Violence Against Women and men in Australia: what the Personal Safety Survey can and can't tell us

The Personal Safety Survey reveals that there are still unacceptably high levels of violence experienced by women and men in Australia. Large numbers of women and men in Australia have suffered violence.1 In the last 12 months, one in 20 women and one in 10 men were the victims of violence. Women are most at risk in the home, and from men they know. Men are most at risk in public spaces, and from men they do not know. Drawing on the Personal Safety Survey (PSS), I address four points. First, PSS data suggest that rates of violence against women in Australia have declined. Second, the PSS shows that there are high rates of violence against males, and there is a striking contrast in women’s and men’s experiences of violence. Third, PSS data may be (mis)used to claim that one-quarter of the victims of domestic violence are men. Finally, I examine the limits of the PSS’s definitions and measurements of violence, and the constraints they impose on our claims about the extent of domestic violence against women and women’s versus men’s subjection to domestic violence