1 in 3 men report using intimate partner violence. Here’s how we can better protect women – and help men

One in three men (32%) aged 18 to 57 years report using emotional abuse towards a partner. One in ten (9%) say they have used physical violence.

These are some of the statistics from the latest report of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health – the Ten to Men study^[1].

The report also shows 2% of men have engaged in sexual abuse towards an intimate partner. Overall, among the 120,000 men surveyed, one in three (35%) said they’d used a form of violence towards an intimate partner in their adult life.

The findings give us important new insights into men’s use of partner violence. It is among the first Australian studies to explore the factors linked with men’s use of partner violence in a large, general community sample.

Being a longitudinal study – which surveys the same men at different points in time – also gives unique insights into the onset of intimate partner violence.

And crucially, it points to some key priorities for policy and programs to prevent this violence.

Which men use partner violence?

Young men (aged 18–24) reported the lowest rates of using violence towards an intimate partner.

As the report notes, this is not surprising, as younger men will have had less time in intimate relationships.

Importantly, the use of intimate partner violence increased over time for all age groups between the two surveys.

This suggests previously non-violent men can still start to use intimate partner violence later in their lives. However, it is worth noting that some men’s understanding and willingness to disclose use of violence may have also improved since the earlier survey.

A crucial result of the Ten to Men report is that men’s use of violence does not differ meaningfully according to demographic background.

It didn’t matter whether men were from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds, whether they had high or low incomes, whether they lived in cities or regions, and whether they were heterosexual or not. The overall rate of using intimate partner violence was the same.

This is a highly important finding as it shows us that we cannot assume intimate partner violence is more or less likely among particular regions, classes, sexualities or cultures.

What factors contributed to violence?

Perhaps the most important findings from the report are the crucial roles mental health, social connections, and positive relationships with fathers and father-like figures, play in men’s risk of using partner violence.

While much research has shown that mental health is linked with men’s likelihood of using violence, this study goes further. Because it surveyed men at different points in time, it can tell us that men who were depressed or experiencing suicidal thoughts in the earlier survey (2013), were more likely to report the onset of using partner violence in the later survey (2022).

This was not the case for men with other mental health concerns, such as anxiety diagnoses, nor for measures of men’s overall life satisfaction.

Another important trend was found for social supports and connection. Those men who described feeling that they had social support around them “all of the time” in the earlier survey, were less likely to have started using intimate partner violence by the time of the later survey.

Receiving affection from a father or father-like figure when growing up was also associated with significantly less risk of using partner violence in later life.

This finding is of particular relevance to our national policies and programs that are aiming for generational change to prevent partner violence^[2].

Where to from here?

The findings of the Ten to Men report really point to a need for violence prevention and early intervention with men at different points in their life.

For example, programs that support men’s parenting and positive father-child emotional connection^[3] not only have a role to play in violence prevention, but are known to have beneficial outcomes for children’s development more generally.

Part of these programs often involves breaking down traditional and rigid ideas about gender roles that place more responsibility for emotional caregiving with mothers than with fathers.

Supporting men’s mental wellbeing is also crucial. Research^[4] has long shown many men experience barriers to seeking help and support for mental health, partly due to expectations of men as needing to be “tough”, “independent” and “resilient”. These expectations can cause shame and fear in turning to others for support.

Programs such as The Man Box^[5] have further shown how such rigid gender expectations can have a negative impact on men and boys’ mental wellbeing, as well as their risk for using violence.

Read more: Aggressive? Homophobic? Stoic? Here's what thousands of Australian men told us about modern masculinity^[6]

We need to continue to break down the barriers to men’s access to mental health and wellbeing supports. Yet the Ten to Men findings also suggest knowledge of how to identify and work with people using violence^[7], or at risk of using violence, may be especially important among health and mental health practitioners.

Much of our policy addressing intimate partner violence talks about accountability and improving responses^[8] to men’s use of violence. And it is urgent that we respond to – and not make excuses for – men’s use of violence.

But there is a lot more we could be doing to work with men throughout their lives before they use violence.

Supporting men’s positive parenting relationships, breaking down rigid gender expectations, encouraging men to connect socially and seek support, as well as identifying men at risk, all have a role to play in ending partner violence.

References

1. ^{^} the Ten to Men study (aifs.gov.au)
2. ^{^} generational change to prevent partner violence (www.dss.gov.au)
3. ^{^} positive father-child emotional connection (www.firstfiveyears.org.au)
4. ^{^} Research (www.sciencedirect.com)
5. ^{^} The Man Box (jss.org.au)
6. ^{^} Aggressive? Homophobic? Stoic? Here's what thousands of Australian men told us about modern masculinity (theconversation.com)
7. ^{^} identify and work with people using violence (researchportalplus.anu.edu.au)
8. ^{^} accountability and improving responses (www.dss.gov.au)