Table 2.
The manually crafted dictionaries and their respective size (number of terms included) used to identify abuse types and victim injuries.
| Dictionary name | Size | Description | Examples |
| Anatomy | 108 | Anatomical parts of the human body in which a victim has been injured by the POIa | Chest, leg, head, neck |
| Assault | 18 | Verbs that indicate a nonspecific physical attack | Attacked, clipped, smacking, bashing |
| Attempt | 6 | Verbs that suggested a physical effort by the POI to harm the victim | Attempted, aimed, trying, tried |
| Be | 4 | Conjugations of the verb “be” in the present and past tense | Is, was, were, are |
| Confiscate | 8 | Verbs describing a confiscating act by an offender towards a victim | Confiscated, grabbed, snatched, grabbing |
| Damage | 22 | Verbs indicating an act of property damage by the POI | Cracked, burned, shuttering, ripping |
| Degree | 14 | Adjectives describing the victim’s wound | Superficial, extensive, minor, major |
| Description | 59 | Terms (mostly adjectives) describing various attributes of an object such as color or type of made material | Yellow, wooden, serving, frying |
| Family | 31 | Various nouns indicating the relationship between individuals | Boyfriend, mother, father, cousin |
| First person threats | 123 | Threats made by the POI towards a victim | “I will kill you,” “I am going to bury you,” “I will hunt you down and kill you,” “someone is going to kill you” |
| Force | 8 | Verbs describing an offender physically restrain a victim | Forcing, pinned, pinning, kept |
| Location | 15 | House locations that a DVb event occurred at | Toilet, loungeroom, wall, hallway |
| Number | 10 | Numbers in words suggesting the number of criminal counts charged at an offender | One, two, four, six |
| Object | 174 | Various objects that were broken or used in a DV event | Table leg, cup, rear door, window |
| POI | 18 | Terms that describe an offender in a DV event | Defendant, person of interest (offender), offender accused |
| Premises | 6 | Terms describing a residence | Unit, terrace, flat, premises |
| Preposition | 44 | Various prepositions suggesting the presence of a victim’s injury in an anatomical part | Under left, lower, upper, front |
| Start | 7 | Verbs suggesting the initiation or continuation of an action by the offender | Begun, commenced, continuing, started |
| Trauma | 14 | Terms indicating a wound caused by a weapon/object used by the offender towards a victim | Wound, cut, trauma, fracture |
| Victim | 19 | Terms describing a victim in a DV event | Victim, vic, pinop (short for person in need for protection), pn (short for pinop), |
| Weapon | 155 | Objects used to cause harm or threaten to cause harm to a victim by an offender | Army knife, torch, book, shotgun |
aPOI: person of interest.
bDV: domestic violence.