Fact sheet

Violence Against women: Accurate use of key statistics

This is a quick reference guide to key statistics on violence against women in Australia. It was created for use by the media and other commentators including government officials, academics, sector leaders and community advocates.

Note: This is a 2018 ANROWS resource with an update planned in 2024. Please check original data sources for updated statistics.

This resource is aimed at ensuring that relevant statistics are interpreted with care and is based on the most reliable data available in the field.

Statistics are often at the centre of discussions of violence against women. However, the data reflecting the reality of women’s experiences of violence are complex. This reference guide provides best practice examples to report statistics and statements relating to violence against women.

This resource will address:

• uses and misuses of common statistics
• accurate representation of statistics with examples
• useful prevalence statistics
• dynamics of violence against women
• impacts of violence against women and children
• statistics relating to help-seeking.

This resource supports media and government officials to understand the how violence against women and children statistics should be accurately communicated. A reference list of data sources supports the document’s statistical breakdown.

Suggested citation

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2018). Violence against women: Accurate use of key statistics (ANROWS Insights 05/2018). ANROWS.