Survey of Australian women indicating high rates of violence in the home

The Australian Women’s Weekly’s survey of 15,000 women aged over 20 years, has reported high levels of violence in the home (2008 ‘Sex down, violence up: women’s survey’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March). When asked if they had ever been raped by their husband or partner, 22% of women surveyed said they had. This was a rise of 13% since the survey was run in 1980. The number of women who said they had been raped was to 13%, up from 8% in 1980. 18% of women surveyed admitted to being physically abused by a partner, while 35% said they had experienced emotional abuse while in a relationship. The survey will be published in three parts in The Australian Women’s Weekly.