Difference between revisions of "Reciprocal partner violence"

Latest revision as of 02:33, 3 December 2025

Reciprocal partner violence (RPV), also known as bi-directional partner violence, involves intimate partner violence (IPV) in which each person in the relationship is both a perpetrator and victim of IPV. Research shows a high proportion of IPV is reciprocal. This is not about provocation in the moment. Rather this a long term trend in which each partner initiates IPV against the other, often at different times.

Key findings in relation to RPV include:^[1]

One of the key indicators of whether a woman will be a victim of IPV is whether she is a perpetrator of IPV.
Women tend to be violent more often in a reciprocally violent relationship over one where they are the only violent partner.
Women are more likely to be injured as a result of RPV.

It follows from the last finding that women could reduce their chances of being a victim of IPV by avoiding being a perpetrator.

PASK

By Classification

The table below lists classifiations used in PASK as well as male-perpetrated and female-perpetrated IPV. These are listed as MFPV & FMPV respectively in the PASK Domestic Violence Facts and Statistics at a Glance.^[2]^[3]

PASK Classification	Partner violence (percentage)
PASK Classification	Reciprocal	Male Perpetrated	Female Perpetrated
Among large population samples	57.9	13.8	28.3
Among school and college samples	51.9	16.2	31.9
Among respondents reporting IPV in legal or female-oriented clinical/treatment seeking samples not associated with the military	72.3	13.3	14.4
Within military and male treatment samples	39	43.4	17.3

Of particular note is that 57.9% of all IPV is reciprocal in large population samples.^[4]^[5]

By Race

PASK Classification	Total Partner Violence (percentage)
PASK Classification	Reciprocal Partner Violence	Non-Reciprocal Partner Violence
White	50.9	49.1
Latino	49	51
African-American	61.8	38.2

Dunedin Study

The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, commonly known as the Dunedin Study, is a longitudinal study of human health, development and behaviour. Based at the University of Otago in New Zealand, the Dunedin Study has followed the lives of 1037 babies born between 1 April 1972 and 31 March 1973 at Dunedin's former Queen Mary Maternity Centre since their birth. Teams of national and international collaborators work on the Dunedin Study, including a team at Duke University in the United States. The research is constantly evolving to encompass research made possible by new technology and seeks to answer questions about how people's early years impact mental and physical health as they age.

The study is now in its fifth decade and has produced over 1300 publications and reports, many of which have influenced or helped inform policy makers in New Zealand and overseas; many of these can be found on the publications section of their website.

Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence

The study found high rates of reciprocal partner violence among study participants. The document Findings About Partner Violence From the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study released by the US National Institute of Justice found:

When the data were analyzed, victimized women were 10 times more likely to be perpetrators than other women and male perpetrators also were 19 times more likely to be victims than other men.”

Authorities in New Zealand have found the DV/IPV results coming from the study to be concerning as they do not fit the mainstream narrative.^[6]^[7]

National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health also found that about half of all IPV is reciprocal IPV. The study examined differences in injury rates between reciprocal and non-reciprocal IPV and found that injury rates are higher in reciprocal IPV than non-reciprocal IPV.^[8]

In 2017, 12 of 27 women who were killed by their intimate partner had previously been identified by police as perpetrators of IPV.^[9]^[10]

One of the key indicators of whether a woman will be a victim of IPV is whether she is a perpetrator of IPV.^[11] It follows then that one important way that a woman can avoid being a victim of IPV is to not be a perpetrator of IPV. Research by Capaldi has found that this holds true.^[12]

Models that ignore reciprocal IPV can inhibit violent women from receiving the support they need to stop their violence.^[13]^[14]

Governments, domestic violence organisations and the wider community completely ignore reciprocal IPV. By ignoring the prevalence of reciprocal IPV these groups are preventing effective interventions as they discount the need to intervene with violent women. This will contribute to the continuation of reciprocal IPV and actually make it more likely that the women involved will be injured. Ignoring women's violence contributes to violence against women.

Commentary

Until recently feminists rejected reciprocal partner violence outright. With the wider community now recognising RPV feminists have shifted to attempting to excuse women's violence in relationships but their own research shows that women initiate partner violence. The Australian study Women who use force lists self-defence, retaliation, anger and stress as common reasons that women are violent in relationships.^[15]^[16] ^[17]^[18] The last three are not justifiable reasons to use violence in a relationship. Notably the study uses the word force rather than violence' when describing women's actions.

External Links

Credit: TheTinMenBlog.

Reciprocal partner violence (RPV), also known as bi-directional partner violence, involves intimate partner violence (IPV) in which each person in the relationship is both a perpetrator and victim of IPV. Research shows a high proportion of IPV is reciprocal. This is not about provocation in the moment. Rather this a long term trend in which each partner initiates IPV against the other, often at different times.

Key findings in relation to RPV include:^[19]

One of the key indicators of whether a woman will be a victim of IPV is whether she is a perpetrator of IPV.
Women tend to be violent more often in a reciprocally violent relationship over one where they are the only violent partner.
Women are more likely to be injured as a result of RPV.