Approximately 95% of all victims of violence – whether women or men – experience violence from a male perpetrator.
Experiences of violence are also different for male and female victims – men experience violence mostly from other men in public spaces, and women experience violence mostly from men they know (usually a current or ex-partner) in private contexts. Women are more likely than men to be afraid of, hospitalised by, or killed by an intimate partner.
To prevent violence against women, our understandings must account for these ‘gendered’ patterns.
Gender inequality
Gender inequality is when unequal value is afforded to men and women and there’s an unequal distribution of power, resources and opportunity between them.
It has historical roots in laws or policies formally constraining the rights and opportunities of women. It is maintained through more informal ways. These include:
- social norms such as the belief that women are best suited to care for children
- practices such as differences in childrearing practices for boys and girls
- structures such as pay differences between men and women.
The gendered drivers of violence against women
Violence against women has distinct gendered drivers. Evidence points to four factors that most consistently predict or ‘drive’ violence against women and explain its gendered patterns.
Driver 1: Condoning of violence against women
When societies, institutions or communities support or condone violence against women, levels of such violence are higher. Individual men who hold these beliefs are more likely to perpetrate violence against women. Condoning of violence against women occurs in many ways, through practices that justify, excuse or trivialise this violence or shift blame from the perpetrator to the victim.
Driver 2: Men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence in public and private life
Violence is more common in relationships in which men control decision-making and limit women’s autonomy, have a sense of ownership of or entitlement to women, and hold rigid ideas on acceptable female behaviour. Constraints on women’s independence and access to decision-making are also evident in the public sphere, where men have greater control over power and resources. This sends a message that women have lower social value and are less worthy of respect.
Driver 3: Rigid gender stereotyping and dominant forms of masculinity
Promoting and enforcing rigid and hierarchical gender stereotypes reproduces the social conditions of gender inequality that underpin violence against women. In particular, socially dominant stereotypes of masculinity play a direct role in driving men’s violence against women.
Driver 4: Male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control
Male peer relationships (both personal and professional) that are characterised by attitudes, behaviours or norms regarding masculinity that centre on aggression, dominance, control or hypersexuality are associated with violence against women.
Reinforcing factors
There are a range of factors that, while they do not drive violence on their own, can contribute to violence against women or make it worse.
- Condoning of violence in general, which can lead to the ‘normalisation’ of violence.
- Experience of, and exposure to, violence (particularly during childhood).
- Factors that can weaken prosocial behaviour (such as stress, environmental/neighbourhood factors, natural disasters and crises, male-dominated settings and heavy alcohol consumption) and therefore reduce empathy, respect and concern for women.
- Backlash and resistance to prevention and gender equality (actions that seek to block change, uphold the status quo of gender relations, or re-establish male privilege and power), which creates an environment in which there is a heightened risk of violence.
Change the story explainer video
Change the story is Our Watch’s evidence-based framework to guide a coordinated and effective national approach to preventing violence against women. Learn about Change the story in the video below.
Find the Change the story explainer video with audio description here.
Top resources on violence against women
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A key document about ending violence against womenThis foundational work from Our Watch brings together the international research and nationwide experience on what works to prevent violence against women and children. It presents the evidence and principles of effective prevention, and provides a guide to assist governments and other stakeholders to develop policies, strategies and programs to prevent violence against women.
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A webinar about what's changed in the new version of Change the storyA webinar hosted by Our Watch discussing what's changed in the new version of Change the story: A shared framework for the primary prevention of violence against women in Australia.
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A report that builds a deeper understanding of masculinitiesMen in focus from Our Watch is an extensive evidence review about links between dominant forms of masculinity and violence against women.
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A quick read about current research on masculinitiesA summary of the Men in Focus report, which reviews the evidence about links between dominant forms of masculinity and violence against women.
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A list of 12 key actions to end violence against womenThis document summarises the 12 key actions from Change the story to reduce the gendered drivers of violence against women.
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A collection of graphics showing the gendered drivers and actions to prevent violence against womenA collection of graphics showing the gendered drivers and actions to prevent violence against women
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A key set of resources about violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander womenChanging the Picture from Our Watch contains a set of clear actions that are needed to address the many drivers of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
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A set of tip sheets about the gendered drivers of violence against womenThese tip sheets from Safe + Equal have been designed to convey the complexity of what drives violence against women in an easy-to-understand resource.
Detailed facts and statistics
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A landmark survey about personal safetyThis ABS survey collected information from men and women aged 18 years and over about their experience of violence since the age of 15.
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A factsheet about personal safetyA factsheet about the findings of the ABS Personal Safety Survey 2016, developed by Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety.
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A reliable source of quick facts about violence against womenQuick facts from Our Watch that are a reliable and easy to access source of high-level statistics and evidence on violence against women in Australia.
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Facts about intimate partner homicideThis fact sheet presented the findings from the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network's (the Network) Data Report 2018.