Spousal abuse is the term applied to the specific form of domestic violence where physical or sexual abuse is perpetuated by one spouse upon another. The term was coined in the late 1970's when such crimes were given wider attention in society. There are separate legalities and punishments applied to such a crime as opposed to random assault or assaults of another nature.

Most reported cases of spousal abuse involve violence by men against women. However, there are a significant minority of cases involving violence by women against men, violence by same-sex partners or where both parties act out violently against one another. Men tend not to report spousal abuse at the same rate as women; partly because they diminish the impact themselves and partly because society, media, police and courts also tend to diminish its impact.

Dr Martin Fiebert , from the Department of Psychology of California State University, has compiled an annotated bibliograhy of research relating to by women. This bibliography examines 155 scholarly investigations: 126 empirical studies and 29 reviews and/or analyses, which demonstrate that women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners. The aggregate sample size in the reviewed studies exceeds 116,000.

List of organizations

• RAINN
• Stop Abuse For Everyone
• Domestic Violence Against Men In Colorado

See also

• Domestic violence

External links

• Articles about domestic abuse
• Spousal and Domesic Abuse
• Dr Martin Fiebert (official website)
• Annotated bibliography. References examining assaults by women on their male partners.
• Domestic Violence and Abuse: Types, Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Effects
• Domestic Violence and Abuse: Help, Treatment, Intervention, and Prevention

Organizations

• RAINN. Information about the rights of spouses and how to protect oneself from spousal abuse.
• Stop Abuse For Everyone. Services for victims of domestic violence who typically fall between the cracks, such as abused men, gay and lesbian victims, the elderly, teens, and immigrants.
• Domestic Violence Against Men In Colorado. Information and research about partner violence against men.