One in Three Campaign

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Gender bias in Australian Institute of Family Studies Experiences of Separated Parents Study

In October 2015, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) published their Experiences of Separated Parents Study. The study found that separated fathers experienced high levels of family violence and abuse from their (ex-)partners before, during and after separation - in some areas at greater levels than did mothers (see summary here).

The AIFS had ample space in their publication to report that "mothers were more likely than fathers to report feelings of coercion and control before/during separation" when there was a single percentage point of difference between them, which wasn’t statistically significant. Their Deputy Director (Research) has advised that due to "constraints of space", the report conveniently omitted the fact that, post-separation, fathers reported experiencing severe levels of coercion and control at substantially higher (statistically significant) rates than mothers (23% of fathers and 15% of mothers rating their feelings of being controlled at these levels, and 19% of fathers and 14% of mothers rating their feelings of being coerced at these levels).

One in Three is extremely disappointed that a publicly-funded government body such as the AIFS appears to have demonstrated such egregious gender bias in one of their publications.