4906.0 - Personal Safety, Australia, 2012
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/12/2013
Page tools:
 Print Page
 Print All
| ||
GLOSSARY
Advice or support sought Sources from which the respondent sought advice or support from due to their experiences of violence. Includes both formal sources such as health professionals, support services, police as well as advice or support from informal sources such as a friend or family member. ‘Advice or support’ means listening to the respondent, being understanding, making suggestions, giving information, referring respondent to appropriate services, or offering further help of any kind. It includes contacting or visiting any source of help from a friend to a professional organisation, so long as the respondent perceived that they were seeking advice or support. It excludes anyone who was told or found out about the violence, but from whom the respondent did not actively seek advice or support, and help sought for any injuries, which did not involve the respondent seeking advice or support. If a person had experienced violence they were asked if they had sought advice or support about their most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault, and physical threat. If a person had experienced violence by a current and/or previous partner they were asked if they had ever sought advice or support about the violence by their current/previous partner. Sources of advice or support includes:
If a person sought advice or support from more than one service or individual, a response for each relevant category was recorded. Also refer to First person told. Age Age of the respondent at the time of the survey. Age a person experienced abuse (before the age of 15) for the first time. Amount of time taken off work Refers to the amount of time the respondent needed to take off from paid work, or work without pay in a family business, which was due to the incident. Anxiety or fear Anxiety or fear for personal safety was collected in relation to a person's most recent incident of violence and most recent episode of stalking (in the 12 months after the incident and during the last 12 months) and is defined as:
Anxiety or fear due to partner violence was collected in relation to partner violence and emotional abuse by a partner. This is a broader concept than anxiety or fear for personal safety in relation to an incident, incorporating the generalised fear which a person may have experienced as a result of living with the perpetrator of the violence/emotional abuse. Includes fear of leaving the house, fear of men and/or women in general and fear for their children's safety. Assault An incident of sexual or physical assault. See Physical assault and Sexual assault. Boyfriend/Girlfriend or Date See Relationship to perpetrator Changes to usual routine Changes in day-to-day activities as a result of the most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault, physical threat and/or stalking during the 12 months after the incident. Includes a change in the usual way of carrying out tasks such as shopping, household tasks, etc because of the injuries received and also changes as a result of experiencing anxiety or fear for their personal safety. For example, a person may have been unable to complete normal household duties because of a broken arm, or they were unable to attend their regular leisure activities because the perpetrator would be there. Changes to the following activities are established:
Children witnessed violence People who had children in their care reported whether or not these children saw or heard the violence by a current and/or previous partner. The children may or may not have been the respondent's children. Country of birth Classified according to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), Second Edition (cat. no. 1269.0). Main English speaking countries include Canada, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America. Current Partner See Relationship to perpetrator Disability status A person was defined as having a disability or long-term health condition if they had one or more limitations, restrictions, impairments, disease or disorder which had lasted, or were likely to last, for six months or more, and that restricted every day activities. People were identified as having a profound or severe core activity limitation if they required help or supervision for one or more core activities, such as self-care, mobility or communication. It is classified by whether or not a person has a specific limitation or restriction. Specific limitation or restriction is further classified by whether the limitation or restriction is a limitation in core activities or a schooling/employment restriction only. There are four levels of core activity limitation (profound, severe, moderate and mild) which are based on whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment with any of the core activities (self care, mobility or communication). A person's overall level of core activity limitation is determined by their highest level of limitation in these activities. Refers to the respondent's disability status at the time of interview. Doctor consulted about injuries Includes qualified medical practitioners working in private practice, health centres, hospitals, emergency services who the person visited to treat the injuries sustained in their most recent incident of violence (i.e. for physical assault and/or sexual assault) . Excludes ambulance officers and nurses. During their lifetime For those who were ever stalked refers to whether they had ever experienced an episode of stalking during their lifetime, (and what happened to them in the most recent episode of stalking), NOT what has happened to them for every episode of stalking. Emotional abuse Emotional abuse occurs when a person is subjected to certain behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling their behaviour with the intent to cause them emotional harm or fear. These behaviours are characterised in nature by their intent to manipulate, control, isolate or intimidate the person they are aimed at. They are generally repeated behaviours and include psychological, social, economic and verbal abuse. For the PSS, a person was considered to have experienced emotional abuse where they reported they had been subjected to or experienced one or more of the following behaviours (that were repeated with the intent to prevent or control their behaviour and were intended to cause them emotional harm or fear):
Emotional abuse excludes:
Employed All people (aged 15 years and over) who, during the week prior to interview:
Employed full-time Includes employed people who usually worked 35 hours or more (in all jobs) and those who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the week prior to interview. Employed part-time Includes employed people who usually worked less than 35 hours or more (in all jobs) and either did so during the week prior to interview, or were not at work in the week prior to interview. First person told Who the respondent first told about their most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault, and physical threat. Who the respondent first told about the violence by their current and/or most recently violence previous partner. Response categories were as per those for Advice or Support. Also includes
Frequency of partner violence Relates to violence by a current and/or previous partner. If the frequency of violence changed, for example, depending on the time of the year, then the person was asked to determine how often the assaults occurred overall. If the respondent reported violence by more than one previous partner this relates to the partner who was violent to them in the most recent incident (i.e. the most recently violent previous partner). General feelings of safety Relates to a person’s perception of whether they feel safe when alone in selected situations and if the reason people don't do these things is because they felt unsafe.
