To enter the crucible of ‘Intimate Partner Violence’, and the fierce, roaring debate that endlessly ricochets across social media, is to be confronted with a broad display of widely different claims. “One in three victims are men!”, or “one in two!”, or sometimes “one in ten”, or even less than that. Yes. When it comes to partner violence, the bars of uncertainty are large, and the walls of ignorance that entomb so many, larger still; with armies on either side clutching vague, spurious claims, that they usually fail to source, or even understand themselves. So how can the numbers vary so drastically? How can one side think 5% of victims are men, and the other claim it’s 50%? Well, for a lot of reasons, many of which are exploited, and exaggerated, by those on either side with a political agenda, or an axe to grind, who share no interest in learning the complex nuance that lays within. One way in which the numbers sway, is how the questions are asked, who by, and to what ends. Particularly between the two main types of survey, meaning behavioral / health based surveys (usually using the “Conflict Tactics Scale”), versus the more traditional criminal surveys, that previously held the limelight. So let’s examine two large national surveys taken of the American public, both asking about the same issue, both conducted during the same year, and how the two surveys got wildly different numbers… Let’s look at the NCVS (crime survey) and the NISVS (behavioral survey), and how seemingly small changes, can lead to enormously different outcomes… What do you think?

2025-08-25