tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/family-violence-9076/articlesFamily violence – The Conversation2024-03-20T00:50:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2258952024-03-20T00:50:29Z2024-03-20T00:50:29ZSquatting, kidnapping and collaboration: Australia’s first women’s shelters were acts of radical grassroots feminism<p>50 years ago, there wasn’t a single women’s shelter in Australia. </p>
<p>Then feminists squatted two terraces in Sydney, opening “Elsie”, Australia’s first domestic and family violence refuge. </p>
<p>Commissioned by Elsie co-founder Anne Summers, I’ve recorded oral histories with the women who built and sustained Australia’s refuge movement.</p>
<p>Australia’s refuge movement is a story of courageous grassroots feminist activism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-whitlam-government-gave-us-no-fault-divorce-womens-refuges-and-childcare-australia-needs-another-feminist-revolution-202238">The Whitlam government gave us no-fault divorce, women's refuges and childcare. Australia needs another feminist revolution</a>
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<h2>Choose to act</h2>
<p>In the 1970s in Australia, there was nowhere for women experiencing male violence at home to go. </p>
<p>One night almost exactly 50 years ago, around 40 women’s liberation activists changed that, claiming squatters’ rights over two derelict Glebe terraces. They broke a window, changed the locks and turned on the gas and water, opening “Elsie”, Australia’s first women’s refuge.</p>
<p>As Elsie worker Ludo McFerran explained, Elsie’s mission was a “space for women, run by women”, which the residents would control. Elsie did not offer “charity”, the founders aimed at “change”, and therefore refuges would one day become obsolete.</p>
<p>Cooma, Kamilaroi woman Mary Ronyane, who today manages Wilcannia Safe House, proposed that Elsie was created because, when together women draw from their strength, they can “make a choice”. They chose to act.</p>
<p>McFerran described the refuge work as “highly vulnerable”. At the beginning, the work was entirely voluntary, and refuge work never proved a lucrative career.</p>
<p>The activists sacrificed all their time, energy, health and often their safety. In the “wild west”, as McFerran described it, perpetrators would “regularly turn up, threaten to burn the house down and kill everyone inside.” </p>
<p>There was no legal protection for residents or workers, so when perpetrators failed to return children after visits, workers would “go and try find them” and where possible “grab the kids back and make a run for it.”</p>
<p>Desperately trying to cover the operating costs, some of the workers started dealing marijuana to pay for necessities. Sydney’s artists and intellectuals started seeking out “Elsie Pot”. </p>
<p>With an intention to secure funding, the activists started encouraging various government ministers to come and see the conditions Elsie’s residents were enduring. Founder Christina Gibbeson told me how she kidnapped Doug Everingham, the minister for health at the time. She forced her way into a car carrying Everingham and instructed his driver to take them to Elsie. She mused:</p>
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<p>“I would’ve gone to jail for it today, I suppose.”</p>
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<h2>Ceding power and privilege</h2>
<p>Australia’s early refuges operated collectively. Everyone was obliged to scrub bathrooms and care for resident children. Decisions took time and often went to a vote. Former resident and worker, Bundjalung woman Christine Robinson, believes “at Elsie, we all had a say and a voice.” </p>
<p>The founders recognised residents’ insights and skills that came with their life experience. In 1980, six years after Marrickville refuge opened, the refuge’s residents informed staff that it was time for them to leave and let them take the reins, and they did.</p>
<p>The activists wanted liberation for all women, not just those who looked like them. Women’s Halfway House worker Di Otto noted that they viewed the refuge “as a site in which they could make contact with women outside of [their] circles […] and work towards a collective and inclusive liberation.”</p>
<p>Vivien Johnson shared:</p>
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<p>[…] [us] middle class white women were consistently confronted by our class prejudices [and] with the racism we held towards the women with whom we claimed to be equal with.</p>
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<p>Christine Robinson believes Australia’s refuge movement “valued diversity.”
She explained that Elsie’s staff all learned how to sit with, and learn from, fellow feminists calling out their racism.</p>
<p>Robinson explained at Elsie, she and fellow Aboriginal leaders had a platform to culturally educate their non-First Nations colleagues, whom she described as a “captive audience”, “trying” to get it right. </p>
<h2>Space for activism</h2>
<p>Elsie’s founders sought to cultivate an environment in which residents could build confidence and reclaim control over their lives. In 1975, Bobbie Townsend, a working-class woman, arrived at Elsie with two children.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small, brown terrace house with two pillars and a screen door" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582446/original/file-20240318-22-m91mul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The original Elsie Refuge, before it relocated, as taken in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(1)Elsie-2.jpg">Sardaka/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Townsend believes the late night discussions at Elsie’s dinner table “saved her”, and shared:</p>
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<p>[…] for 26 years nobody had asked me what I thought about anything […] The first time someone asked me in a collective meeting what I thought, I didn’t know what to say […] Elsie was about taking control.</p>
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<p>Robinson, like Townsend, also a resident turned staff member, reflected that “Elsie gave women power to make decisions for themselves.”</p>
<h2>Today, there is nothing quite like Elsie</h2>
<p>The founders all described an atmosphere of hope. Under Whitlam, things were possible. </p>
<p>McFerran explained that today, tendering practices have forced out community-run refuges. Run by Christian, centralised institutions, few refuges observe the grassroots collectivist principles that animated the movement’s early years. </p>
<p>While Elsie still opens its doors to victim-survivors today, it is run by St Vincent de Paul.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225895/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma McNicol does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>50 years ago, the first shelter for women experiencing domestic violence was established in Sydney. It’s opening was far from a ribbon-cutting affair, but it’s legacy is long and powerful.Emma McNicol, Research Fellow at Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2166302023-12-03T23:10:52Z2023-12-03T23:10:52ZFor domestic violence victim-survivors, a data or privacy breach can be extraordinarily dangerous<p>A suite of recent cybersecurity data breaches highlight an urgent need to overhaul how companies and government agencies handle our data. But these incidents pose particular risks to victim-survivors of domestic violence.</p>
<p>In fact, authorities across Australia and the United Kingdom are raising concerns about how privacy breaches have endangered these customers.</p>
<p>The onus is on service providers – such as utilities, telcos, internet companies and government agencies – to ensure they don’t risk the safety of their most vulnerable customers by being careless with their data. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-500-million-ato-fraud-highlights-flaws-in-the-mygov-id-system-heres-how-to-keep-your-data-safe-210459">The $500 million ATO fraud highlights flaws in the myGov ID system. Here's how to keep your data safe</a>
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<h2>A suite of incidents</h2>
<p>Earlier this year, the UK Information Commissioner reported it had <a href="https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2023/09/data-breaches-put-domestic-abuse-victims-lives-at-risk-uk-information-commissioner-warns/">reprimanded</a> seven organisations since June 2022 for privacy breaches affecting victims of domestic abuse.</p>
<p>These included organisations revealing the safe addresses of the victims to their alleged abuser. In one case, a family had to be moved immediately to emergency accommodation. </p>
<p>In another case, an organisation disclosed the home address of two children to their birth father (who was in prison for raping their mother).</p>
<p>The UK Information Commissioner has called for better training and processes. This includes regular verification of contact information and securing data against unauthorised access. </p>
<p>In 2021, the Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner <a href="https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/AICmr/2021/12.html">took action against Services Australia</a> for disclosing a victim-survivor’s new address to her former partner. </p>
<p>The commissioner ordered a written apology and a A$19,980 compensation payment. It also ordered an independent audit of how Services Australia updates contact details for separating couples with shared records.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-the-OAIC/our-corporate-information/oaic-annual-reports/annual-report-201819/part-2-performance">earlier case</a> involved a telecommunications company and the publisher of a public directory. </p>
<p>The commissioner ordered them each to pay $20,000 to a victim of domestic violence whose details were made public, which jeopardised her safety. </p>
<p>More recently, the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria reported a <a href="https://www.ewov.com.au/reports/annual-report-2023">case</a> where an electricity provider inadvertently provided a woman’s new address to her ex-partner. The woman had to buy security cameras for protection. The company has since revised its procedures.</p>
<p>The Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria has also <a href="https://www.ewov.com.au/reports/annual-report-2023">reviewed complaints</a> received in 2022-23 related to domestic violence. These include failing to flag accounts of victims who disclosed abuse, as well as potentially unsafe consumer automation and data governance processes.</p>
<p>The Victorian Essential Services Commission <a href="https://www.esc.vic.gov.au/water/sector-performance-and-reporting/compliance-and-enforcement-water-sector/south-east-water-corporation-enforceable-undertaking-2023">accepted a court-enforceable undertaking</a> from a water company that it would improve processes after allegations its actions put customers affected by family violence at risk.</p>
<p>The commission found the company failed to adequately protect the personal information of two separate customers in 2021 and 2022, by sending correspondence with their personal information to the wrong addresses. </p>
<p>In both cases, the customer had not disclosed their experience of domestic violence. Nevertheless, the regulator noted these “erroneous information disclosures put these customers at risk of harm”.</p>
<p>Australia’s Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman received about <a href="https://www.tio.com.au/news/better-consumer-protection-rules-are-needed-telco-consumers-suffering-family-violence">300 complaints</a> involving domestic violence in 2022-23, with almost two-thirds relating to mobile phones.</p>
<p>Complaints included instances of telcos disclosing the addresses of victim-survivors to perpetrators or of frontline staff not believing victim-survivors. There were also cases of telcos insisting a consumer experiencing family violence contact the perpetrator of family violence. The report noted:</p>
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<p>For example, one person was asked by her telco to bring her abusive ex-partner into a store to change her number to her new account. </p>
<p>We’ve also had complaints about telcos disconnecting the services of a consumer experiencing family violence – sometimes at the request of the account holder who is the perpetrator of the violence – despite access to those services being critical to the consumer staying safe.</p>
