Definitional Issues in Violence Against Women

Issues relevant to defining violence against women include the importance of severity of aggressive behavior in partner relationships, relationships among types of abusive behavior, and adequacy of explanatory models of partner violence. Severity of aggression is important for describing and understanding partner violence. Different types of abusive behavior should be assessed to account for variation in partner abuse. Constructs drawn from multiple domains are needed to adequately explain partner aggression across the range of severity of partner abuse. Standardized structured interviews to assess partner violence in high-risk surveillance would complement checklists for general population surveillance.