Intimate Partner Violence Predictors in an International Context: An Analysis of the International Violence against Women Survey

Abstract

Using the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS), this paper identifies factors contributing to women’s individual risk of being victimized by their current intimate partner. Additionally, this analysis examines the overlap of physical and sexual violence within intimate relationships. Past research into IPV has identified a numerous predictor variables. Adapting nine such variables (controlling behaviours, male heavy drinking, female only income, female past marriage, female past IPV, respondents’ age, relationship duration, relationship status and violence outside the home) to the IVAWS dataset, a framework identifying risk patterns for physical and sexual violence was developed. The results identify a number of variables that performed as expected and increased a women’s risk of being a victim of IPV; however, some variables decreased women’s risk and therefore acted as protective factors. These findings suggest that IPV at the country level is more complex and requires additional research to fully explain the variation observed.