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<p>The Australian Financial Complaints Authority <a href="https://www.afca.org.au/news/information-for-consumer-advocates/supporting-people-impacted-by-domestic-violence">resolved more than 500 complaints</a> from people experiencing domestic and family violence in 2021-22, including those related to privacy breaches.</p>
<h2>Change is slowly under way</h2>
<p>In May, <a href="https://www.aemc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/RRC0042%20-%20Protecting%20customers%20affected%20by%20family%20violence%20-%20Final%20Determination_clean.pdf">new national rules</a> came into force to provide better protection and support to energy customers experiencing domestic violence.</p>
<p>These rules mandate retailers prioritise customer safety and protect their personal information. This includes account security measures to prevent perpetrators from accessing victim-survivors’ sensitive data. </p>
<p>They also prohibit the disclosure of information without consent. In issuing its rules, the Australian Energy Markets Commission noted the heightened risk of partner homicides following separations. </p>
<p>The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has called for <a href="https://www.tio.com.au/news/better-consumer-protection-rules-are-needed-telco-consumers-suffering-family-violence">mandatory, uniform and enforceable rules</a>. The current voluntary industry code and guidelines fall short in protecting phone and internet customers experiencing domestic violence. </p>
<p>New rules should include training, policies and recognition of violence as a cause of payment difficulties. They should also factor in how service suspension or disconnection affects victim-survivors.</p>
<p>The Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner <a href="https://www.oaic.gov.au/newsroom/communications-law-bulletin-interview-with-commissioner-falk">said</a> last year:</p>
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<p>Sadly, we continue to receive cases of improper disclosure of personal information off line by businesses to ex partners who target women in family disputes and domestic violence. All of these issues reinforce the need for privacy by design.</p>
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<p>In its response to a <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-09/government-response-privacy-act-review-report.PDF">review of the Privacy Act</a>, the government has agreed the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner should help develop guidance to reduce risk to customers. </p>
<p>We must work harder to ensure data and privacy breaches do not leave victim-survivors of domestic violence at greater risk from perpetrators.</p>
<p><em>The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Fitzpatrick is the author of Designed to Disrupt for the Centre for Women's Economic Safety, which aims to improve financial safety in financial and essential services through reimagined product design. She is a former bank executive with roles managing customer complaints, domestic violence support and government relations. She has previously been engaged as a speaker for the Essential Services Commission and as a consultant to a Victoria water company.</span></em></p>Authorities across Australia and the UK are sounding the alarm about how data breaches have endangered domestic violence victim-survivors.Catherine Fitzpatrick, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2170812023-11-22T23:16:27Z2023-11-22T23:16:27ZWhy do some people who experience childhood trauma seem unaffected by it?<p>Childhood trauma is taken into consideration in criminal sentencing, and is accepted as a factor that can contribute to substance abuse, mental illness and homelessness. </p>
<p>But many people experience traumatic childhood events and are completely fine. </p>
<p>That’s because not everyone who experiences trauma becomes traumatised.</p>
<p>So what are the differences between people who are profoundly affected by their trauma and people who appear largely unaffected by it?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-eye-movement-desensitisation-and-reprocessing-and-can-emdr-help-children-recover-from-trauma-214360">What is eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing? And can EMDR help children recover from trauma?</a>
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<h2>What is childhood trauma?</h2>
<p>People can be traumatised by all sorts of life events, but researchers usually constrain the definition of trauma to events that are observable. </p>
<p>These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>physical, emotional or sexual abuse</p></li>
<li><p>neglect</p></li>
<li><p>parental abandonment</p></li>
<li><p>witnessing family violence</p></li>
<li><p>living with people experiencing substance use or mental illness</p></li>
<li><p>the death of an immediate family member</p></li>
<li><p>parental divorce</p></li>
<li><p>incarceration. </p></li>
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<p>These are commonly referred to as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html">adverse childhood experiences</a>. </p>
<p>Where relevant, experiences of war, forced migration or living as a refugee should be included too. </p>
<p>While researchers rightly spend a lot of time examining the needs of those whose lives are seemingly defined by their trauma, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4780285/">we know surprisingly little</a> about those who fare better. </p>
<p>What we do know is that the traumatic event itself does not seem to be predictive of how impacted someone will be. </p>
<p>In other words, traumatic events do not cause trauma. </p>
<p>This sounds paradoxical, but think of it akin to alcohol misuse: most people who drink alcohol will never have a problem with alcohol. Alcohol itself does not cause alcoholism. </p>
<p>Traumatic events are fairly simple to define, but how people respond to them is highly individual. Being traumatised is the <a href="https://professionals.childhood.org.au/prosody/2019/03/what-is-trauma/">ongoing effects</a> after the experience of the traumatic event.</p>
<p>To be traumatised is to have your own sense of safety and security damaged. This can then manifest in negative impacts on your life, such as increased anxiety, sleep disturbances, substance use, depression and so forth. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-parents-turn-children-into-weapons-everybody-loses-173628">When parents turn children into weapons, everybody loses</a>
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<h2>So why are some people traumatised when others are not?</h2>
<p>Why some people are traumatised and others are not is determined by a multitude of factors. Some of these are highly individual. </p>
<p>But there is also some predictability as to who is likely to be traumatised, and this gives us some clues as to those who are likely to be doing better. </p>
<p>First, the response to the trauma matters. Was the child given emotional and physical safety and security after the traumatic event or was there an ambivalent or hostile response? </p>
<p>Being sexually abused, for instance, is <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-33675-6_5">compounded</a> when you do not have a caregiver to tell, who believes you, and who acts on this information to make you safe. </p>
<p>Second, was this the only traumatic event the child has experienced, or was it one of many? Research shows multiple traumas do not make you more resilient, but rather are more likely to be associated with being traumatised and having <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29253477/">lifelong health impacts</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman on a couch hugs a small child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560096/original/file-20231117-27-tyngkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A traumatic event can change the course of a child’s life, but there are ways we can protect them against trauma’s ongoing effects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/loving-caring-mother-hugging-teen-daughter-2243194097">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Parental separation doesn’t necessarily lead to a traumatised child. However, divorcing parents who remain on acrimonious terms, and whose care towards the child is compromised, are compounding traumas and may well place a child <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19216888/#:%7E:text=Conclusion%3A%20Our%20findings%20indicate%20that,and%20everyday%20stressful%20life%20experiences">at greater risk</a> of ongoing impacts. </p>
<p>Third, and perhaps most important, is whether the child has a constant adult in their life who demonstrates unconditional positive regard. This is usually a parent, but it doesn’t need to be. </p>
<p>The presence of one constant, stable, loving adult in a child’s life is shown to be <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286082290_The_impact_of_youth-adult_relationships_on_resilience">hugely protective</a> in recovering from adverse childhood events.</p>
<h2>Caring adults are key</h2>
<p>Although we can generalise some things, we cannot rule out that a person will still become traumatised even with the right interventions and support in place.</p>
<p>There are of course some who have supportive families but experience deep ongoing trauma. It is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4780285/">not clear why</a>. </p>
<p>It is possible to <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma/stress">recover</a> from trauma. But the more serious the trauma, particularly interpersonal trauma at home such as violence or neglect, the more deeply somebody’s sense of safety has been compromised, and thus the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25644072/">harder the damage is to repair</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trauma-is-trending-but-we-need-to-look-beyond-buzzwords-and-face-its-ugly-side-201564">Trauma is trending – but we need to look beyond buzzwords and face its ugly side</a>
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<p>For a child who never had a consistent caregiver to hug them each day, the effects might be impossible to ameliorate. That’s why they should be prevented. </p>
<p>But in the absence of being able to prevent all traumatic events, how can someone who has experienced trauma be best placed to live a happy, healthy life? </p>
<p>Essentially, through care. A caring adult, unconditional love and support, and a sense of belonging in their community (such as their school community) are shown in studies on both trauma and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286082290_The_impact_of_youth-adult_relationships_on_resilience">resilience</a> to be the most consistent protective factors.</p>
<p>A traumatic event can change the course of a child’s life, but there are ways we can protect them against trauma’s ongoing effects.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Daley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Childhood trauma can completely alter the trajectory of someone’s life, but for others, it barely affects them at all. After going through trauma, why do some people seem fine?Kathryn Daley, Senior Lecturer, Social Equity Research Centre - RMIT University, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168272023-11-10T02:06:24Z2023-11-10T02:06:24ZAbout 1 in 6 older Australians experiences elder abuse. Here are the reasons they don’t get help<p>Each year, many older Australians experience abuse, neglect or financial exploitation, usually at the hands of their adult children or other close relatives. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-reports/national-elder-abuse-prevalence-study-final-report">national prevalence study</a> revealed one in six older Australians living at home experiences elder abuse. This may encompass various forms of abuse, such as emotional, financial, social, physical and sexual abuse, or neglect.</p>
<p>Despite elder abuse being such a common problem, older people often don’t get the help they need. With the right responses, we can make it easier for those working with older people, and the wider community, to support them. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2023-11/everyones_business_research_into_responses_to_the_abuse_of_older_in_wa_report.pdf">new research</a> reveals the key reasons older people experiencing harm do not receive the support they so desperately need. </p>
<p>Our study included a survey of nearly 700 service providers throughout Western Australia. Respondents worked in diverse fields including healthcare, law, aged care, financial services and law enforcement. We found four key obstacles to people getting help with elder abuse. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-elder-abuse-and-why-do-we-need-a-national-inquiry-into-it-55374">Explainer: what is elder abuse and why do we need a national inquiry into it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><strong>1. Older people are too scared to report abuse.</strong></p>
