This report examines domestic violence in Auckland city from 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2000. The research is based on 100 callouts of the Preventing Violence in the Home agency during this period. The author examines factors that are generally believed to influence the prevalence of domestic violence, such as gender, ethnicity, alcohol, pregnancy, and children. The types of injuries sustained by the victim are also discussed. The results show that in 96% of the cases the victims were female, with Maori and Pacific peoples being over-represented. Although alcohol is often cited by victims of domestic violence as being a trigger, less than one-third of the cases involved alcohol. In just over half the cases, women received a blow to the head; this has implications for the health profession because of the seriousness and complexity of head injuries. Of the 24% of women that sustained blows to the abdomen, one-quarter of them were pregnant. Another 3% of the sample disclosed that they were pregnant at the time of the assault. In nearly three-quarters of instances, children were present and witnessed the attack. The report concludes by highlighting the direct link between domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, identifying that the children were either a part of the attack, or suffered from the environment.

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