Counting dead women in Australia: An in-depth case review of femicide

Patricia Cullen, Geraldine Vaughan, Zhuoyang Li, Jenna Price, Denis Yu & Elizabeth Sullivan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The authors conducted a cross-sectional in-depth review of the Counting Dead Women Australia (CDWA) campaign, a femicide census counting violence deaths of women in Australia. The review studied CDWA cases from January to December 2014 to describe femicide in Australia. Data was extracted from the CDWA register, law databases and coroner reports. The researchers found that intimate-partner femicide is associated with modifiable risk factors, which has significant implications for intervention opportunities within healthcare settings. 

External Authors

Patricia Cullen
Geraldine Vaughan
Zhuoyang Li
Jenna Price
Denis Yu
Elizabeth Sullivan
The present study has emphasised that women are most at risk of fatal violence in their own home, at the hands of a perpetrator who is well known to them, likely male, and with a history of perpetrating violence; however there is insufficient insight into the complex social dynamic that sees non-fatal violence progress to femicide.

Key Findings:

  • 89% of percent of perpetrators were male (n=62); 
  • The majority of crimes occurred within the victim's home; 
  • Over half of femicides were committed by intimate partners, when victim-offender relationship was known; 
  • Perpetrators of intimate partner femicides were more likely to commit murder-suicide and have a history of violence, when compared to other perpetrators.

 

 


 

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