This article briefly reviews literature addressing the relationship between substance use and physical and sexual violence against women, stating that there are considerable complexities involved in the study of substance abuse and violence. Until recently, the majority of research has examined the global association between various measures of substance abuse and violence using cross-sectional survey methodology, which does little to advance an understanding of the substance abuse-violence relationship. The author notes that there is substantial evidence of a relationship between men’s substance use and perpetration of physical violence; that there is some evidence of a relationship between women’s substance use and experiences of sexual aggression; but that there is weak evidence that men’s substance use contributes to sexual aggression, or that women’s substance use contributes to their physical victimization. Additionally, the work notes that understanding the mechanisms underlying the relationship between substance use and violence relationship will be facilitated by narrowing the scope of research questions to identify for whom there is a relationship and under what circumstances. References