Separated Women's Risk for Violence

Abstract

It is well known that women are at an increased risk for violence during separation. Existing research does not provide an understanding of why separated women are more at risk. The following study helps to fill this gap through an empirical examination of indicators derived from potential explanations for the relationship between separation and violence. Using Statistics Canada's 1999 General Social Survey (GSS), the study employs both descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses to examine the following variables: continuation of previous violence; immigrant status; youth; power; jealousy; and Aboriginal status. These risk factors accounted for over half of the variance in separation violence. This was largely due to the impact of age and Aboriginal status. The findings also showed that women without a previous history of violence were not protected from experiencing separation violence. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings.

Key Words:

• Separation
• violence
• divorce
• abuse
• relationship dissolution
• women
• spousal assault