The Incidence and Prevalence of Woman Abuse in Toronto

A telephone survey on the physical abuse of women by a male intimate was conducted with a representative sample of 604 Toronto women. Results showed an annual incidence rate of 14.4% and a prevalence rate of 25.0%, based on the Conflict Tactics Scales as the measure of abuse. Several additional measures increased the prevalence rate to 36.4%. These estimates, which are much higher than those obtained in a similar survey conducted two years earlier in Toronto, appear to be the result mainly of improved methodological procedures in the present study.