Cunningham Compares Cumulative Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence Across Gender and Sexual Orientation
Posted: 4/2/2026 (CSDE Research)
CSDE External Affiliate Mick Cunningham (Western Washington University) published a study in the Journal of Family Violence examining cumulative consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization over the life course by gender and sexual orientation, using data from the U.S. National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Women and sexual minorities experience IPV consequences — including fear, post-traumatic stress, injury, and missed work or school — at younger ages than straight men. Women experience more IPV consequences than men overall, and sexual minority women and men report more cumulative IPV consequences than their straight counterparts, with the burden particularly high for sexual minority women. This recent paper on IPV consequences extends research from a previous study highlighted gender differences in IPV victimization over the life course. Compared to men, women experience IPV at younger ages, with greater frequency, and by more perpetrators. These findings hold true for psychological aggression, coercive control, physical violence, and sexual violence. Novel measures of life course victimization provide important evidence refuting findings of gender symmetry in intimate partner violence.