Household cash flow problems in the last 12 months Refers to selected situations in the last 12 months where the respondent had been short of money (at least once) and needed to obtain money from another source, such as, drawing money from their savings, or getting a loan from a financial institution or family/friends. Excludes being short of money because the person wasn't able, or forgot, to go to the bank. Incident An ‘incident’ is referred to as an event of assault or threat, an occurrence or event of violence, abuse or assault that an individual has encountered in their life. People were asked about the most recent incident for the eight types of violence (sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault, physical threat by a male and by a female). Where a person experienced continuous acts of violence by the same perpetrator (e.g. in a domestic violence situation), they may have considered the continuous acts of violence to be a single incident. In these cases, the respondent was instructed to think about the most recent act of violence by that perpetrator when answering the more detailed questions. It is possible that people have experienced multiple incidents of violence. Where a person has experienced more than one type of violence, they are counted separately in each type of violence they experience but are only counted once in the totals. Components therefore may not add to the totals. It is also possible that a single incident of violence may involve more than one of these different types of violence. In order to produce valid violence prevalence rates, in the PSS a single incident of violence is only counted once. Where an incident involves both a sexual and physical assault, it is counted as a sexual assault, e.g. if in an incident a person is physically assaulted during/as part of a sexual assault: this would be counted once only as a sexual assault. Where an incident involves a person being both threatened with assault and then assaulted, it is counted as an assault, e.g. if in a single incident a perpetrator threatens to sexually assault a person and then sexually assaults them this would be counted only once in the survey as an sexual assault. The same applies for incidents where a person is both physically threatened with assault and then physically assaulted. Income
Injuries As a result of the most recent incident of physical assault and/or sexual assault. A 'physical injury' includes any type of injury ranging from general stiffness and soreness to bruises, marks of any kind (i.e. cuts, scrapes, fractures, miscarriage, internal injuries or any other kind of injury, such as a chipped tooth, etc.). Includes:
Involvement of alcohol or drugs Involvement of alcohol or another substance in the most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault and physical threat. Alcohol or another substance was involved if - the respondent, or the perpetrator, were under the influence of alcohol, or another substance, at the time of the incident, or if the respondent believed alcohol or another substance contributed to the incident. For example, when the perpetrator was recovering from a hangover or the respondent believed that their drink had been spiked.
Known person See Relationship to perpetrator Language First language spoken and Main language spoken are classified according to the Australian Standard Classification of Languages, 2005-06 (cat. no. 1267.0). Labour force status Classifies all people aged 15 years and over according to whether they were employed, unemployed or not in the labour force. The definitions conform closely to the international standard definitions adopted by the International Conferences of Labour Statisticians. Left property or assets behind When respondents separated from their current or previous partner and moved out, whether they had to leave behind any items of value that they had limited or no access to. Property or assets includes:
Length of relationship before (first) incident by partner The total length of time the respondent had been in a relationship with their current partner and/or previous partner before the (first) incident of violence. Level of highest educational attainment Level of highest educational attainment identifies the highest achievement a person has attained in any area of study. It is not a measurement of the relative importance of different fields of study but a ranking of qualifications and other educational attainments regardless of the particular area of study or the type of institution in which the study was undertaken. Level of highest non-school qualification The highest qualification a person has attained, other than qualifications associated with primary and secondary school education. Location Where the most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault and physical threat occurred. If the incident occurred in a number of places, where the incident initially took place was recorded. Categories collected are listed below.
