Corporate Responses to Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is among society’s most pernicious and impactful social issues, causing substantial harm to health and wellbeing, and impacting women’s employability, work performance, and career opportunity. Organizations play a vital role in addressing IPV, yet, in contrast to other employee- and gender-related social issues, very little is known regarding corporate responses to IPV. IPV responsiveness is a specific demonstration of corporate social responsibility and is central to advancing gender equity in organizations. In this paper, we draw upon unique data on the IPV policies and practices of 191 Australian listed corporations between 2016 and 2019, that collectively employ around 1.5 M employees. Providing the first large-scale empirical analysis of corporate IPV policies and practices, we theorise that listed corporations’ IPV responsiveness reflects institutional and stakeholder pressures which are multifaceted and central to corporate social responsibility. Our findings identify greater IPV responsiveness among larger corporations, as well as those corporations with higher proportions of women middle managers, greater financial resources, and more advanced employee consultation on gender issues. This paper concludes that there is a need for further research on corporate IPV responsiveness, to further illuminate corporate motivations, organizational support processes, and employee experiences.

Shortchanged: Uncovering and Analyzing Intimate Partner Financial Abuse in Consumer Complaints

“…This is in spite of the increasing recognition that financial institutions and similar organizations can serve as powerful social and political influencers due to their close connections with customers [9,19,61,79,89]. Thus, obtaining deeper insights into technology-enabled financial abuse could offer significant ways forward for intervention and technical implementation for financial institutions and designers [19,60,89].…”

“…There remains a paucity of research on how survivors of technology abuse, particularly in financial contexts, may reach out in ways beyond expected customer service channels [113], or direct referrals to specialized technology services [41,56,104]. This is in spite of the increasing recognition that financial institutions and similar organizations can serve as powerful social and political influencers due to their close connections with customers [9,19,61,79,89]. Thus, obtaining deeper insights into technology-enabled financial abuse could offer significant ways forward for intervention and technical implementation for financial institutions and designers [19,60,89].…”

Empowering employers to address domestic violence and its impact on the workplace

“…Despite domestic violence's significant impact on women's health and productivity, corporate responses to this issue have been largely overlooked in business ethics research. Branicki et al (2023) conducted the first large-scale analysis of corporate domestic violence policies and practices, revealing trends and variations in responsiveness across companies: larger corporations, those with more women middle managers, greater resources, and formal consultation on gender issues, showed higher levels of domestic violence responsiveness. Surprisingly, no correlation was found between responsiveness and the overall proportion of women in the workforce or on boards.…”

“…Surprisingly, no correlation was found between responsiveness and the overall proportion of women in the workforce or on boards. Hence, a human-centric, care-based approach offers significant potential for organisations to address domestic violence and promote socially responsible practices (Branicki et al, 2023).…”

The Relationship of Corporate Social Responsibility with Business Performance—A Bibliometric Literature Review

“…In [153], the authors analyzed the impact of creating shared value strategies on corporate performance. In their study, [154] investigated corporate responses to intimate partner violence, whereas [142] examined board structural attributes and sustainability disclosure. The work of [118] focused on the relationship between CSR and forward default risk, while [110] explored the pragmatic characteristics of legitimacy and the CSR activities of firms.…”