Similar Punishment?

Results show that when sentenced under statistically similar circumstances, domestic violence offenders are less likely than those convicted of crimes outside of domestic contexts to be sentenced to prison although the substantive impact is small. Further, of those imprisoned, domestic violence offenders receive significantly shorter sentenced terms. Our findings also suggest that, for domestic violence offences, there may be a 'punishment cost' to being older, male and Indigenous. The role of outmoded stereotypical assumptions around domestic violence in sentencing decision making is discussed.