Concept: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Introduction

This concept contains information about the construct of intimate partner violence (IPV). Although there is not a single variable that can identify IPV, it is possible to approximate IPV by linking family-based data from the MB Health Insurance Registry and the Domestic Violence (DV) variable found in the Criminal Courts Automated Information Network (CCAIN) data .

Definition and background information

Intimate partner violence is a form or subtype of family / domestic violence. An intimate partner is a person with whom someone has or had a close personal relationship with. Intimate partner violence is abuse that happens within a marriage, common-law, or dating relationship. It can happen at any time during the relationship, while it is ending, or after it has ended. Not all intimate partner violence is the same, it can take many forms such as: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, or neglect. The Criminal Code does not specifically refer to “intimate partner violence offences,” although many Criminal Code offences could be used to charge someone with acts of intimate partner violence such as assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, and homicide. (Source: Government of Canada Criminal Justice website - About Family Violence - Intimate partner violence - Accessed April 11, 2024).

Methods

IPV can be derived from the domestic violence variable (DV) found in the Criminal Courts Automated Information Network (CCAIN) data. Intimate partner violence victims are identified by linking DV data to the MB Health Insurance Registry to determine if the victim has or had any spousal relationship (married or common law) with the accused. Incidents in which the accused and the victim are not in a marital arrangement (marriage or common-law) may reflect that the accused is either a dating partner, an acquaintance, a stranger to the victim, or a spouse who is registered in the Registry under a different REGNO. To differentiate between cases of domestic violence that were not intimate partner violence, incidents where the victim was a parent, child, or sibling of the accused are excluded (See Nesca et al. 2021 and Zhang et al. 2023) .

Cautions/Limitations

Intimate partner violence captured by the criminal justice system typically represents more extreme cases of intimate partner violence involving severe and repeated violence. Incidents are only recorded in the criminal justice database when charges are laid by the Winnipeg Police Services or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Survey data usually show higher prevalence of IPV than criminal justice data.

Given the limitations of the Registry, it is virtually impossible to distinguish between a dating partner, an acquaintance, a stranger to the victim, or a spouse who did not update their Heath Card information, all of whom have a different REGNO.