More than 60% of women in New Zealand have experienced some form of interpersonal violence – an alarming statistic with serious implications for public health.

Interpersonal violence broadly refers to violence between people and includes family or partner violence and community violence (violence among individuals who are not related by family ties but who may know each other).

Our new research finds women who have experienced such violence or abuse are 1.6 times more likely to be hospitalised with cancer. They were nearly three times as likely to be hospitalised for respiratory diseases.

Drawing on a population-based survey of 3,000 men and women, we asked participants about their experiences of various forms of violence, both from partners and non-partners (such as parents, acquaintances or strangers).

Among the 62% of women who reported experiencing some form of violence, 21% said they had faced childhood sexual abuse, 9.2% reported sexual violence by non-partners, and 21% had experienced multiple forms of intimate partner violence, including psychological and economic abuse.

Of the

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