More than one in three men in Australia reported using violence with an intimate partner in a first of its kind study which shows gender-based abuse is rising, despite years of national attention on the issue.
According to CNN, the research was part of a longitudinal study called Ten to Men by Australia’s Institute of Family Studies, which began in 2013 and now involves around 24,000 boys and men. Intimate partner violence is defined as emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
The study found that the number of men using violence with their partners has risen over the past decade. Last time the survey was conducted in 2013-2014, roughly 1 in 4 (24%) men had committed intimate partner violence. That figure rose to 1 in 3 (35%).
That equates to about 120,000 men using intimate partner violence for the first time each year, pointing to a worrying trend in a country which has long grappled with how to combat gender-based violence.
In 2022, the Australian government launched its 10-year National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children with a majority priority of advancing gender equality.
But since January last year, 100 women have been killed in Australia, according to Counting Dead Women. Recent protests have called for the government to do much more to end gender-based violence.
