Taking Seriousness Seriously: Revisiting Gender Symmetry and Mutual Violence in Intimate Partner Violence through Role Types in Intimate Partner Violence Events Reported to the Police

Abstract

The study examines gender symmetry and asymmetry in intimate partner violence (IPV) reported to the police. A large database of police-recorded IPV events in British Columbia is analyzed over a four-year period (2009–2012) to examine the nature of gender symmetry, asymmetry, and mutual violence in the context of roles (as victims and perpetrators) in IPV. In accordance with past research, the findings show a pattern of gender asymmetry for IPV offences for women generally and across repeat IPV police contacts. Across repeat contacts with the police, the results indicate that the probability of being victimized repeatedly is much greater for females, although there is a significant amount of symmetrical violence, gauged by similar levels of victim and offender role counts, and mutual violence in the histories of females. In addition, as the number of associated events increases, a greater proportion of females have perpetrator role associations in their histories. The results indicate that in the context of mutual violence, females are likely to have a small number (i.e., one) of perpetrator roles within a history of victimization.