<p>Older people are often afraid to report abuse because they fear repercussions both for themselves and for the perpetrator, usually an adult child or other close relative. </p>
<p>These concerns can mean an older person endures abuse for a long time. They may only seek help when the situation escalates to an extreme level or when someone else notices the ongoing mistreatment.</p>
<p>Equally important, they may fear other negative outcomes of reporting abuse. They may fear having to leave their home and enter residential care. They may fear increased isolation and loneliness, or that the abuse will get worse. </p>
<p>All these fears combined create a formidable barrier to older people promptly reporting abuse and getting the help they need.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1720567529200918550"}"></div></p>
<p><strong>2. Older people don’t know where to turn for help</strong> </p>
<p>Elder abuse cases are often complex, involving long family histories and complicated relationships. Older people trying to improve their situation may need support from multiple service providers. The challenge of accessing the right services and acting on their advice can be daunting. </p>
<p>Addressing complicated matters may require intensive support and advocacy for an extended time. In the words of one experienced advocate, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>People don’t need to know the next ten steps. They need to know one step, maybe two, and then see where they are at.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Helping older people feel empowered to seek help requires simple, accessible channels of assistance, promoted through multiple formats and outreach efforts.</p>
<p><strong>3. Government-funded responses to family violence are more focused on intimate partner violence and child protection, leaving elder abuse out of the picture</strong> </p>
<p>Most programs targeting family violence prioritise intimate partner violence and child protection, inadvertently sidelining elder abuse. Services such as shelters and perpetrator programs are not always compatible with the distinct characteristics of elder abuse. </p>
<p>Additionally, the gendered nature of family violence responses fails to address the diverse demographics of elder abuse, which includes older men. As a result, older people, regardless of gender, may struggle to access supports suited to their needs. </p>
<p>A refuge manager explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When a bed becomes available we have this awful job of deciding who’s more high-risk and who gets the bed. If an older person needs the bed, as opposed to a single mum with a newborn, unfortunately we would go with the mum. That really presents a barrier where there isn’t refuge accommodation specifically for older people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is a pressing need for a shift in focus to better recognise elder abuse as a significant issue and tailor responses to meet the specific needs of older people. This includes creating safe and accessible refuge options and providing specialised support services to address the multifaceted nature of elder abuse.</p>
<p><strong>4. There’s low public awareness about what elder abuse looks like or how to respond</strong></p>
<p>Awareness of elder abuse remains surprisingly low, hindering effective responses. Changing this requires clear public information campaigns and community-wide conversations about abuse. This includes greater awareness of the challenge for well-meaning adult children who might limit the choices of their older relatives, thinking they know best. This can result in unintended social isolation or even neglect.</p>
<p>A society that speaks openly about elder abuse, without stigma, is better equipped to support victims and intervene. By building public knowledge and promoting a culture where such issues can be freely discussed, we lay the groundwork for reducing its incidence.</p>
<p>We are living longer lives than ever before, meaning we can expect to spend more years in older age than previous generations. This is good news, but also means we need to do more work to support people to age well. Positive steps we can all take include tackling ageism when we see it and normalising conversations about abuse so older people can feel confident to seek help when it’s needed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catriona Stevens has received funding as an initiative of the WA Strategy to Respond to the Abuse of Older People (Elder Abuse) 2019-2029.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Loretta Baldassar has received funding as an initiative of the WA Strategy to Respond to the Abuse of Older People (Elder Abuse) 2019-2029.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eileen O'Brien does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Elder abuse is common and can be devastating. New research has uncovered four key reasons older people do not seek the help they need with the abuse.Eileen O'Brien, Professor of Law, Discipline of Law, Justice and Society, University of South AustraliaCatriona Stevens, Forrest Prospect Fellow in Sociology and Anthropology, Edith Cowan UniversityLoretta Baldassar, Vice Chancellor Professorial Research Fellow, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2125372023-10-23T01:08:42Z2023-10-23T01:08:42ZKids escaping family violence can be vulnerable to intimate partner abuse. We must break the vicious cycle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553939/original/file-20231016-27-fl2v6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C19%2C4255%2C2824&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-covering-her-face-fear-domestic-563105572">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Warning: this article includes graphic descriptions of violence.</em></p>
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<p>Nearly <a href="https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/journal_contribution/Ending_unaccompanied_child_homelessness_in_Australia/23306117">13,000 Australian children aged 10 to 17</a> sought help alone from specialist homeless services last year. Many of these young people will have <a href="https://www.mcm.org.au/-/media/mcm/content-repository-files/amplify_turning-up-the-volume-on-young-people-and-family-violence.pdf">escaped family violence</a> and then been <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/young-in-love-and-in-danger/">endangered by abusive partners</a>. </p>
<p>Our respective research tackles this emotionally tough terrain head on, speaking with <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/young-in-love-and-in-danger/">teens experiencing intimate partner violence</a> and children under 18 who experience <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/unaccompanied-homeless-children-in-tasmania/">homelessness</a> and are not accompanied by a parent or guardian.</p>
<p>Children and young people have told us about having nowhere safe to live, feeling invisible to government and being harmed. Their stories show Australia’s adolescent service system is frighteningly out of step with their needs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-child-protection-system-is-clearly-broken-is-it-time-to-abolish-it-for-a-better-model-200716">Our child protection system is clearly broken. Is it time to abolish it for a better model?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>The reality of vulnerable teens’ lives</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.acms.au/">Australian Child Maltreatment Study</a> reported it findings this year from surveying 8,500 Australians aged 16 and over. It <a href="https://theconversation.com/major-study-reveals-two-thirds-of-people-who-suffer-childhood-maltreatment-suffer-more-than-one-kind-202033">found</a> 28.5% had experienced sexual abuse, 30.9% emotional abuse, 32.0% physical abuse and 39.6% exposure to domestic violence.</p>
<p>For unaccompanied homeless children and young people <a href="https://blogs.qut.edu.au/crime-and-justice-research-centre/files/2022/08/Briefing-Paper-FINAL-online-version.pdf">exposure to domestic violence</a> is even greater. <a href="https://www.csi.edu.au/research/the-cost-of-youth-homelessness-in-australia/">Australian research</a> shows 90% of homeless children and young people witness family violence at home, more than half leave home to escape parental or guardian domestic violence. Some 15% leave home more than 10 times due to violence. </p>
<p>Escaping family violence is a frequent precursor to unaccompanied child homelessness. </p>
<p>As part of research into unaccompanied child homelessness and mental ill-health in Tasmania, Viviana, aged 17, told <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/better-bigger-stronger/">a common story</a>. She escaped family violence only to experience violent and abusive relationships and cycles of homelessness:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mum kicked me out of home over a pair of school shoes […] she was being very violent, very aggressive […] her partner […] he ended up being quite aggressive and violent […] So I moved in with [my boyfriend’s] family and then things happened with me and that bloke a year later […] And so that’s when I ended up being homeless for a bit.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Homeless children and young people who do not have a reliable parent or guardian are highly vulnerable. The severity of violence in subsequent relationships they may come to rely on is extreme. Elise was 13 when she met David, who was three years older. During their nine-year relationship, her life was endangered repeatedly:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He rammed me into the wall, grabbed me by the throat, choked me […] I remember he picked up the couch and smashed it up through the wall […] Smashed up the whole place, carried on, told me, ‘You want to fucking leave because I’m going to come back, I’m going to fucking shoot you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lilly was 14 when she met Jase, who was three years older. Being homeless and sleeping rough meant she couldn’t escape his violence and abuse: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I can’t even remember how many black eyes I had from him […] I’ve got a scar there […] where he’s cut my arm open with a knife, trying to kill me. And there was nothing I could do. I was homeless, so I couldn’t get away from him, because he just knew where I’d be.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Children and young people who <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/unaccompanied-homeless-children-in-tasmania/">experience homelessness</a> and repeated <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/young-in-love-and-in-danger">cyles of violence</a> talk about persistent <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/422436">suicidality</a>, mental illness, abortion, miscarriage and substance use as common features of their lives. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="young person stands in underpass with graffiti on wall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553941/original/file-20231016-20-my1l6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people fleeing family violence can get trapped in a cycle of abuse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/loneliness-262222313">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/major-study-reveals-two-thirds-of-people-who-suffer-childhood-maltreatment-suffer-more-than-one-kind-202033">Major study reveals two-thirds of people who suffer childhood maltreatment suffer more than one kind</a>
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<h2>Mismatched responses</h2>
<p>A lack of supported accommodation options for teens <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30075-X/fulltext">places girls in particular</a> in highly vulnerable positions. Unable to access safe spaces, <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/young-in-love-and-in-danger/">they become trapped</a> in violent and abusive relationships. </p>
<p>They are being failed by systems that do not adequately recognise and engage with child and youth specific domestic violence and homelessness. Children and young people describe accessing support services that dangerously misread the risks they encounter. </p>
