Quote #1: ... little is known about the nature of incidents where men are recorded as victims and women as perpetrators, nor about the circumstances where both partners are recorded as perpetrators.

Quote #2: The new study, by professor Marianne Hester of the University of Bristol's school for policy studies and carried out on behalf of the Northern Rock Foundation, looked at 96 examples from 692 "perpetrator profiles" tracked from 2001 to 2007. The research looked at 32 cases where women were the aggressors, 32 where men were in that role, and 32 where it  was both partners. It found that 48% of the cases were related to couples still in a relationship, 27% involved violence after separation and the rest involved couples in the process of splitting up.

Note the appended material from
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a?eaf

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/28/women-arrested-domestic-violence

The Guardian
28 August 2009

News > Society > Domestic Violence
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/domestic-violence

Women three times more likely to be arrested for domestic violence

While the vast majority of perpetrators of domestic violence are men, women are arrested in three of every 10 incidents and men in only one of 10, a study says.

By Staff and Agencies

Picture: Women were more likely to use a weapon, but often to protect themselves ... a victim of domestic abuse.
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Society/Pix/pictures/2009/8/28/1251453567599/Domestic-abuse-001.jpg

Men are responsible for most cases of domestic violence, but women are three times more likely to be arrested for incidents of abuse, research reveals today.

A report into domestic abuse and gender by Bristol University found that the majority of cases involved alcohol misuse, that women were more likely to use a weapon to protect themselves and that children were present in the majority of cases.

Previous research has shown that the vast majority of domestic violence perpetrators recorded by the police are men (92%) and their victims mainly female (91%), with many more repeat incidents recorded for male than female perpetrators. While the majority of incidents of domestic violence recorded by the police involve male-to-female abuse, little is known about the nature of incidents where men are recorded as victims and women as perpetrators, nor about the circumstances where both partners are recorded as perpetrators.

The new study, by professor Marianne Hester of the University of Bristol's school for policy studies and carried out on behalf of the Northern Rock Foundation, looked at 96 examples from 692 "perpetrator profiles" tracked from 2001 to 2007.

The research looked at 32 cases where women were the aggressors, 32 where men were in that role, and 32 where it was both partners.

It found that 48% of the cases were related to couples still in a
relationship, 27% involved violence after separation and the rest involved couples in the process of splitting up.

Some 83% of men had at least two incidents recorded; one man had 52. In contrast, 62% of women recorded as perpetrators had only one incident recorded, and the highest number of repeat incidents for any woman was eight.

Men were significantly more likely than women to use physical violence, threats and harassment, and to damage the women's property; women were more likely to damage their own.

Men's violence tended to create a "context of fear and control", the researchers said, whereas women were more likely to use verbal abuse or some physical violence.

But women were more likely to use a weapon, although this was often to stop further violence from their partners.

All cases with seven or more incidents, most of which involved men, led to arrest.

But in general, women were three times more likely to be arrested: during the six-year period, men were arrested once in every 10 incidents and women arrested once in every three.

Issues of divorce and child contact were common in "dual perpetrator" cases, and also included the greatest number of instances where both partners were heavy drinkers.

Children were present in 55% of cases when the violence or other abuse took place. In cases involving post-separation violence, problems of child contact were cited in 30% of cases.

Hester said: "Both men and women can be violent, but there are significant differences in the way men and women use violence and abuse against their partners and also the impact of such behaviour.

"This needs to be taken into account if we want to ensure greater safety for individuals. The research has crucial lessons for the criminal justice system in this respect."

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/8679198

The Guardian
28 August 2009

Study paints domestic abuse profile
Press Association

Women are three times more likely to be arrested for domestic violence, although men commit more abuse, new research has revealed.

A report into gender and domestic abuse by Bristol University found that women were more likely to use a weapon to protect themselves and that children were present in the majority of cases.

The study by Professor Marianne Hester of the University of Bristol's School for Policy Studies looked at 96 examples from "perpetrator profiles" tracked from 2001 to 2007.

The research looked at 32 cases where women were the aggressors, 32 where men were in that role, and 32 where both partners were known to abuse.

It was found that 48% of cases related to couples still together in a relationship, 27% involved violence after separation and the remaining cases involved couples in the process of splitting up. And 83% of men had at least two incidents recorded, and one man had 52 incidents recorded. In contrast, 62% of women recorded as perpetrators had only one incident recorded and the highest number of repeat incidents for any woman was eight.

Men were significantly more likely than women to use physical violence, threats, harassment and to damage the women's property, while the women were more likely to damage their own. Men's violence tended to create a "context of fear and control", whereas women were more likely to use verbal abuse or some physical violence. But women were more likely to use a weapon, although this was often to stop further violence from their partners.

All cases with seven or more incidents, most of which involved men, led to arrest although women were three times more likely to be arrested. During the six-year period, men were arrested once in every 10 incidents and women arrested once in every three incidents.

Issues of divorce and child contact were common in "dual-perpetrator" cases and also included the greatest number of instances where both partners were heavy drinkers.

Children were present in 55% of cases when the violence or other abuse took place. In cases involving post-separation violence, problems of child contact were cited in 30% of cases.

Professor Hester said: "Both men and women can be violent, but there are significant differences in the way men and women use violence and abuse against their partners and also the impact of such behaviour. This needs to be taken this into account if we want to ensure greater safety for individuals. The research has crucial lessons for the criminal justice system in this respect."

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http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=50085

http://message.snopes.com/showpost.php?p=1034575&postcount=3

28 August 2009

These results are in wild disagreement with this study from the CDC looking at a vastly larger sample size, over 11,000:

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a?eaf

Men Shouldn't Be Overlooked as Victims of Partner Violence
By Joan Arehart-Treichel

"When it comes to nonreciprocal violence between intimate partners, women are more often the perpetrators.

"These findings on intimate partner violence come from a study conducted by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The lead investigator was Daniel Whitaker, Ph.D., a behavioral scientist and team leader at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (which is part of the CDC).

"Of the 24 percent of relationships that had been violent, half had been reciprocal and half had not. Although more men than women (53 percent versus 49 percent) had experienced nonreciprocal violent relationships, more women than men (52 percent versus 47 percent) had taken part in ones involving reciprocal violence.

"Regarding perpetration of violence, more women than men (25 percent versus 11 percent) were responsible. In fact, 71 percent of the instigators in nonreciprocal partner violence were women.

"As for physical injury due to intimate partner violence, it was more likely to occur when the violence was reciprocal than nonreciprocal. And while injury was more likely when violence was perpetrated by men, in relationships with reciprocal violence it was the men who were injured more often (25 percent of the time) than were women (20 percent of the time). "This is important as violence perpetrated by women is often seen as not serious," Whitaker and his group stressed."

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Perhaps the problem with the OP study is the small sample size, or perhaps it is focusing on incidents reported to police (which is the basis for the claim that men are vastly more likly to be the perpetrators). The difference between the CDC study based on surveys and the OP claim that 91% of domestic violence reports to police are of men being violent against women probably lies in differences in rates of reporting the crimes, whether by the victims calling them in or the police reporting the incidents according to their preconceived notions of what domestic violence is (which can be self-perpetuating).