Practice: the New Zealand Corrections Journal, 2016, 4(2): 29-34

A significant amount of research has been produced internationally, and in New Zealand, on family violence in the last three decades; however, comparatively little has been written about female perpetrators of family violence. It is generally acknowledged that women commit less violence and less serious violence against family members than men, although the frequency and severity of this violence is contested. Women are also more likely than men to be the victims of family violence; however, no doubt owing to the dominant focus on women as victims, there has been little research on women as perpetrators.

The current study aimed to make an initial contribution to this field. It examined administrative data held on all 45 women in prison for family violence offences in December 2015, including their demographic information and details on the nature of their offending. By virtue of being in prison, these women had typically committed serious family violence offences. Consequently, the findings underplay less serious family violence offending, and for this reason cannot be considered representative of all female family violence perpetration in New Zealand. For the purposes of this study, family violence was broadly conceptualised to include offences against family members, including current and ex-intimate partners, children, extended family and whänau and anything else flagged as a family violence offence by NZ Police at the time of initial charging. (From the article). Read this paper online or download the whole journal. Record #5639