<p>Katie described systemic failure she faced at age 15. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I tried to get Centrelink [benefits] and they refused me and I told them my situation. I said, 'Well, like, I have no family, I have no money. I’m at risk of homelessness’ and all they gave me was a Kids’ Helpline number […] The system failed me, actually, and the only thing that they could do for me to get money is get Tom [her abusive partner] to claim Family Tax Benefits. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Viviana – who had escaped sexual abuse at home – described how she felt her ongoing risks were missed in counselling and therapy targeted to children in both school and state child and adolescent mental health services. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They weren’t actually giving us like, I guess, adult solutions for the adult problems we did actually have, even though we shouldn’t have had them, we were only kids. And we sat down watching Lego videos on how to deal with depression and stuff like that. And I was like, this ain’t going to do shit for me.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Meeting them where they are</h2>
<p>The mismatch between the reality of children’s lives and the availability of systems and services to support them is stark. Children’s efforts to remove themselves from harm may be characterised by overstretched systems as <a href="https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/research/too-hard/">proof of their “independence”</a>. </p>
<p>What they need are standalone responses that address the extremities of their need. Yet neither national <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/housing-support-programs-services-housing/developing-the-national-housing-and-homelessness-plan">homelessness</a> or <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/ending-violence">domestic violence</a> policies are yet to acknowledge the relationship of domestic violence and homelessness in the lives of children and young people. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-we-see-you-why-a-national-plan-for-homelessness-must-make-thousands-of-children-on-their-own-a-priority-200918">Yes, we see you. Why a national plan for homelessness must make thousands of children on their own a priority</a>
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<p>State and federal governments can begin to fix the cracks in the system by ensuring all agencies are held accountable for upholding the rights of children outlined by the <a href="https://www.unicef.org.au/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child">United Nations convention</a> – especially of those without family they can rely on.</p>
<p>There are positive advances underway in <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-cabinet-keep-delivering-victorians">Victoria</a> and <a href="https://www.premier.tas.gov.au/site_resources_2015/additional_releases/department_structures_to_strengthen_tasmanian_outcomes">Tasmania</a> to break the silo of child protection and re-build child and adolescent service systems with prevention and early intervention at their core. </p>
<p>A collaborative, integrated response that recognises the complexity and reality of children and young people’s lives including their independent housing, health, and safety needs is critical. This will only happen when we grow up and acknowledge children have adult problems too.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>For information and advice about family and intimate partner violence contact <a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732). If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, contact 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carmel Hobbs is affiliated with the Youth Network of Tasmania (YNOT) as Secretary of the Board.
This article includes reference to research funded by Anglicare Tasmania and conducted by Carmel in her role as a social researcher for Anglicare Tasmania's Social Action and Research Centre. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Robinson receives funding from Australian Research Council and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. Catherine is a non-executive board director of Homelessness Australia and the Youth Network of Tasmania. This article includes reference to research funded by Anglicare Tasmania and conducted by Catherine in her role as a social researcher for Anglicare Tasmania's Social Action and Research Centre.</span></em></p>Some children and young people escape family violence, only to find themselves alone, homeless and in violent relationships. How can we support and protect these vulnerable adolescents?Carmel Hobbs, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of TasmaniaCatherine Robinson, Associate Professor in Housing and Communities, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145812023-10-03T19:05:28Z2023-10-03T19:05:28Z‘Emotionally, he’s destroyed me’: why intimate partner sexual violence needs to be taken as seriously as stranger rape<p>Last month, That 70s Show actor <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-08/that-70s-show-actor-danny-masterson-jailed/102830186">Danny Masterson was found guilty</a> of raping two women in the early 2000s. However, the jury <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/danny-mastersons-victims-portray-predator-powerful-impact-statements-rcna104077">could not reach a verdict</a> on a third allegation of rape involving Masterson’s former girlfriend. The case, along with countless others, points to the challenges in understanding and responding to allegations of intimate partner sexual violence. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0886260519900298">Intimate partner sexual violence</a> refers to sexual harm and/or abuse perpetrated by a current or former partner. It can include <a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-sexual-assault-and-sexual-harassment-whats-the-difference-93411">rape and sexual assault</a>, as well as a broader range of sexually harmful behaviours. </p>
<p>For example, victim survivors in our <a href="https://rmit.figshare.com/articles/report/Family_Violence_and_Sexual_Harm/24208758/1">recent study</a> included the following in their definitions of intimate partner sexual violence:</p>
<ul>
<li>unwanted sexual acts</li>
<li>sexual harassment</li>
<li>image-based abuse (such as taking nude or intimate images without consent)</li>
<li>control of victim survivor’s sexual health and reproductive decision-making.</li>
</ul>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-sexual-assault-and-sexual-harassment-whats-the-difference-93411">Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment: what’s the difference?</a>
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<p>It was evident in <a href="https://rmit.figshare.com/articles/report/Family_Violence_and_Sexual_Harm/24208758/1">our research</a> that consent became complicated and blurred in conjunction with broader patterns of <a href="https://dfvbenchbook.aija.org.au/terminology/coercive-control/">coercive control</a>. Victim survivors often described reluctantly agreeing to sexual behaviours in order to placate an otherwise violent partner, or as a mechanism for preventing other forms of abuse from occurring or escalating.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-victims/latest-release">Australian statistics</a> estimate that more than a third of sexual assaults occur within the context of family and domestic violence. </p>
<p>Yet, these rates are likely to be an underestimation, as intimate partner sexual violence can be difficult to recognise and disclose. This may, in part, be due to the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Intersections-of-Family-Violence-and-Sexual-Offending/Hamilton-Tidmarsh/p/book/9780367508852">enduring rape myth</a> that “real rape” only occurs between strangers in a dark alleyway. </p>
<p>Some victim survivors in <a href="https://rmit.figshare.com/articles/report/Family_Violence_and_Sexual_Harm/24208758/1">our study</a> described not knowing how to put their experience into words. They felt they needed a safe and trusted space, and a rapport built with a specialist worker before they could feel comfortable talking about sexual harm. </p>
<p>For others, it was not until months or years later, when they were out of an abusive relationship, that they realised the extent of sexual harm and its ongoing impact on their life and future relationships. </p>
<p>Our study, along with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1049732320967659">previous research</a>, has found a range of harms caused by intimate partner sexual violence. </p>
<p>These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>physical injuries</li>
<li>mental health impacts (for example, depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD], suicidal ideation)</li>
<li>physical reactions to trauma (such as eating and sleeping disorders, obsessive compulsiveness)</li>
<li>relationship difficulties (for example, the loss of social support and reluctance to enter new intimate and sexual relationships). </li>
</ul>
<p>As one victim survivor in our study explained, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am four years out now and I’m still not healed from it. I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD […] emotionally, he’s destroyed me.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Responding to intimate partner sexual violence</h2>
<p>Research indicates limitations in current service responses to intimate partner sexual violence. <a href="https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/research-and-evaluation/publications/attrition-of-sexual-offence-incidents-through-the-victorian">For example</a>, sexual assaults involving strangers are much more likely to proceed through the criminal justice system compared to sexual assaults perpetrated by acquaintances and intimate partners. </p>
<p>When it comes to support systems, <a href="https://rmit.figshare.com/articles/report/Family_Violence_and_Sexual_Harm/24208758/1">our report</a> highlights several areas in need of improvement. Firstly, Victorian victim survivors and stakeholders explained that family violence systems are often designed to focus on the immediate and short-term needs of victim survivors, such as housing. While this is extremely important, it often means that long-term needs, such as therapeutic support for sexual harm, are not met.</p>
<p>Second, many people who work in the sector described current gaps in their knowledge and confidence in responding to intimate partner sexual violence, highlighting a need for further training. Specialist sexual assault counsellors were frequently perceived as the gold standard for responding to sexual harm, yet it was repeatedly made clear they were often stretched to capacity. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-90-of-sexual-assault-victims-do-not-go-to-police-this-is-how-we-can-achieve-justice-for-survivors-157601">Almost 90% of sexual assault victims do not go to police — this is how we can achieve justice for survivors</a>
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<p>Most participants agreed that further training for other frontline workers (such as health workers, family violence workers, police, justice, and legal workers) could help bridge the gap until victim survivors received specialised support. Therefore, cross-sector training was considered important, while upholding the importance of specialised sexual assault work.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/psychosocial/principles/Pages/trauma-informed.aspx">Trauma-informed practice</a> was consistently recommended. This included believing victim survivors, allowing time to listen to their story in full, and not judging or labelling their experiences. </p>
<p>Stakeholders also recommended broaching the topic of sexual harm gently and conversationally, with carefully chosen language. This would mean, for example, replacing terms such as rape, sexual assault and coercive control with simpler, softer language that actually explains the nature of harm more clearly. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://rmit.figshare.com/articles/report/Family_Violence_and_Sexual_Harm/24208758/1">our report</a> indicates that resources are urgently needed to reduce waitlists and increase the capacity for specialist sexual violence counselling services for victim survivors of intimate partner sexual violence. </p>
