Renowned Australian feminist and journalist Dr. Anne Summers, who also works as a professor at the University of Technology Sydney, with support from the nonprofit organization Paul Ramsay Foundation, quantified the employment and educational implications of domestic violence on Australian women. The report, which was titled “The Cost of Domestic Violence to Women’s Employment and Education,” is related to the earlier report, “The Choice: Violence or Poverty,” and was published on 27 February 2025.
Another Barrier: The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Educational Attainments and Careers of Australian Women
Background
The earlier report, “The Choice: Violence or Poverty,” which was based on a keynote presentation delivered during a gender equality symposium, introduced intriguing data that showed one of the dire consequences of domestic violence in Australia. Women often face a stark choice between remaining in a violent relationship or leaving and risking poverty.
Furthermore, considering the link between domestic violence and employment, the report further underscored that 50 percent of women who are in abusive relationships have lower incomes and experience cash flow problems. Domestic violence then leads to both immediate and long-term consequences on the career prospects of involved women.
Nevertheless, building on the earlier findings, Dr. Anne Summers dug deeper into how domestic violence leads to educational gaps and employment gaps in women. Her team drew data from various sources. These included the customized data commissioned from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health.
Findings
Australian women who are victim-survivors have a university degree attainment rate almost 15 percentage points lower than other women by the time they are 27. This is based on the data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Their lifetime earnings are likely to be as much as 41 percent lower than a woman who has an undergraduate degree.
Furthermore, in the year after initially reporting domestic violence to authorities, data showed that the university attainment of young women declined by 5.2 percent. This rate increased further to 9.7 percent three years after the violence was reported. This is the first time these findings on the impact of violence on university education in Australia have been reported.
An analysis of the customized 2021-2022 data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics also revealed that the employment rate for women who had experienced violence from their romantic partners, whether in the form of physical, sexual, emotional, or economic abuse, was 5 percent lower than the employment rates for women who had never experienced violence.
The rate for those who endured economic violence was 9.4 percent. There was also a 13.4 percent employment gap between women with disability who have recently experienced economic abuse by a partner and women with disability who have never experienced partner violence or abuse. The gap for culturally and linguistically diverse women was 3.7 percent.
Abusive men also tend to sabotage the careers of their partners. The 2021-2022 Personal Safety Survey of the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that 451000 women have had a previous partner who had controlled or tried to control them from working or earning money. About 3070 women reported experiencing similar conduct from their current partners.
Nearly 35 percent of women who experienced domestic violence took an average of 31 days of time off from work. Victim-survivors reported higher rates of financial distress. 44 percent were unable to meet household expenses and 28 percent sought financial assistance from family or friends. These were high compared to 7 percent of women who have not experienced violence.
Implications
The data revealed that domestic violence extracts an economic toll from women on top of physical, emotional, and psychological harm done to them. They are forced out of their academic or career pursuits, catapulted to short-term and even long-term financial distress, and rendered unable to provide for themselves or their children due to financial distress.
Several suggestions for interventions have been put forward. These include expanding holistic support for students who experienced or are experiencing domestic violence, and increasing awareness drives about the mandatory 10-day paid domestic violence leave entitlements of the government and minimizing barriers to accessing this employment benefit.
There is also a need to amend the Escaping Violence Payment or EVP program to provide more direct cash support. Employment support services could also include specific support for women experiencing partner abuse or domestic violence. A virtual resource hub should also be established to guide victim-survivors to financial assistance and other aids.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Summers, A. 27 February 2025. “Revealed: The Profound Economic Impact on Women Who Experience Domestic Violence.” The Conversation. Available online
- Summers, A. 2022. “The Choice: Violence or Poverty. In Labour and Industry. 32(4): 349-357. Informa UK Limited. DOI: 1080/10301763.2023.2171685
- Summers, A., Shortridge, T., and Sobeck, K. 2025. The Cost of Domestic Violence to Women’s Employment and Education. University of Technology Sydney. DOI: 71741/4PYXMBNJAQ.28489736.V2