IADFVC issues paper, July 2012, no.24

Hosted on NZFVC website with permission (18/5/2016).

Recommended reading

Key points
• International research shows a strong association between alcohol misuse and perpetration of domestic violence. In turn, victimisation has been shown to often lead to drinking problems.
• Many in the domestic violence sector have been reluctant to fully engage with this association due
to concerns about misconstruing alcohol as a cause of partner abuse, thereby reducing perpetrator responsibility for their violence and failing to target its real causes.
• Among key theories about this association, one that best aligns with our knowledge of relationship violence proposes that where alcohol misuse co-occurs with attitudes and behaviours supportive of violence against women, abuse is more likely and is more likely to escalate.
• Responses to this issue are urgently needed and interventions targeting both alcohol misuse and attitudes and behaviours supportive of violence will be more effective than those aimed at single problems.
Interventions need to be guided by goals of victim safety, provision of support and services, the prevention
of abuse and making perpetrators accountable for their behaviour.
• Interventions fall into two broad camps: (i) community wide primary prevention mechanisms mainly targeting alcohol misuse and (ii) individualised tertiary prevention mechanisms targeting either or both alcohol misuse and domestic violence.
• Prevention mechanisms show good potential to reduce alcohol related domestic violence, although their effectiveness would be enhanced by companion efforts to challenge attitudes and behaviours that support violence towards women.
• Greater collaboration between alcohol and domestic violence sectors could substantially advance the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions. (Key points, p.1)