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Gender differences among a cohort of injured patients seeking emergency medical services were examined with respect to their experiences as perpetrators and/or victims of domestic violence. Contextual issues, including violence initiation, emotional and behavioral responses to partner-initiated violence, and injury frequency and severity were analyzed. Women reported male partner-initiated violence more frequently than men reported female partner-initiated violence. Behavioral responses to partner initiated violence varied. Women were more likely to report using force back and to involve law enforcement. Women were more likely to be injured in a domestic assault over their lifetime, within the last year, and at the time of recruitment. Comparison of injury severity revealed that women reported higher rates of injuries than men in all possible severity categories. Women also reported experiencing more fear than men during partner-initiated violence, as well as being subjected to larger numbers of dominating and controlling behaviors, and greater intimidation secondary to their partner's size. Understanding contextual differences in partner violence for women and men has significant implications for policy development, identification, treatment, and referral of patients identified as living in violent relationships.
Keywords: injury; domestic violence; contextual issues; gender differences; victimization; perpetrator
It has been well established that significant health risk exists for victims, perpetrators and witnesses of domestic violence (Edleson, 2000; Koss & Heslet, 1992). Clinical and research efforts largely have been focused on the identification and care of victims of domestic violence, primarily women (Eisenstat, 1999; Hamberger, Ambuel, Marbella, & Donze, 1998; Johnson & Elliott, 1997; Kyriacou et al., 1999).
Although controversial, the idea that women commit acts of intimate partner violence against their male partners has been studied in various ways since Straus, Celles, and Steinmetz published the first national study of partner violence prevalence (1980). In fact, in a recent meta-analysis of over 80 studies, Archer (2000) summarized the research by reporting that women were slightly more likely than men to report using physical aggression against their intimate partners. This trend is echoed in recent clinical research that has also begun investigating men's and women's use of intimate partner violence (Cantos, Neidig, & O'Leary, 1993, 1994; Hamberger & Guse, 2002; Vivian & LanghinrichsenRohling, 1994). Other research also has begun to investigate men who have been injured in domestic disputes and...