SURVEY TITLE: Violence Against Women Survey
ACRONYM: VAWS
SPONSOR: Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice.
SURVEY PURPOSE: Respondents were queried about their general fear of violence and the ways in which they managed their fears, emotional abuse they had experienced by marital and cohabitating partners, and incidents of actual or threatened violence. Respondents were also queried about their experiences with emotional abuse, threats and violence by same-sex intimate partners.
LOCATION SAMPLED: United States.
YEARS SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTED: 1996.
SAMPLE SIZE: 8,000 women, 8,000 men.
METHOD OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTION: Telephone.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION QUESTIONS:
1996:
FEMALE QUESTIONNAIRE:
C11. Are you currently living as a couple with a woman at least part of the time? IF ASKED: By couple we mean romantically involved, not just roommates: 1. Yes (GO TO C13), 2. No, 3. (VOL) Don't know, 4. (VOL) Refused.
C12. Have you ever lived as a couple with a woman? 1. Yes, 2 No (GO TO SECTION D), 3 (VOL) Don't know (GO TO SECTION D), 4. (VOL) Refused (GO TO SECTION D)
C13. (Not counting any current partner) How many (other) women have you lived with as a couple: ___Number of women lived with [RANGE IS 0-19], 20. 20 or more, 21. (VOL) Don't know, 22. (VOL) Refused.
MALE QUESTIONNAIRE;
(Same three questions as for females, but substituting “man” for “woman.”)
RESULTS:
DATA ACCESS: unknown/unavailable.
ACRONYM: VAWS
SPONSOR: Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice.
SURVEY PURPOSE: Respondents were queried about their general fear of violence and the ways in which they managed their fears, emotional abuse they had experienced by marital and cohabitating partners, and incidents of actual or threatened violence. Respondents were also queried about their experiences with emotional abuse, threats and violence by same-sex intimate partners.
LOCATION SAMPLED: United States.
YEARS SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTED: 1996.
SAMPLE SIZE: 8,000 women, 8,000 men.
METHOD OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTION: Telephone.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION QUESTIONS:
1996:
FEMALE QUESTIONNAIRE:
C11. Are you currently living as a couple with a woman at least part of the time? IF ASKED: By couple we mean romantically involved, not just roommates: 1. Yes (GO TO C13), 2. No, 3. (VOL) Don't know, 4. (VOL) Refused.
C12. Have you ever lived as a couple with a woman? 1. Yes, 2 No (GO TO SECTION D), 3 (VOL) Don't know (GO TO SECTION D), 4. (VOL) Refused (GO TO SECTION D)
C13. (Not counting any current partner) How many (other) women have you lived with as a couple: ___Number of women lived with [RANGE IS 0-19], 20. 20 or more, 21. (VOL) Don't know, 22. (VOL) Refused.
MALE QUESTIONNAIRE;
(Same three questions as for females, but substituting “man” for “woman.”)
RESULTS:
- Patricia Tjaden, Nancy Thoennes, Christine Allison. Comparing Violence Over the Lifespan in Samples of Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Cohabitants. Violence and Victims, Vol. 14, No. 4 (1999): 413-425. Using data from a nationally representative telephone survey that was conducted from November 1995 to May 1996, this study compares lifetime experiences with violent victimization among men and women with a history of same-sex cohabitation and their counterparts with a history of marriage and/or opposite-sex cohabitation only. The study found that respondents who had lived with a same-sex intimate partner were significantly more likely than respondents who had married or lived with an opposite-sex partner only to have been: (a) raped as minors and adults; (b) physically assaulted as children by adult caretakers; and (c) physically assaulted as adults by all types of perpetrators, including intimate partners. The study also confirms previous reports that intimate partner violence is more prevalent among gay male couples than heterosexual couples. However, it contradicts reports that intimate partner violence is more prevalent among lesbian couples than heterosexual couples. Overall study findings suggest that intimate partner violence is perpetrated primarily by men, whether against same-sex or opposite-sex partners.
- See Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes. Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey. Washingotn, D.C., U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, July 2000. NCJ181867.
DATA ACCESS: unknown/unavailable.