Singapore, Oct 9 (The Conversation) Globally, up to one in three women who live with male partners report that their partners are heavy drinkers. Evidence indicates that men's drinking increases the severity and frequency of violence toward women and harms to children.
Despite this, in Australia and around the world, many policies addressing gender violence still overlook alcohol's significant role.
Our new research, published last week, has conducted a review and analysis of evidence from three major international studies on men's drinking.
We aimed to understand the full scope of impacts that men's heavy drinking has on women and children globally. We also explored whether current alcohol policies and interventions specifically address these harms.
Our study demonstrates that the effects on women and children are substantial, yet these harms are often understudied and ignored. Here's what we discovered.
Women Carrying a Disproportionate Burden
It's already recognized that men's heavy drinking exacerbates physical violence, leading to more instances of intimate partner violence experienced by women and more severe injuries.
However, our recent research uncovers a broader spectrum of harms faced by women when men consume alcohol excessively. This heavy drinking can include binge drinking and alcohol dependence.
The psychological impact on women can be profound. We found that men's heavy drinking can result in controlling behavior, irrational sexual jealousy toward partners, sexual aggression and coercion, and emotional abuse characterized by humiliation or insults.
Women also reported facing alcohol-related harms that are not widely studied or understood. These include experiences of social isolation and economic abuse, where household resources are diverted to support the man's drinking habits.
Financial strains on the family can have serious cascading effects. For instance, spending money on alcohol may leave insufficient funds for essentials such as food and clothing. Financial issues can trigger conflicts, escalating into violence toward women.
Men's alcohol use can also contribute to missed work or unemployment, which can reduce the family income and increase the pressure on women to work extra hours, often in addition to existing caregiving responsibilities. In lower-income countries, some women reported being forced into sex work under these circumstances.
Children at Risk
The impact of men's heavy drinking on children is even less well-researched than its effects on women.
Our research reveals that when men drink heavily, their children are more likely to face neglect, poor mental health, disrupted schooling, and family instability, all of which negatively affect their development.
Men who drink heavily often prioritize alcohol over their children's needs, creating dysfunctional family environments. Their children are also more likely to become targets of violence and witness violence against others.
Due to these sometimes unstable and unsafe family environments, children may feel less emotionally close to fathers who drink heavily. Evidence suggests that fathers who drink heavily are less involved in parenting.
Policy Gaps
Alcohol research and policy, alongside general policies, rarely address the diverse impacts of men's drinking on women and children.
Our study highlights an uncomfortable reality: to prevent violence against women and children, there must be a focus on men's drinking as well as the broader social and economic inequalities that contribute to harm.
There is a need for interventions explicitly targeting social norms around masculinity, including those that encourage and normalize heavy drinking and reward aggression.
Additionally, it is necessary to address other societal factors that can exacerbate these issues, such as men's histories of trauma, mental health concerns, and social disadvantage, while maintaining individual accountability.
Tackling the Alcohol and Gender Violence Link
In Australia, the current National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence pays minimal attention to alcohol.
In 2024, the federal government conducted a rapid review into preventing gender violence, specifically highlighting alcohol's role. It called on states and territories to amend their liquor regulations, such as by restricting alcohol sales, delivery timeframes, and advertising.
Our research supports these recommendations and suggests that more nuanced alcohol strategies are needed that specifically address the harms from men's drinking and take into account when, why, and how men drink.
Strategies to reduce harmful alcohol use should integrate with broader gender-based violence prevention efforts, such as combining interventions for men undergoing treatment for alcohol problems and violence and reducing alcohol consumption at home by managing home delivery.
Men's heavy drinking can be severely harmful to women and children. This means the epidemic of men's violence in the community cannot be effectively addressed without directly tackling alcohol use.
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