Main field of education Main field of education is defined as the subject matter of an educational activity. It is categorised according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0) Field of Education classification. Main field of highest non-school qualification The main field of study undertaken by a person in completing the person's highest educational qualification, other than attainments of primary of secondary education Main reason unable to leave current partner Reasons for being unable to leave current partner:
Marital status As reported by the respondent at the time of the survey.
Most recent incident or episode Refers to respondent's most recent incident of violence or most recent episode of stalking. Note: Due to difficulties associated with recall, detailed information was not collected if a person's most recent incident of violence occurred 20 years ago or more, information was only collected about relationship to perpetrator. This was the same applied for episodes of stalking which began 20 years ago or more, and episodes of stalking that had stopped 20 years ago or more. Most recently violent previous partner Where a person had experienced sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault and/or physical threat by more than one previous partner, respondents were asked to focus on the previous partner who had been violent towards them most recently when answering the more detailed questions about the violence by their previous partner. Other known person See Relationship to perpetrator Overall Life Satisfaction Overall life satisfaction is a summary measure of subjective well-being against a scale ranging from delighted through to terrible. It measures a person's perceived level of life satisfaction in general and doesn't take into account specific illnesses or problems the person may have. Partner The term 'partner' in the PSS is used to describe a person the respondent lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship. Partner violence Partner violence refers to any incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault or physical threat by a current and/or previous partner. See Relationship to perpetrator. Partner violence does not include violence by a "boyfriend/girlfriend or date". For the PSS a boyfriend/girlfriend or date refers to a person the respondent dated, or was intimately involved with but did not live with. If violence occurred while the respondent was dating a person whom they later lived with, the perpetrator at the time of the incident would have been classified as a boyfriend/girlfriend or date. Perpetrator went to court As a result of being charged over the most recent or as a result of ever being charged for current and/or previous partner violence. ‘Court’ includes Family and Magistrates Court as well as cases still pending. Physical abuse Any deliberate physical injury (including bruises) inflicted upon a child (before the age of 15 years) by an adult. Discipline that accidentally resulted in an injury is excluded. Physical assault Involves the use of physical force with the intent to harm or frighten a person. Assaults may have occurred in conjunction with a robbery and includes incidents where a person was assaulted in their line of work (e.g. assaulted while working as a security guard). Various types of physical assault were identified, including:
Physical assault excludes incidents of sexual assault or sexual threat which also involved physical assault, and excludes incidents that occurred during the course of play on a sporting field. Physical assault also excludes incidents of violence that occurred before the age of 15 - these are defined as Physical Abuse. If a person experienced physical assault and physical threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a physical assault. If a person experienced sexual assault and physical assault in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual assault. Physical threat Is an attempt to inflict physical harm or a threat or suggestion of intent to inflict physical harm, that was made face-to-face where the person believes it was able to and likely to be carried out. Physical threat includes incidents where a person was threatened in their line of work. Various types of physical threats were identified, including:
It excludes any incident of violence in which the threat was actually carried out and incidents which occurred during the course of play on a sporting field. If a person experienced sexual threat and physical threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual threat. Physical violence Physical violence is defined as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of physical assault experienced by a person since the age of 15. This includes any incident of Physical assault or Physical threat (as defined above). Places stayed during temporary of final separations Where the respondent stayed if they had to move from their home during any temporary separations (from their current and most recently violent previous partner) and where the respondent stayed if they had to move out of their home when relationship with their most recently violent previous partner finally ended. Places stayed includes:
Population Females and males aged 18 years and over. Pregnancy during relationship with partner (asked of women only) This item includes women who were assaulted while they were pregnant and living with their current/previous male partner. (Note: this can include situations where the current/previous male partner was not the biological father). Also includes situations where a woman was pregnant while living with her current/previous female partner. Prevalence of violence Prevalence of violence is used to express the number of persons who have experienced violence as a ratio of the total number of persons (aged 18 years and over) in the population at a specific time. For the PSS, prevalence rates are commonly calculated and included in tables to show the:
Previous partner See Relationship to perpetrator Proportion of persons Proportions refer to the number of persons within a sub population who have a particular characteristic as a ratio of the total number of persons in that sub population. For the PSS, proportions are commonly calculated and included in tables to help describe the characteristics of just those who have experienced violence, or particular types of violence such as:
Reasons for returning to current partner Reasons for returning are categorised into the following categories:
Reasons police not contacted If the respondent did not contact the police, and no-one else contacted the police about the most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault or physical threat and/or stalking, or about violence by their current and/or previous partner, respondent's were asked what their reasons were for not contacting the police and the main reason why they decided not to contact the police. Reasons include:
Relationship to perpetrator If multiple perpetrators were involved, the respondent was asked to focus on the person they considered to have been mainly responsible for the incident.
