FACT SHEET
Updated facts about intimate partner homicide
This fact sheet explores intimate partner violence (IPV) homicides that occurred across Australia following an identifiable history of domestic violence.
It draws upon data presented in ANROWS-commissioned research conducted by the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network (the Network) and Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS).
The data shows that more than three quarters of all cases reported in the period between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2018 involved a male intimate partner homicide offender killing a current or former female partner. The vast majority of these male offenders had been the primary user of domestic violence behaviours against the woman they killed. When a female partner was the homicide offender, in the majority of these cases she was also the primary domestic violence victim, who killed her male abuser.
This fact sheet summarises some of the key differences between male and female IPV homicide offenders in Australia. It presents facts on IPV homicide and children, as well as characteristics of IPV homicide offenders and victims. It would be useful for media professionals looking for fast facts to contextualise fatal events that follow a history of domestic and family violence; those working in justice and the law; and policymakers and practitioners who work with victims and survivors, perpetrators, and children who live with domestic and family violence.
The full report, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report: Intimate partner violence homicides 2010–2018, is also available for download.
Suggested citation
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2022). Domestic and family violence lethality: Updated facts about intimate partner homicide [Fact sheet]. ANROWS.