Psychological Abuse

The Herald reports on a survey by the Familes Commission:

A national survey reported today by the Families Commission has found that one in every seven Kiwi men say their partners get angry if they speak to other women, compared with only 9 per cent of women who say the same about their male partners.

Men are also more likely than women to say their partners stop them seeing friends and relatives, and keep track of them “in a controlling or frightening way”.

Overall, 23 per cent of men – compared with 19 per cent of women – report at least one of the six kinds of “psychological abuse”, which range from being put down or abused to the children being harmed.

That’s fascinating findings. In terms of physical abuse:

Long-term studies of people born in Christchurch and Dunedin in the 1970s have also found similar proportions of men and women being assaulted by their partners, but crime and health statistics show men are responsible for the vast majority of serious violence.

That makes sense.

While the Herald focused on more men than women suffering psychological abuse, the Dom Post takes a different approach:

Almost a third of Kiwi women and one in five men will experience violence and abuse at the hands of their partners.

I never like it when a story groups together two things – violence and abuse. I don;’t know whether abuse means violent abuse or psychological abuse such as detailed above. While both are bad, there is a difference between hitting someone and calling them a name.

I went to the Families Commission website to try and read the report for myself so I could work out what the actual stats means. Sadly they have not even out teh report online. This is basic stuff – always have the full report available on your website frontpage the day it will appear in the media.

If any journalist has a copy of the full report, I’d appreciate a copy if possible.