Subtypes of Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence Investigated by Child Welfare Authorities in Ontario in 2013

The Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, 2013 (OIS-2013) is the fifth provincial study to examine the incidence of reported child maltreatment and the characteristics of children and families investigated by child welfare authorities in Ontario. This Information Sheet examines the characteristics of children and families and the service decisions across three distinct subtypes of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV): direct witness to physical violence, indirect exposure to physical violence, and exposure to emotional violence. Exposure to intimate partner violence is the most investigated and substantiated form of maltreatment in Ontario. Child welfare service providers witnessed an explosion of reports of exposure to IPV in the early 2000s, likely due to growing awareness of the harmful impact of exposure to IPV on child development. While most research to date has examined exposure to IPV as a unified type of maltreatment, this information sheet examines in more detail subtypes of this form of maltreatment