The question of whether spousal abuse is primarily initiated by males remains contested in the literature, with some studies pointing to gender symmetry in self-reports and others highlighting structural asymmetry where men are the primary perpetrators.
Evidence for · 4
Gender and Intimate Partner Violence
2012 · cited by 23
Paper 1 finds persistent gender asymmetry in intimate partner violence, with women primarily as victims and men as perpetrators.
Evidence against · 2
Gender Symmetry in the Self-Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence
2011 · cited by 53
Paper 0 supports gender symmetry in self-reported intimate partner violence prevalence between men and women.
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More for · 3
Judicial Dilemmas of Female Domestic Violence Victims: An Empirical Study Based on Chinese Civil Judgments in 2020
2022 · cited by 6
Paper 3 notes that the vast majority of recorded domestic violence victims in legal judgments are female.
A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of Social Actors and Actions in Newspaper Reportage on Domestic Violence in Nigeria
2025 · cited by 2
Paper 5 reports that media and societal analyses predominantly depict male social actors as aggressors and females as victims in domestic violence.
Utilizing an Intersectional Feminist Framework to Respond Against Domestic Violence in the COVID-19 Context
2025 · cited by 0
Paper 10 highlights that gender-based violence during crises heavily features abusive acts by men toward women.
More against · 1
Female perpetrated domestic violence: Prevalence of self-defensive and retaliatory violence
2020 · cited by 14
Paper 2 demonstrates that female-perpetrated domestic violence often involves self-defense or retaliatory actions against prior male partner abuse.