<p>As one of our victim survivor participants said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It took me time to open up […] So that I could completely heal from within. It’s their [the counsellor’s] support, that has helped me to change the trajectory of my life.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In immediate danger, call 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214581/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Gemma Hamilton receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Family Safety Victoria. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anastasia Powell receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Criminology Research Council, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS), and Family Safety Victoria. Anastasia is also a director of Our Watch (Australia's national organisation for the prevention of violence against women), and a member of the National Women's Safety Alliance (NWSA).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgina Heydon receives funding from federal and state governments for research into sexual violence responses. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Ridgway does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Too often, sexual violence from an intimate partner is not taken seriously. New research shows the impact this can have on victim survivors, and how it can be redressed.Gemma Hamilton, Senior Lecturer, RMIT UniversityAlexandra Ridgway, Postdoctoral Fellow, RMIT UniversityAnastasia Powell, Professor, Family & Sexual Violence, RMIT UniversityGeorgina Heydon, Professor in Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116062023-08-16T06:30:41Z2023-08-16T06:30:41ZThe government has released its action plans to end violence against women and children. Will they be enough?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542945/original/file-20230816-25-93f0bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian government has today released the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/first-action-plan-2023-2027">First Action Plan 2023-2027</a> and the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-action-plan-2023-2025">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan</a> under the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032">National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032</a>. These long-awaited plans detail what the Commonwealth, state and territory governments have agreed to do to progress their ambitious target to eliminate domestic, family and sexual violence. </p>
<p>In the first 32 weeks of 2023 alone, 44 women have been killed allegedly by violence. These action plans come at a critical time when advocates, academics and practitioners <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2023/07/27/1386002/violence-against-women-more-deaths-little-action">have been calling for</a> more funding and clearer actions to counter domestic, family and sexual violence. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">A new national plan aims to end violence against women and children 'in one generation'. Can it succeed?</a>
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<h2>What are the action plans?</h2>
<p>The action plans set out the national and state-based commitments across prevention, early intervention, response, recovery and healing. </p>
<p>The purpose of the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/first-action-plan-2023-2027">first action plan</a> is to </p>
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<p>understand what actions governments are taking to end gender-based violence, what outcomes the actions and activities aim to achieve, and the targets we are working towards.</p>
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<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1691661583242674211"}"></div></p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-action-plan-2023-2025">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan</a> is the first dedicated plan to address violence against women and children in First Nations communities. </p>
<p>It was developed with the <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/closing-gap/implementation-measures/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-advisory-council-family-domestic-and-sexual-violence-advisory-council">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council</a> and in consultation with First Nations communities. It provides a road map for addressing the disproportionately high rates of violence First Nations women and children experience.</p>
<h2>What commitments have been made?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/first-action-plan-2023-2027">first action plan</a> commits to implementing <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/08_2023/np-activities.pdf">ten actions</a>. </p>
<p>It includes education and training across justice, specialist and mainstream workforces, as well as advancing gender equality. </p>
<p>Specific actions outlined in the first action plan include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>funding to support increased education and training on family, domestic and sexual violence for community mainstream workers, health professionals and the justice sector</p></li>
<li><p>establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Men’s Advisory Body to provide advice and leadership on issues such as family violence, gender equality, programs and services for men</p></li>
<li><p>improving access to short-term, medium-term and long-term housing for women and children experiencing violence</p></li>
<li><p>improving actions to prevent and address sexual violence and harassment in all settings</p></li>
<li><p>improving police responses and the justice system to better support victim-survivors by providing trauma-informed, culturally safe supports that promote safety and wellbeing. This also includes holding people who choose to use violence to account.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>One of the notable features of the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032">national plan</a> is its focus on recovery and healing. The first action plan commits to enhancing trauma-informed supports and exploring new models of recovery for victim-survivors. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032">national plan</a> also includes an acknowledgement of children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/first-action-plan-2023-2027">first action plan</a> commits to developing and implementing age-appropriate, culturally safe programs across all four domains of prevention, early intervention, response, recovery and healing. These will be informed by children and young people. </p>
<p>While the detail of how this will be achieved is unclear, the commitment is critical. <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-end-gender-based-violence-in-one-generation-we-must-fix-how-the-system-responds-to-children-and-young-people-192839">As we have noted previously</a>, ending gender-based violence in one generation requires a focus on delivering improved outcomes with transformational results for the next generation. </p>
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<h2>How will success be measured?</h2>
<p>One of <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/podcast/the-empty-plan-end-violence-against-women">the key criticisms</a> of the former <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/women/programs-services/reducing-violence/the-national-plan-to-reduce-violence-against-women-and-their-children-2010-2022">national plan</a> was that it didn’t include any measures to track progress over its ten-year life span. </p>
<p>Notably, the evaluation of the former plan was never released publicly. This is a significant failing in public accountability for efforts to reduce violence against women and children.</p>
<p>A key finding from <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/National_Plan_Stakeholder_Consultation_Final_Report/20304420">the consultations</a> was the emphasis <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/National_Plan_Stakeholder_Consultation_Final_Report/20304420">from stakeholders</a> and <a href="https://www.monash.edu/arts/gender-and-family-violence/research-and-projects/national-plan-victim-survivor-advocates-consultation-project">victim-survivors</a> that targets be included in this national plan. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.monash.edu/arts/gender-and-family-violence/research-and-projects/national-plan-victim-survivor-advocates-consultation-project">first action plan</a> is accompanied by an <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/outcomes-framework-2023-2032">outcomes framework</a> that includes targets to reduce violence. It also promises a future measurement plan, to be released in early 2024. </p>
<p>Careful attention and urgency in developing this measurement plan are critical. The six national targets outlined in the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/first-action-plan-2023-2027">first action plan</a> focus on: </p>
<ul>
<li>reducing the prevalence of intimate partner homicide </li>
<li>improving community knowledge of what constitutes domestic, family and sexual violence</li>
<li>improving community attitudes. </li>
</ul>
<p>Notably, this <a href="https://www.monash.edu/arts/gender-and-family-violence/research-and-projects/national-plan-victim-survivor-advocates-consultation-project">action plan</a> specifies a commitment to a 25% annual reduction in female victims of intimate partner homicide. No justification is included for aiming for this specific level of reduction. </p>
<p>The action plan also recognises that attitudinal change is key to eliminating violence. It includes several targets related to shifting community attitudes. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/first-action-plan-2023-2027">first action plan</a> commits to annual reporting of progress. This includes tracking the implementation of the actions contained in the two action plans. This will be a much-needed check, and ensures accountability and transparency over the life of both action plans. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-end-gender-based-violence-in-one-generation-we-must-fix-how-the-system-responds-to-children-and-young-people-192839">To end gender-based violence in one generation, we must fix how the system responds to children and young people</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>What is needed now to ensure effective change and a reduction of violence?</h2>
<p>These actions plans represent a much-needed next step in realising the objectives of the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032">national plan</a>. Achieving the set targets will require a significant increase in urgency and funding. </p>
<p>This government has made an unprecedented funding commitment of $2.3 billion over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 budgets to address women’s safety and support delivery of these action plans. </p>
<p>While this sounds impressive, it is not commensurate with the scale of the crisis of domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia. Increased funding to accelerate delivery of these action plans is urgently needed. </p>
<p>It is also critical that the reforms and work in this space are not siloed: housing, economic security and childcare are critical aspects of securing women’s safety. This is a whole-of-government project, and must be led in this way.</p>
<p>The way forward must be driven by a commitment to safety and recognising that we need to move urgently on the actions in the plans. They cannot simply be a political tool: they are the result of extensive consultation across Australia involving experts, advocates and victim-survivors. </p>
<p>This work must accelerate now. Each action may not necessarily work. Monitoring is needed to understand what works and for whom. </p>
