Most sexual violence and domestic violence crimes in Canada are male-perpetrated. Data from Statistics Canada shows that men commit 99% of sexual assaults against women and are significantly more likely to offend criminally, including violent crime.
Recent data indicates that nearly nine in 10 victims (89%) of police-reported sexual assaults were women and girls between 2015 and 2019.
We need to remove the burden from survivors by focusing our attention and resources on the people and systems that cause harm – because the cost of raising perpetrators hurts everyone.
These statistics paint a grim picture. However, the key to ending domestic violence is hiding in plain sight.
According to new research we are spearheading at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work and School of Public Policy, 73% of men charged with domestic violence have already interacted with the police at least once. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the men saw a clear increase in police interactions in the previous two years before a domestic violence-related charge in 2019.
Our work finds clear trajectories of behaviour leading to criminal acts of domestic violence. This suggests that the majority of domestic violence can be predicted and prevented.
This research makes it clear. If we want to prevent domestic violence from happening, we need to work with men. We need to remove the burden from survivors by focusing our attention and resources on the people and systems that cause harm – because the cost of raising perpetrators hurts everyone.
About our study
Emerging evidence from our study tells us that distinct red flags emerge right before a criminal charge for domestic violence happens.
Most research on male perpetration focuses on the after-effects of domestic violence crimes, with an emphasis on how survivors can keep themselves safe or how to prevent repeat offences. Instead, our study asks what could have prevented the violence – and the charge – from happening in the first place.
Our research focused specifically on men who faced a domestic violence-related charge in 2019 and whose incidents involved a female partner. Utilizing a 10-year dataset supplied by the Calgary Police Service with a sample size of 934 men, we identified four key typologies of domestic violence perpetrators.
These typologies include perpetrators who had:
- no prior police involvement before they were charged with domestic violence
- prior police involvement only related to domestic violence encounters
- a criminal history and no domestic encounters before they were charged, and
- both a criminal history and a history of domestic violence encounters before they were charged.
Flipping the script to prevention
For 64% of men, there was a clear increase in police charges and interactions in the two years before their domestic violence charge. In other words, encounters with police increased right before most perpetrators committed domestic violence, indicating a trajectory.
In examining these typologies, we found that only 27% of men charged with domestic violence had no prior police involvement beforehand. That means over seven in 10 men had been involved in an incident with police prior to their domestic violence charge.
This pattern suggests domestic violence is not a random event. Most perpetrators of domestic violence have contact with police well before they are charged with a domestic violence crime.
Further, for 64% of men, there was a clear increase in police charges and interactions in the two years before their domestic violence charge. In other words, encounters with police increased right before most perpetrators committed domestic violence, indicating a trajectory.
When nearly three-quarters of men who perpetrate domestic violence have had contact with police before their eventual charge, it’s an important warning sign and a prevention opportunity.
It means we can do better at intervening early to prevent domestic violence from happening. There is a window to prevent the escalation of violence if we provide these men with the right support at the right time.
Our data also shows that domestic violence perpetrators can be found in every neighbourhood and come from all income levels. This means domestic violence is an issue of power, not poverty.
We need a prevention strategy that reaches all communities across socioeconomic lines. We need to offer free education, counselling and support services to help men, and their families build and sustain healthy relationships.
The takeaways
Perpetrators are made, not born. Though most men who were charged with domestic violence had a history with police, nearly three in 10 did not.
In isolation, changing policing practices will not end domestic violence. This needs to be paired with a community-government based approach that addresses risk factors before police involvement.
This means we can’t rely solely on the law enforcement system to identify men at risk for violence. We need to fundamentally change the conditions that turn people into perpetrators.
In isolation, changing policing practices will not end domestic violence. This needs to be paired with a community-government based approach that addresses risk factors before police involvement.
Federal and provincial governments have created violence prevention plans. However, Canada does not currently have a comprehensive national strategy for engaging men and boys to prevent violence, and no comprehensive government action plan that is focused on men and boys exists at the provincial or territorial level anywhere in the country.
Our research hub, Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence, has been working for over 14 years to stop violence before it starts. We already know the importance of engaging men and boys in the settings where they already live, work, play and worship.
We have the solutions needed to change the cultural and structural conditions that make it possible for men to perpetrate 83% of all violence against women. Now, we just need the political will and resources to implement them.
This article first appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons Licence; you can read the original here.
About the Author
Associate Professor Lana Wells is Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary, and a globally respected scholar in the field of social work, public policy and violence prevention. She is a change-maker in advancing gender and social justice, equity, and social inclusion, engaging and mobilizing men in violence prevention. Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence, created by Prof Wells, is the first research hub in Canada to focus solely on stopping domestic and sexual violence before it starts.
Picture © lolostock / iStock