Restraining order See Violence or restraining order Self assessed health status A person's general assessment of their own health against a five point scale from excellent through to poor. Sexual abuse Any act by an adult involving a child (before the age of 15 years) in sexual activity beyond their understanding or contrary to currently accepted community standards. Sexual assault An act of a sexual nature carried out against a person's will through the use of physical force, intimidation or coercion, and includes any attempts to do this. This includes rape, attempted rape, aggravated sexual assault (assault with a weapon), indecent assault, penetration by objects, forced sexual activity that did not end in penetration and attempts to force a person into sexual activity. Incidents so defined would be an offence under State and Territory criminal law. Sexual assault excludes unwanted sexual touching - this is defined as Sexual harassment. Sexual assault also excludes incidents of violence that occurred before the age of 15 - these are defined as Sexual Abuse. If a person experienced sexual assault and sexual threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual assault. If an incident of sexual assault also involved physical assault or threats, this was counted once only as a sexual assault. Sexual harassment Is considered to have occurred when a person has experienced or been subjected to behaviours which made them feel uncomfortable, and were offensive due to their sexual nature. Sexual harassment includes the following behaviours:
Sexual threat Involves the threat of acts of a sexual nature, that were made face-to-face where the person believes it is able to and likely to be carried out. If a person experienced sexual assault and sexual threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual assault. Sexual violence Sexual violence is defined as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of sexual assault experienced by a person since the age of 15. This includes any incident of Sexual assault or Sexual threat (as defined above). Household Refers to selected situations in the last 12 months where the respondent had been short of money (at least once) and needed to obtain money from another source, such as, drawing money from their savings, or getting a loan from a financial institution or family/friends. Excludes being short of money because the person wasn't able, or forgot, to go to the bank. Since the age of 15 Refers to any Violence experienced by a person since the age of 15 years. Stalking Stalking involves various behaviours, such as loitering and following, which the person believed were being undertaken with the intent to harm or frighten. To be classified as stalking more than one type of behaviour had to occur, or the same type of behaviour had to occur on more than one occasion. The definition of stalking is based on State and Territory legislation. It is defined by a range of behaviours which the person believed were undertaken with the intent to harm or frighten. Behaviours include:
Stranger See Relationship to perpetrator Temporarily separated from partner Whether the person stopped then started their relationship with their current or most recently violent previous partner. The separation must have been for at least one night. Excludes nights spent apart due to holidays or business trips and the final separation from their most recently violent previous partner. Took time off work Time take off work as a result of the most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault, physical threat and/or stalking during the 12 months after the incident. Can be time off from paid work or work without pay in a family business. This includes time off work to:
Unemployed Persons who were not employed during the week prior to interview and:
Unwanted sexual touching See Sexual harassment. Violence Is defined as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either physical or sexual assault experienced by a person since the age of 15. Includes Physical violence and Sexual violence as defined above. Violence or restraining order Such orders typically prohibit an individual (the defendant) from being violent, or threatening violence, towards another individual (the protected person). Different states have different names for violence orders e.g. apprehended violence order (AVO), domestic violence order (DVO), intervention order, etc. This item includes orders which have been issued by the court and interim orders. Violence increased This is defined as an increase in the number or severity of violent incidents by a current or previous partner during pregnancy, separation or after the relationship ended. Whether moved out of home during any temporary separations or when relationship ended Whether it was necessary for the respondent to leave their usual place of residence. This is regardless of who the technical owner/lease holder of the home was (e.g. they could have been living in what they thought of as the perpetrators home). Whether police told Whether the police were contacted about the most recent incident of sexual assault, sexual threat, physical assault, physical threat and/or stalking, or whether the police were told about violence by a current and/or most recently violent previous partner. The contact with police may have been by the respondent or another person. It includes contacting the police by phone or in person. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
|
||