SYDNEY, SEPT 17 – Almost 10 per cent of men in New South Wales (NSW) have faced legal action from the police for domestic and family violence offences, according to a government study today.
According to research published by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), 6.3 per cent of people born in the east coast state of NSW, Australia’s most populous state, were found to have been charged by the police for family offenses and domestic violence by the age of 37.
It found that the rate was clearly higher for men at 9.6 percent compared to 3.0 percent for women.
Conducted in collaboration with the Griffith Institute of Criminology at Griffith University NSW, the study examined three population cohorts born in the state in 1984, 1994 and 2004 and analyzed offenses recorded by the NSW Police.
Overall the study found that 1.2 per cent of people born in NSW were responsible for more than 50 per cent of recorded family offending and domestic violence.
Family and domestic violence offenses account for almost half of all criminal offenses committed by people in the three cohorts.
Rick Brown, deputy director of the AIC, said the research showed the high prevalence of family and domestic violence in Australia.
“By identifying and targeting those who commit domestic violence, especially early in the 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 family and domestic violence recorded in a population sample in Australia and is an important step towards increasing the visibility of perpetrators of domestic and family violence,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, one in four Australian women and one in 14 men have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
In early September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Australia agreed to invest US$3.1 billion in a five-year plan to prevent domestic violence and support victims.
A government-commissioned report was released in August urging Australia to treat domestic violence as a national emergency. – Xinhua