<p>Agility is also required to ensure efforts can be tailored to maximise the potential for ending domestic, family and sexual violence in one generation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate has received funding for family violence related research from the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Victorian Government and the Department of Social Services. In 2021 Kate led the National Plan Stakeholder and Victim-Survivor Advocates Consultation Projects. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her capacity as Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and is wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as Chair of Respect Victoria.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie Segrave receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silke Meyer has received funding for domestic and family violence related research from the Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Queensland Government and the Department of Social Services. In 2021 Silke co-led led the National Plan Stakeholder Consultation Project.</span></em></p>While the actions outlined in the plans are admirable, achieving the set targets will require a significant increase in urgency and funding.Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Director, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash UniversityMarie Segrave, Associate Professor, Criminology, Monash UniversitySilke Meyer, Professor of Social Work; Leneen Forde Chair in Child & Family Research, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085752023-07-04T02:11:08Z2023-07-04T02:11:08ZBanks put family violence perpetrators on notice. Stop using accounts to commit abuse or risk being ‘debanked’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535239/original/file-20230703-194046-95aav6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=389%2C117%2C5540%2C3666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Perpetrators of family violence will often use money to hurt and control their victims.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/financial-abuse?image_type=photo">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ella never knew when her credit card was going to be declined.</p>
<p>It happened when she was shopping for groceries with her kids, or refuelling the car. That’s when she would discover her partner had cancelled the card or lowered the limit so she couldn’t buy essentials. Again. </p>
<p>Ella* (not her real name) is one of <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/latest-release#cohabiting-partner-violence-emotional-abuse-and-economic-abuse">about 1.6 million Australian women and 745,000 men</a> who have experienced economic or financial abuse. </p>
<p>Perpetrators of such abuse use money to control their victims, with devastating impact including stopping or limiting access to money, creating insurmountable debt and damaging a credit history.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-unemployment-and-less-income-how-domestic-violence-costs-women-financially-204688">Higher unemployment and less income: how domestic violence costs women financially</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/caas/newsroom/docs/Cost%20of%20financial%20abuse%20in%20Australia.pdf">direct costs</a> to victim-survivors of financial abuse have been estimated at A$5.7 billion a year, with impact on the economy estimated at A$5.2 billion a year.</p>
<h2>The highly disruptive tactics used by abusers</h2>
<p>Perpetrators use a range of <a href="https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/commbank-assets/support/2020-11/unsw-report-1-financial-abuse-ipv.pdf">tactics</a>, some of which are inadvertently enabled by bank products and services. For example:</p>
<p>• credit cards are opened in the name of victim-survivors without their knowledge, potentially damaging credit scores </p>
<p>• all cash is withdrawn from joint accounts or redraw facilities without the consent of the other account holder</p>
<p>• legally binding property settlement orders to refinance home loans are ignored, forcing one party to seek help with repayments while trying to disentangle from their ex-partner</p>
<p>• payment descriptions are used to send threatening, abusive messages.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C144%2C5691%2C3719&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman looks at the ATM in despair as she realises her bank account is empty." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C144%2C5691%2C3719&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535233/original/file-20230703-252566-aa70gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Money may be emptied from joint accounts or access may be blocked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/financial-abuse?image_type=photo">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Banks typically respond to these issues case-by-case, tailoring solutions for each customer. However, it may be possible to eliminate or reduce the need for these interventions with improved product design to prevent and disrupt abusers.</p>
<h2>Taking action against perpetrators</h2>
<p>My first <a href="https://cwes.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CWES_DesigntoDisrupt_1_Banking.pdf">Designed to Disrupt</a> discussion paper for the <a href="https://cwes.org.au/">Centre for Women’s Economic Safety</a> proposes a new “financial safety by design” framework that tailors the <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/industry/safety-by-design">eSafety Commissioner’s work with the technology sector</a> and provides greater protection for victim-survivors.</p>
<p>It outlines steps banks can take to prevent their products being used as a weapon in domestic and family violence.</p>
<p>Recommended measures include setting up every joint account with separate passwords, logins, and portals for each person so it’s simpler and safer to separate if the relationship ends or is abusive.</p>
<p>Two of Australia’s big four banks, the National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank have already agreed to adopt the primary recommendation – to include financial abuse in product terms and conditions as a reason for suspension or closure of accounts.</p>
<p>It’s likely other banks will follow suit, with <a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/media/media-releases/2022/22-november/">Westpac</a> signalling last November it would consider ensuring its terms and conditions reflect its no tolerance approach to financial abuse.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-who-suffer-domestic-violence-fare-much-worse-financially-after-separating-from-their-partner-new-data-190047">Women who suffer domestic violence fare much worse financially after separating from their partner: new data</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://media-cdn.ourwatch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/18101814/Change-the-story-Our-Watch-AA.pdf">Evidence</a> shows that challenging the acceptance of violence against women is essential to respond to specific gendered drivers of violence.</p>
<p>In banking, this means spelling out the bank’s rules and its expectations of customer behaviour in its terms and conditions. These rules are the foundation of the contractual relationship with the customer and are relied on where there is a dispute.</p>
<h2>Banks taking the lead</h2>
<p><a href="https://news.nab.com.au/news/nab-takes-on-financial-abuse/">National Australia Bank</a> and Commonwealth Bank will change their terms and conditions to make it clear that financial abuse is unacceptable – just like financial crime or threatening call centre staff.</p>
<p>They will be the first Australian banks to signal to millions of bank customers they have a choice: abuse other customers and potentially lose access to their bank account, or behave with respect.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman sitting on floor with bills scattered around her" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535237/original/file-20230703-267810-azdorj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Persistent abusers may be denied banking services.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/financial-abuse?image_type=photo">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This will make it harder for people to misuse financial products as a means of coercive control. </p>
<p>Implementation will be complex and the banks will need to proceed with caution. Financial abuse is hard to detect and there may be risks to the abused partner if perpetrators blame them for the bank’s action.</p>
<h2>Consequences for abusers who fail to stop</h2>
<p>An abuser may continue their behaviour at another bank. In this instance, there is the option of “de-banking” the customer which is not only a major inconvenience but also denies them access to an essential service.</p>
<p>That’s why it’s important the whole industry moves on this. It is instructive to examine the collective approach the banks have already taken to disrupt technology-facilitated abuse through payment descriptions.</p>
<p>Notably, my research found two banks reported more than 90% of customers discontinued abuse following a warning letter. </p>
<p>Implementation of the new terms and conditions should be guided by the experience of victim-survivors. It could also be informed by the Council of Financial Regulators’ <a href="https://www.cfr.gov.au/publications/policy-statements-and-other-reports/2022/potential-policy-responses-to-de-banking-in-australia/pdf/potential-policy-responses-to-de-banking-in-australia.pdf">de-banking policy recommendations</a> on transparency and fairness measures.</p>
<p>These measures include providing documented reasons to the customer with 30 days’ notice before closing services and giving them access to internal dispute resolution.</p>
<h2>Getting the public on board</h2>
<p>There also needs to be a public conversation about what this means. Airlines make it clear jokes about terrorism are not okay, and patrons are ejected from sporting events for violence.</p>
<p>If every bank in Australia makes it clear there is a minimum expectation of respectful behaviour to be a customer, it would be a game changer. </p>
<p>The widespread adoption of financial abuse terms and conditions and broad public communication will send a strong message to everyone with a bank account that financial abuse is unacceptable and has consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Fitzpatrick consults to Westpac and owns shares in Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. She received funding from the Centre for Women's Economic Safety to write the Designed to Disrupt report and continues to be affiliated. She is a former bank executive and established and led specialist customer vulnerability teams at CBA and Westpac. </span></em></p>Two of Australia’s major banks have announced they will take action against financial abusers, including closing their accounts.Catherine Fitzpatrick, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2060842023-06-14T20:10:13Z2023-06-14T20:10:13ZFirst Nations women don’t always access health care after head injuries from family violence. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531828/original/file-20230614-21-zf11ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C12%2C3989%2C2106&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-woman-sitting-on-bed-beside-1439614217">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Please be advised this article contains details of family violence.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2008/188/10/hospitalisation-head-injury-due-assault-among-indigenous-and-non-indigenous">69 times</a> more likely than non-Indigenous women to be hospitalised with head injuries due to assaults. </p>
<p>But some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14461242.2023.2173018">don’t access</a> health care and support services after head injuries from family violence. Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0312407X.2023.2210115?src=">research</a>, published this week, explored some of the reasons why – and how these barriers can be overcome. </p>
<p>We found fear of child removal, poverty, coercive control and low awareness of traumatic brain injury related to <a href="https://www.indigenousmhspc.gov.au/publications/dfv">family violence</a> can all impact on when and how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women <a href="https://www.anrows.org.au/project/improving-family-violence-legal-and-support-services-for-indigenous-women/">access health care and support services</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-women-are-69-times-more-likely-to-have-a-head-injury-after-being-assaulted-we-show-how-hard-it-is-to-get-help-194249">First Nations women are 69 times more likely to have a head injury after being assaulted. We show how hard it is to get help</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is traumatic brain injury?</h2>
<p>Traumatic brain injury is <a href="https://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(10)00650-7/pdf">caused by</a> a blow, jolt or bump to the head. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2019.1591562">Non-fatal strangulation</a> can also lead to brain injury as the brain is deprived of oxygen. </p>
<p>Traumatic brain injuries vary from mild to severe, and can cause a range of behavioural, emotional, physical and psychological symptoms, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12924684/">including</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>poor memory</li>
<li>dizziness</li>
<li>headaches</li>
<li>lack of concentration</li>
