Understanding of the law In countries where the law condemns domestic violence behaviours influenced by social norms, a greater protection is afforded to women’s rights and their safety, thereby reducing violence supportive attitudes (Lewis et al., 2001). The percentage of residents that agree with the statements exploring the understanding of the law of domestic violence have significantly decreased from 2016 to 2021 (see table 17). Residents who responded to the survey in 2016 were 6.3 times more likely to agree that domestic violence is a criminal offence than the residents who responded in 2021. Conversely, residents who responded in 2016 were 2.8 times more likely to agree that rape doesn’t exist in sexual relationships than residents in 2021. This increased awareness around rape in relationships could be resultant from the efforts Australia wide into women’s rights that accumulated in marches for women in all states of Australia. Overall, there was both an improvement and devolvement in the understanding of the law around domestic violence. Table 17. Responses (as percentages of the entire survey population who agree) to statements about the legal aspects of domestic violence. Wagga Wagga 2021 (%)
Wagga Wagga
Significant Difference
2016 (%) Domestic violence is a criminal offence*
95.4
97.2
Yes
A woman cannot be raped by someone she is in a sexual relationship with*
3.4
8.4
Yes
Note: *indicates a significant difference
Gender Males and females in Wagga Wagga in 2021 did not differ on their levels of agreement that domestic violence is a criminal offence, and that rape doesn’t exist in sexual relationships. From the males in the sample 94.8% agreed that domestic violence is a criminal offence and 95.9% of women. When it came to rape doesn’t exist in sexual relationships only 4.1% of males agreed and only 2.8% of females agreed.
Age Consistent with gender, age groups had similar of agreement that domestic violence is a criminal offence and rape doesn’t exist in sexual relationships. All age-groups had high levels of agreement that domestic violence is a criminal offence with levels of agreement in the mid-90s (e.g., 94.1% to 96.9%). For rape doesn’t exist in sexual relationships, the level of agreement for all age-groups in the sample were below 10% (e.g., 2.4% to 6.3%).
Ethnicity Differences between ethnicity groups in Wagga Wagga were found for the two questions measuring residents’ understanding of the law surrounding domestic violence. Anglo-Saxon (95.9%) residents were 3.4 times more likely to agree domestic violence is a criminal offence than Other ethnicity residents (86.8%). No difference was found between ATSI and Other, as all ATSI residents (100%) agreed domestic violence is a criminal offence which violates the requirements of analysis needed to detect differences. Residents of Other ethnicities (24.5%) were 14.3 times more likely to agree that rape doesn’t exist in sexual relationships than Anglo-Saxons (2.4%).
Education and Employment Level of education and employment status did not make a significant difference on the understanding of the law. All education groups and both the employed and unemployed had high levels of agreement that domestic violence is a criminal offence, ranging from 93.4% to 97.7% for education, and 94.9% to 95.6% for employment. Similarly, all education group and employed and unemployed had low levels of agreement that rape doesn’t exist in sexual relationship, ranging from 3% to 3.9% for education, and 3.3% to 3.7% for employment.
