Authors: Wells, L., Fyie, K., Kneebone, R., Montesanti, S., Boodt, C., & Davidson, R.

Date: 2024

Research into male-on-female domestic violence traditionally focuses on its after-effects, with an emphasis on how victims can keep themselves safe or on the men who have been criminally charged in such incidents. This approach puts the responsibility on the victim to try and protect herself while offering support to the perpetrator only after the violence has occurred to prevent recidivism. This policy brief takes a different approach to understanding points of intervention that might prevent male perpetration of domestic violence from occurring in the first place. Using a robust 10-year dataset supplied by Calgary Police Service, we explored a trajectory of criminal behaviour and police interactions prior to an eventual charge for a criminal act involving domestic violence in 2019. While preliminary, the data analysis reported in this brief finds a distinct trajectory of increased criminal behaviour among male perpetrators leading up to a charge in 2019. In fact, the data shows a rising number of police interventions related to complaints involving possible acts of domestic violence during that 10-year period. Very few men in this sample were unknown to police prior to the charge in 2019. The approach of examining male perpetration trajectories analyzed in this policy brief, can help inform legislation, policies, and programs that can not only stop male violence before it starts, but subsequently reduce the suffering of women and their families.

On March 21, 2024, the School of Public Policy with authors Lana Wells, Ken Fyie, Ron Kneebone, Stephanie Montesanti, Casey Boodt, and Rebecca Davidson held a press release for this paper.