<li>slowness to process information or make decisions</li>
<li>emotional dysregulation, such as inability to control anger</li>
<li>anxiety and depression</li>
<li>lack of insight, where the person with the injury does not realise the effect of their injury.</li>
</ul>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541936693799833600"}"></div></p>
<p>The <a href="https://synapse.org.au/understanding-brain-injury/effects-of-brain-injury/">experience of brain injury</a> is unique to each person.</p>
<p>The degree of recovery is largely determined by the nature and extent of the injury as well as the level of engagement in rehabilitation. For <a href="https://www.braininjuryaustralia.org.au/download-bias-report-on-australias-first-research-into-family-violence-and-brain-injury/">moderate to severe</a> traumatic brain injury, recovery is most rapid in the first six months after the injury. </p>
<p>Even mild traumatic brain injury can have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8773525/">long-term impacts</a> on wellbeing, parenting capacity, relationships and day-to-day living. </p>
<p>Recovery can be maximised by providing education about the short- and long-term management of symptoms as well as the involvement of family in the rehabilitation and recovery phase. </p>
<h2>Listening to First Nations women</h2>
<p>To find out why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women don’t always <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14461242.2023.2173018">access services</a>, we completed interviews and focus discussion groups with 28 women and 90 service provider professionals in Queensland and the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>Our study focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, as their voices are often <a href="https://theconversation.com/she-was-the-most-important-person-to-us-r-rubuntjas-story-shows-society-is-still-failing-first-nations-women-180857">silenced</a> when it comes to women’s safety.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/she-was-the-most-important-person-to-us-r-rubuntjas-story-shows-society-is-still-failing-first-nations-women-180857">'She was the most important person to us' – R. Rubuntja's story shows society is still failing First Nations women</a>
</strong>
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</p>
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<h2>Fear of child removal</h2>
<p>In results similar to those from family violence studies, women told us they avoided health care or minimised the amount of information they shared with health professionals to reduce the risk of contact with child protection authorities. One woman told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We won’t report when there is domestic violence. If there is any words that come from the woman that [her] children were there, children are considered at risk and so they are taken. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some women told us their children had been removed following reporting and seeking support following family violence.</p>
<h2>Risks of further violence</h2>
<p>Sometimes women were prevented from accessing health care by manipulation and coercive control. This included partners preventing them accessing a working phone or transport. </p>
<p>One service provider said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A lot of users of violence I guess employ such a level of control and coercion that sometimes women are prevented from seeking medical treatment, or attempts to seek medical treatment, or disclose violence, including assaults to the head. It might actually make the situation worse. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Women prioritise competing demands</h2>
<p>Community-based service providers recognised the strength and resilience of women in continuing their roles caring for children and other family members after experiencing family violence.</p>
<p>Service providers told us their clients were often also managing financial and housing worries. One service provider told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When a woman arrives here, the most important thing is rest, food, and finding that space to just sit with what’s happened, and then medical attention. I don’t always hear women prioritising medical attention in the first instance. I think that rest definitely, and even hunger, on a real, basic survival level. </p>
</blockquote>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-traumatic-brain-injury-75546">Explainer: what is traumatic brain injury?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Awareness of brain injury</h2>
<p>Community members and leaders we spoke to had low levels of awareness, knowledge and recognition of the long-term damage violence can have on the brain. One community member said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We didn’t know about this brain injury. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I didn’t go to the hospital. I had a bit of [a] headache, didn’t think it was serious enough to [go] and get checked, it [headache] went away. It happened many times. One time I black out, wasn’t aware of the lasting harm that can cause.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>So what are the solutions?</h2>
<p>There are a range of opportunities to address several of these barriers. </p>
<p>First, service providers (including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.200">within child protection systems</a>) need to ensure women receive compassionate care, referrals and links to support services for traumatic brain injury in a meaningful, timely and appropriate way.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.familymatters.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/20221123-Family-Matters-Report-2022-1.pdf">strong calls</a> to have community-controlled organisations deliver child protection services – with many potential benefits to families and communities. </p>
<p>We also need to resource communities to design, implement and evaluate traumatic brain injury prevention and early intervention solutions. </p>
<p>Community-wide and school-based education were among some of the recommendations from community members to help people recognise the signs of traumatic brain injury and the importance of seeking help.</p>
<p>Other strategies to improve access to services include placing supports such as social workers outside of acute, hospital settings – for example, in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26408066.2023.2202665?src=">GP clinics</a> and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. </p>
<p>Finally, front-line staff and university students need high-quality training and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6645196/">education about traumatic brain injury and family violence</a>, how it presents in parental behaviour, case management and referral pathways. </p>
<p>Any practical solutions must be implemented through local partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to ensure the measures are community-led, culturally safe and provide an overall benefit, without doing further harm.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-harrowing-stories-of-murdered-indigenous-women-and-the-failure-of-police-to-act-205655">New research reveals harrowing stories of murdered Indigenous women and the failure of police to act</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, contact <a href="https://1800respect.org.au/">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732) or <a href="https://www.13yarn.org.au/">13YARN</a> (13 92 76). In an emergency, call 000.</em></p>
<p><em>Jody Barney is a co-author on the journal paper on which this article is based. The authors thank the project team, advisory group and participants who shared their time and knowledge.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Fitts receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Cullen receives funding from the Department of Social Services and the NDIS. She is the CEO of Synapse Australia.</span></em></p>Some First Nations women who sustain head injuries from family violence don’t access health care and support. We studied why and found one reason is a fear their children will be taken away.Michelle Fitts, ARC DECRA Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityJennifer Cullen, Adjunct Associate Professor, College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2031542023-06-01T20:00:20Z2023-06-01T20:00:20ZFriday essay: Private Leo, my imaginary father<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526165/original/file-20230515-19-8v1xwo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Leo Brophy, on right, pictured in Darwin during the war. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>My mother fell in love with my father, Leo, at a Melbourne suburban dance hall in 1946. He was 26, handsome, athletic, smart, a newly minted war veteran, and his grin was infectious. They were a dazzling couple, as their later wedding photos show. Many decades on my mother liked to tell of Leo’s mother warning her that he was going to prove a handful — and was she prepared for this? Possibly my mother told the story to let us know that her love for Leo could never be doubted. Or equally she might have been letting us know that she had no idea what a handful he would actually turn out to be.</p>
<p>In 2017, when Leo died at the age of 97, one of my brothers gave me a folder of papers. They were the documents of our father’s military service. I put them away with clippings, incomplete family trees, photos and birth and marriage certificates that constitute a patchy record of our unwritten family history.</p>
<p>Three years later, at the height of Melbourne’s extended lockdowns against a rising death toll from COVID-19, with time on my hands at home, I began going through the book shelves, throwing out what would never be read or consulted again, and culling papers accumulated through 40 years of writing and teaching. I found forgotten letters from past lovers and exchanges arising from past close friendships in whole series of letters, reminders that once I’d been a young man with hopes and ideals, but no idea what the future held for that young man. There were letters and notes from my father too, one of them dismissing me as a “receiver”. His disappointments in me were many. His letter explained at length what a receiver is on the football field and how team mates feel about such a cowardly player among them.</p>
<p>When I came across his war documents this time it was with a fresh curiosity about the young man who had been the subject of eight years of military clerks’ scribbled notes. I wondered how I might fit this record of him as a young recruit to the violent father I’d known. As his first son and second child I had swum in a world made of him, never wondering whether I really knew him but always feeling I knew him too well. Perhaps, I thought now, in these military records I might glimpse the youth he once was.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-on-reckoning-with-the-fact-of-ones-death-143822">Friday essay: on reckoning with the fact of one's death</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>****<br></p>
<p>I can remember a line of white rime along the edge of his mouth as he beat me one night, seemingly unable to stop, my mother from the hallway saying over and over, “That’s enough, Leo.” What strikes me now is that I so neatly filed away this image of his lips during the terror of a beating.</p>
<p>Sometimes there were lucky escapes when he did hold himself back. We had a square wooden table painted blue that fitted in to a kitchen alcove. It was possible to scramble under this table as a small child and press myself against the far wall out of his reach, knowing he would refuse the indignity of getting down on his knees to crawl in after me.</p>
<p>Going through the papers of his war record I began to wonder if he was someone else as a young man — someone I would not have feared and might have even enjoyed knowing.</p>
<p>****<br></p>
<p>In his late teenage years, wiry Leo was a talented suburban cricketer, about average height, with a thin, straight nose and that handsome grin. His intense green eyes were too deeply set to ever give him an expression of openness, though in certain moods he would have been handsome and irresistible.</p>
<p>A week before turning 19, in the inner northern Melbourne suburb of Carlton, he enlisted in the Australian armed forces, signing an oath to “well and truly serve Australia’s Sovereign Lord the King” for the next three years. This was seven months before Australia joined with Britain in war. Too young for the army, Leo had enlisted in the mostly part-time Citizens Militia Force, a body meant to supply the army with trained recruits; and once war was declared in September 1939, 40,000 were immediately deployed from the militia into full service. Was Leo declaring himself keen to be part of that war once it got under way?</p>
