ABSTRACT
This bibliography examines 85 scholarly investigations which demonstrate that women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners. Results indicate that women were significantly more likely than their male partners to express physical violence. Women in their twenties were more likely to aggress than were women aged thirty and above. In terms of reasons, women appeared to aggress because they did not believe that their male victims would be injured or would retaliate. Women also claimed that they assaulted their male partners because they wished to engage their attention. A review of the literature examining the issue of men as victims of female assaults includes an original questionnaire to test the assumption that women who lack social support to combat stress are likely to commit domestic violence. Reviewed literature also concluded that women initiate physical assaults on their partners as often as do men.
