Ingrid Wilson, PhD Candidate
La Trobe University

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What do we know about alcohol-related intimate partner violence (IPV)?
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What interventions or strategies have an impact on alcohol-related IPV?
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What role can local government play?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent worldwide
(WHO, 2002)
Significant issue for Australian women
(ABS Personal Safety Survey 2005)
Major impact on women’s health and well-being
(VicHealth, 2004)

Alcohol is involved in a significant proportion of intimate partner violence

US studies 25-50% alcohol (Leonard, 2001) involve Alcohol was a definite factor in
43% of family violence incidents in Victoria in 2009-2010
(Victorian Department of Justice 2012)
Indigenous partner homicides 13 times more likely to involve alcohol than non-indigenous partner homicides (Dearden & Payne, 2009)
Australian victimisation survey - 1 in 3
(35%) recent incidents were alcoholrelated (Mouzos and Makkai, 2004)
50.3% of partner violence is alcoholrelated; 73% physical assaults
(Laslett et al., 2010)
41% of police recorded domestic assaults in NSW in
2010 were alcohol-related
(Grech and Burgess, 2011)

Exact role of alcohol – complex and contentious
•
Causation
•
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Lack of consensus on theories and models
Alcohol as an excuse
“Alcohol may not cause partner violence, but it seems to make it worse”
(Graham et al, 2011)
Type of drinking
•
•
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Quantity per drinking occasion rather than frequency
(Graham & Bernards,
2008)
Heavy episodic/binge drinking = more aggression and more severe violence
(Foran &
O’Leary, 2008)
Risk increases when one or both partners drink
(Abramsky, 2011)

• “The strong association between alcohol and intimate partner violence and sexual violence suggests that primary
prevention interventions to reduce the harm caused by alcohol could
potentially be effective.”
(WHO, 2010)

The Social-Ecological Model: A Framework for Prevention (Krug, 2002; Heise, 1998)
Alcohol outlet density
Alcohol restrictions
Alcoholism
Treatment
(individual & couples)
Societal Community Relationship Individual
Alcohol pricing
& taxation
• Small evidence base
• Limitations
• Significant gaps

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•
•
•
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Alcohol outlet density
Promising area for local government to take a role
Growing area of research
Overall, studies show association between density of outlets and domestic violence
Field is divided regarding which type of outlets
•
Livingston (2011) substantial effect for packaged liquor. An increase of 1 outlet per 1,000 residents associated with 28.6% increase in domestic violence
May have relevance for planning decisions

Study
Gorman
McKinney et al.,
Livingston
Livingston
Liang & Chikritzhs
Cunradi et al.,
Cunradi et al.,
Roman & Reid
Cameron et al,
Year
1998
2009
2010
2011
2011
2011
2012
2012
2012
Country
US
US
Aust
Aust
Aust
US
US
US
NZ
Offpremise
X
X
X
✓
✓
✓
X
✓
X
On-premise
✓
X
✓
X
X
X
✓
✓
X

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Alcohol-related intimate partner violence is prevalent
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While the role of alcohol is not clear, it is a significant risk factor across countries and cultures
(Abramsky, Watts, et al., 2009)
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Alcohol is a modifiable risk factor but more studies at the population level are needed