The Role of Alcohol Use in Intimate Partner Femicide

Examination of alcohol use by victims and perpetrators as a risk factor for intimate partner violence and femicide found perpetrator problem drinking was associated with an eight fold increase in partner abuse and a two fold increased risk of femicide/attempted femicide.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine alcohol use by victims and perpetrators as a risk factor for intimate partner violence and femicide. A case control design was used to describe alcohol use among Femicide/Attempted Femicide victims (n = 380), Abused Controls (n = 384) and Non-Abused Controls (n = 376), and their intimate partners. Telephone interviews of proxies (family members or friends) of femicide victims and actual survivors of attempted femicide were conducted in 10 cities. The purpose of the interviews was to gather information about relationship violence and alcohol use by femicide victims, attempted femicide survivors, and their perpetrators. Telephone interviews of controls, recruited from the same cities by random digit dialing, were also conducted. Perpetrator problem drinking was associated with an eight fold increase in partner abuse (e beta = 8.24, p < .0001) and a two fold increased risk of femicide/attempted femicide (e beta = 2.39, p = .001), controlling for demographic differences.