Without violence.
Text: Andreas Grote
In Switzerland, violence against women in partnerships is on the rise. Intervention programs aim to teach offenders different ways to resolve conflict in future.
Each year, more and more women in Switzerland die as a result of domestic violence. Femicide represents the ultimate escalation, but thousands more women are abused by their partners on a daily basis. In Switzerland, data from the World Health Organization shows that around 12 percent of women have been victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives — and for some 180,000 women, this has occurred in the last 12 months. The estimated number of unreported cases is significantly higher.
With a view to reducing the incidence of domestic violence, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry Marc Graf is convinced we need to work on the underlying causes. As part of various research programs, Graf looks at some possible reasons why young people and adults become offenders. “In many cases, social rejection, poverty, unemployment, a lack of recognition at work or low income are the stressors that lead to a greater risk of violence against a female partner,” explains Graf.
“Things become dangerous if the woman gives any hint, even a subtle one, that life with her partner is losing its appeal and that he’s not meeting her needs.” This can lead to panic-induced aggression, because without a female partner, many men feel socially humiliated and socially isolated. “The male partner then wants to exercise absolute control over his — supposedly — most important asset.”
Learning to manage conflict
Most of the perpetrators have not learned strategies to deal with conflict within relationships. Rather than seeking solutions jointly with their partner, they do so in isolation — or seek guidance from like-minded people in chat groups or on social media. Ultimately, they choose the worst possible solution: a love-hate relationship or, in other words, violence. If the situation does erupt into violence, it’s often more than an isolated incident. Approximately one in four violent partners will re-offend even after being reported to the police.
“At the same time, international studies show that it’s possible to make a fresh start, free from violence following domestic abuse,” says Graf. This is because violence of this kind is rarely underpinned by a psychiatric disorder such as narcissism. In Switzerland, however, there is still no data as to whether interventions prevent re-offending.
Graf and his colleagues therefore carried out their own study to examine whether the “Partnership Without Violence” intervention program of the Canton of Zurich prevents further attacks. Participants in the program meet for regular group sessions — weekly at first — to develop an awareness of the problem and learn strategies for managing it. Behavioral analysis demonstrates to the perpetrators that it is not “the circumstances” that led to the attack, but rather that they themselves contributed to these “circumstances.” The aim is for them to learn to take responsibility for their part in this and to actually want to change their behavior accordingly.
In subsequent sessions at three-month intervals, participants refresh their knowledge of conflict resolution strategies. “By witnessing the success of other participants who’ve been on the program for several weeks, new participants see that it’s possible to change things about themselves,” says Graf.
The results of the study provide hope: In violent partners who only attended standard interventions such as a consultation, there was a 22-percent re-offending rate during the two years of follow-up. Among participants in the intervention group in Zurich, this rate was just six percent. “It’s not ideal yet, but at least it means we can avoid a lot of suffering,” says Graf. Nevertheless, further studies are still needed to confirm the results — and the methodology will need to be steadily improved.
Source appeared in Journal of interpersonal Violence (2025), doi: 10.1177/08862605251357852
More articles in this issue of UNI NOVA (November 2025).