Attitudinal support for violence against women: What a population-level survey of the Australian community can and cannot tell us

Violence against women (VAW) is a serious and prevalent problem globally. Societal-level norms, practices and structures are among the factors contributing to it, sometimes referred to collectively as representing “cultures of support” for VAW. Understanding factors contributing to these cultures is important for prevention, but remains the subject of debate. Population-level surveys of attitudes toward VAW are one means to strengthen this understanding. Although there are a number of such surveys internationally, scholarly research based on secondary analysis of data, at least from surveys in high-income countries, is scant. This article reports on new analyses of the Australian National Community Attitudes Towards Violence Against Women survey to explore its potential to further empirical and conceptual understanding of cultures of support for VAW. To facilitate this, a scale to measure attitudes toward VAW was developed post hoc from the survey (the Violence Supportive Attitudes, or VSA-18, Scale). Subsequent analyses investigate the relationship between this scale and relevant demographic factors and a measure of attitudinal support for gender equality (GE). The GE measure, place of birth, employment and occupation, generation, education and sex contribute to variance in the VSA-18 Scale. Findings are discussed in the context of theoretical debates and directions for future research.