News

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released a new report on children’s exposure to intimate partner violence against their female carers, and their direct experiences of physical and emotional abuse.

• This study draws on a survey of almost 4,000 female carers living in Australia during 2021, at the height of COVID-19 restrictions.
• Among the female carers surveyed, 14.1 percent indicated that a child in their care had been exposed to intimate partner violence perpetrated against them in the last 12 months, and 11.5 percent indicated that a child in their care had been the target of direct abuse perpetrated by their current or most recent former partner.
• Female carers who experienced pandemic-related financial strain, employment issues and isolation were significantly more likely to report that children in their care had directly experienced abuse, as were Indigenous carers and those living with a restrictive health condition.

Read Exposure to intimate partner violence and the physical and emotional abuse of children: Results from a national survey of female carers