Types of family violence

9 Oct 2019

Q. Which, if any of the following behaviours do you think would be considered as a type of family violence?

		Male	Female	18-34	35-54	55+
Hitting, punching, etc. or restraining in any way	80%	78%	83%	68%	79%	92%
Displaying threatening behaviour	77%	72%	81%	63%	78%	87%
Harassing or threatening behaviour, calling insulting names	74%	68%	80%	65%	73%	83%
Non-consensual sexual activity	70%	63%	76%	58%	68%	81%
Limiting a person’s access to family and friends or lying to others about them	66%	58%	74%	54%	64%	79%
Controlling the money so a person is dependent on the other for finances	65%	57%	72%	54%	63%	76%
Making constant phone calls and sending text messages, or spying using electronic means	63%	57%	69%	50%	62%	76%
Withdrawal of support, control through anger or stonewalling	61%	55%	67%	53%	58%	72%
Not letting a person practise their own religion or forcing them to follow a religion they don’t want to	58%	50%	65%	47%	56%	69%
Controlling access to drugs or medication	56%	49%	62%	46%	57%	63%
None of these	3%	3%	4%	5%	4%	2%
Base	1,097	552	575	357	366	374

	Total	Federal Voting Intention
	Total	Labor	Coalition	Greens	Independent / Other
Hitting, punching, etc. or restraining in any way	80%	81%	79%	81%	86%
Displaying threatening behaviour	77%	80%	74%	82%	77%
Harassing or threatening behaviour, calling insulting names	74%	78%	71%	76%	77%
Non-consensual sexual activity	70%	72%	67%	76%	74%
Limiting a person’s access to family and friends or lying to others about them	66%	67%	66%	72%	69%
Controlling the money so a person is dependent on the other for finances	65%	68%	60%	72%	66%
Making constant phone calls and sending text messages, or spying using electronic means	63%	68%	62%	67%	62%
Withdrawal of support, control through anger or stonewalling	61%	65%	58%	67%	65%
Not letting a person practise their own religion or forcing them to follow a religion they don’t want to	58%	60%	56%	59%	60%
Controlling access to drugs or medication	56%	60%	52%	64%	55%
None of these	3%	2%	2%	2%	2%
Base	1,097	346	346	115	154

The majority of participants (80%) considered physical abuse (hitting, punching, etc. or restraining in any way) as a form of family violence; however, this gradually decreased for less visible indicators of abuse such as spiritual and medical abuse (58% and 56%) respectively.
Broadly, men were less likely to identify forms of family violence outside of physical abuse than women – for example only 57% of men considered financial abuse as a form of family violence compared to 72% of women.
Younger participants were also less likely to consider any of the listed actions as family violence – with 68% of 18-34 year olds selecting physical abuse as a form of family violence compared to 92% of 55+ year olds.
Men aged between 18-34 years old were particularly less likely to identify forms of family violence with at most 63% indicating physical abuse and 39% spiritual abuse were forms of family violence.
Only two-fifths (42%) of men 18-34 years old believed harassing phone calls, or spying using electronic means was a form of family violence.

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