Published in

Australasian Medical Publishing Company Ltd, Medical Journal of Australia, 9(191), p. 481-485, 2009

DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02909.x

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Victims of violence among Indigenous mothers living with dependent children

Journal article published in 2009 by Kyllie Cripps, Catherine M. Bennett, Lyle C. Gurrin ORCID, David M. Studdert
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Question mark in circle
Preprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Postprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Published version: policy unknown
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Objective: Toidentifyindividualandhouseholdfactorsassociatedwithviolenceamong Australian Indigenous women with dependent children. Design and participants: Univariate and multivariable analysis of data from the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, stratified by area. Main outcome measure: Self-reported experience of being a victim of violence in the previous year. Results: OneinfourIndigenouswomenlivingwithdependentchildrenyoungerthan 15 years reported being victims of violence in the previous year; this corresponds to an estimated 24 221 Indigenous mothers (95% CI, 21 507–26 935) nationwide. Violence was more prevalent in regional areas and cities than remote areas. In remote areas, mothers who had been removed from their natural families during childhood had nearly threefold greater odds of being victims of violence (odds ratio [OR], 2.90; 95% CI, 1.82–4.61); in non-remote areas, the odds were 72% greater (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.23–2.39). Older maternal age (􏱄 45 years) was associated with lower odds of experiencing violence in both non-remote areas (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.25–0.60) and remote areas (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.30–0.70). Women with partners residing in the household faced lower odds of violence in both non-remote areas (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.41–0.72) and remote areas (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.32–0.67). Conclusions: The prevalence of violence against Indigenous mothers with young children is alarmingly high across remote and non-remote areas. This study identified distinctive characteristics of victims, but further research is needed to assess potential risk factors, such as history of removal from natural family.