Who can leave a partner who uses violence?

By Isabelle Sin, Shannon Minehan, Janet Fanslow, Alayne Mikahere-Hall

Drawing upon longitudinal data from the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) study, this research looks at the barriers to mothers leaving partners who use violence. The persistence of conflict or abuse experienced by mothers over the antenatal to 9-month period, and over the 54-month to 8-year period was examined. For these two periods, the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) at the start of the period and the relationship breaking up during this period was explored.

Key findings

• Mothers with fewer financial resources are less able to leave partners who use violence. 

• Younger mothers, mothers who lack access to a car, mothers with poor physical health, mothers who are not part of a community, mothers who place high importance on maintaining cultural traditions (who are largely non-Europeans), and mothers whose partners have low education or earnings may also be less able to leave partners who use violence.

• Mothers who report conflict or IPV in one survey wave are quite likely to report it again in the following survey wave (one to several years later). However, a considerable proportion of such mothers report no IPV in the following wave, either because their partners stopped using violence or their relationship ended. Working Paper.

Wellington, NZ: Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, 2024.