Objective

To investigate the association between food insecurity and intimate partner violence in a population-based sample of heterosexual women.

Design

Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between three levels of food insecurity and intimate partner violence.

Setting

Data from 6 years of the California Women's Health Survey.

Subjects

Randomly selected women (n 16 562) aged 18 years and older from the State of California, USA.

Results

We found: (i) that African-American women had a higher prevalence of food insecurity and were more likely to report severe intimate partner violence; (ii) a strong positive association between food insecurity and intimate partner violence; (iii) evidence of effect modification of the association between food insecurity and intimate partner violence by marital status; and (iv) higher odds of intimate partner violence among those reporting more severe food insecurity.

Conclusions

Food insecurity is an important risk indicator for intimate partner violence among women. Understanding the factors that put women, especially minority women, at greatest risk facilitates intervention development.