beliefs that
male violence against women is
a product of “boys being boys”
or women “asking for it”. A 2017
survey found that Australians
were less likely to excuse violence
against women than they had
been in 2009, hinting that the
campaign was working.
For example, the proportion
who agreed with the statement,
“domestic violence can be excused
if, afterwards, the violent person
genuinely regrets what they
have done” dropped from 25 per
cent to 14 per cent.
New Zealand introduced similar
TV ads earlier, in 2007, featuring
people including celebrities
voicing short messages like:
“It’s not OK to punch a hole in the
wall to show your wife who’s boss.”Social scienceMARTIN BUREAU/AFP/GETTY IMAGESNews Insight
© COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 2019