<p>I don’t understand this enthusiasm to be absorbed into the military so early. Perhaps it was a way of putting distance between himself and his childhood family. Or something he did with his mates in a moment of shared restless ratbaggery. It might have been a sign of determination to show his older brothers he had become a man. Among them, Jim and Bernie did not enlist until 1942.</p>
<p>Leo was one of six brothers, and as it turned out he would be the only one among them not to achieve a professional education. Suddenly enlisting at 18 might have been the beginning of a series of impulsive decisions that so complicated his life it became impossible for him to stop improvising as he went, decade after decade, through the rest of the 20th century.</p>
<p>Not once did I hear from him a word of praise for England or the English. With an identity built upon Irish Catholic hatred directed at Great Britain, he could not have joined the military in the hope of being sent to Europe to defend the English.</p>
<p>But even so in November 1941 he signed a new form in Carlton to enlist as a regular soldier. One part he left blank, possibly as self-protection: What is your religious denomination? Control of what he considered personal information was always vital to him.</p>
<p>Less than a year later he signed a further attestation, this time from an office at Adelaide River, a hundred kilometres South of Darwin. He noted on this form that he had been serving as a Corporal at an Australian Army Bulk Issue Petrol and Oil Depot in the Northern Territory. He committed to serving the King “until the cessation of the present time of war and twelve months thereafter”. His Medical Examination Report is a quick handwritten note: “A1”. He left education and religion details blank. He was moved to Darwin.</p>
<p>He had been serving in the Northern Territory since the first week of April in 1942, and by then the Japanese air force had made ten raids on Darwin and across the Territory, including a bombing of Katherine, 300 kilometres inland. </p>
<p>Beginning in June 1942, the bombing raids over Darwin included low-level strafing by Japanese Zeroes. The long-range Zero fighter planes, stripped of armour and radios, were so lightweight, fast and deadly that pilots of the less nimble Australian planes each carried a pocket-map marking food caches buried along the northern coast in case they were shot down — as many were.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526134/original/file-20230515-20-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oil tanks burning in Darwin in 1942.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Much later my father recounted that the troops in Darwin became so familiar with the routines and flight paths of the Japanese bombing fleets that they knew what times were good for being out on patrol or out partying, and when to head for the bunkers near the beach.</p>
<p>There were <a href="https://avonmorebooks.com.au/?page=3&id=89">at least 77 raids </a>over the Northern Territory alone between 1942 and 1944. Nearly 200 Japanese airmen died as their planes were brought down, with many wrecks and bodies still not found today. By my count, my father was present for more than 30 raids during his 11 months in and around Darwin.</p>
<p>In his eighties he became somewhat deaf, and blamed this on the effects of being so close to exploding Japanese bombs. There were stories of him leaving a card game just before a bomb landed, and of raiding the liquor cabinets in abandoned suburban Darwin houses, wheeling out a piano to dance and sing in the empty streets between raids. When he was in his nineties, and I was spending time in Halls Creek, he said that if he had got there during his service in the north it would have been in the back of a military police truck under arrest since Halls Creek was the site of the army’s prison.</p>
<p>My impression is of a restless man moving step by step, oath by oath, deeper into the army, further from home, and closer to harm. He was never the kind of patriot to be proud of dying for his military leaders or his nation but perhaps he was the kind of young man who could not resist an adventure, a chance to prove himself, or a shot at being among the bravest. He could have remained safely a clerk at the Adelaide River Depot, but it seems he was determined to be in Darwin under those bombs.</p>
<p>**** <br></p>
<p>Leo had a younger brother after whom I was named; he was disabled by polio. I have seen a newspaper photo of the older brothers wheeling him on a portable bed to a VFL football game. His illness might have been rare bad luck, but not so rare then that the family felt singled out by a malevolent fate. He died aged 17 in 1940. There is one small, glossy snapshot of him peeking over the top of his wicker pram, head propped by a fluffed pillow, a confident smile across his thin face, his gaze direct. In this photo he looks as if he would take an interest in whoever stopped to talk. He looks well loved.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526411/original/file-20230516-19-q4r442.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Uncle Kevin Brophy in his pram. He died aged 17 in 1940.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My father’s parents, Alice and Tom, were stalwart members of their community and their Catholic parish. Alice had been a school teacher. Tom was a local station master in the northern inner Melbourne suburb of Coburg after serving in country towns. He kept a milking cow on Crown land beside his railway station. In a surviving family photo he stands in railway uniform ramrod straight, unsmiling and clear-eyed in front of his extended family. My father never spoke about him except to tell the story of his death.</p>
<p>Tom died at the age of 66, in 1947, fallen from his bicycle in Princes Park on his way home from the Carlton football ground. That afternoon the Carlton team had made a grand comeback in muddy conditions from being five goals adrift of Richmond well into the third quarter. Carlton would go on to win the VFL premiership that year, with their centre-half-back Bert Deacon securing the Brownlow Medal.</p>
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<p>When Tom had failed to return, my newly-married father and one of his brothers went out looking through Brunswick and around Princes Park. Eventually they went to the Carlton police station where they were told that there was an unidentified body at the city morgue. The brothers late that night identified the body of their father. He had died of a heart attack.</p>
<p>I wonder about Leo as a 27-year-old identifying the anonymous body of his father only a few years after brothers on both sides of him had died, and himself a recent war survivor.</p>
<p>It was the death of the third son, Bernie, early in the battles of Finschhafen on the remote Huon Peninsula in the north of New Guinea that, I think, most deeply shook my father. Bernie died in October 1943 at the age of 26, one of 73 Australians to die in the first of those battles. The record shows my father was given a week’s leave without pay shortly after Bernie’s death, then a second request for another week of leave was rejected. A few months later he changed his “next of kin” notice on his military details from his mother to his father’s name. The telegram notice of Bernie’s death had been delivered directly to his mother, and I guess Leo understood that she could not have withstood another such telegram.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1258&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1258&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526410/original/file-20230516-17-nv7ksc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1258&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bernie Brophy’s grave at the war cemetery in PNG.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In his last years my father asked to be taken to Papua New Guinea to visit Bernie’s grave at the Lae War Cemetery. No one in the family had been there, and as the last living brother his mind went to this unfinished business. But he weakened too much and too quickly for us to consider the journey.</p>
<p>His other older brother Jim flew bomber planes across Germany from Britain. Afterwards Jim kept his medals out of sight. Refusal to celebrate the war might have been a necessary family gesture of respect for the death of Bernie.</p>
<p>My father’s military mementos lived in the spidery stillness of a dim shed at the back of our childhood yard in Coburg. I remember a jacket with corporal stripes, a sheathed Japanese bayonet that I spent many hours polishing and marvelling over. And a gas mask of rubber and canvas that turned my brothers and me into monsters as we took turns trying it on.</p>
<p>****<br></p>
<p>On the eleventh of January 1943, Leo’s papers show he was demoted from Corporal to Private at his own request. He had joined the First Australian Parachute Battalion. Without direct combat experience, and by concealing a defect that would have excluded him, he had managed to be selected for the most elite fighting and flying unit ever formed in Australia. His defect was colour blindness. </p>
<p>His story was that he listened to a man in front answer the questions put on colour vision, memorised them on the spot, and repeated them back to the testing officer. Did he do this for a bet or just for the hell of it? Or was he caught up in some kind of trouble — and this voluntary demotion with a switch to the new paratroop battalion looked to be a way out? And if perception of colour might have meant the difference between life and death on the battlefield for himself and his comrades, why did he risk such disaster? His paths through the army and the war look to me to be erratic, impulsive, risky.</p>
<p>As a member of the First Parachute Battalion, newly Private Leo was being trained to make incursions into enemy territories. As well as airborne drills, the men were expected to learn guerrilla warfare tactics while carrying on their backs equipment weighing up to 30 kilograms. He qualified as a parachutist in December 1943, which meant he had completed at least seven successful jumps over ten months, a time cleaved by the death of his brother Bernie. Refusals to jump were not uncommon among trainees. Most often a refusal to jump occurred on a trainee’s third flight.</p>
<p>The explanation for this was that a first jump could be exhilarating, the second a return to reality, then at the third a man might come to understand the real dangers. These troops jumped without auxiliary parachutes on the reasoning that the auxiliary pack was too cumbersome, and in any case they were jumping at such low heights that if a parachute failed there would be no time to release an auxiliary.</p>
<p>Within the first year of the formation of the Parachute Battalion, five men had died in training mishaps and more had suffered broken limbs, concussion and other injuries. The parachutists soon won rights to extra pay in recognition of risk and danger. These superbly fit and now well-paid young men became infamous for excursions to whatever breweries, hotels and brothels were near their remote bush training grounds.</p>
<p>To be a paratrooper was to know that you might at any time be ordered to jump out into an enemy sky, an easy floating target for snipers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526153/original/file-20230515-25-cayjop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At any time you might be ordered to jump out into an enemy sky.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With one son dead in New Guinea, another training for high-casualty missions, and a third flying bomber planes over Europe, this family must have seemed set to pay much too high a price for any coming Allied victory.</p>
<p>In March, 1944 the Parachute Battalion underwent intensive jungle warfare manoeuvres, participated in dawn attack rehearsals over Wollongong, and were moved from the Blue Mountains to Mareeba in North Queensland not far inland from Cairns in preparation for a possible mission into New Guinea with American support.</p>
<p>It was during this month of feverish preparations for real engagement in the war that my father suffered injuries to his ankles in a jump. He was one of five injured in training jumps during that month. Leo was hospitalised at Concord on the Parramatta River where he was treated then discharged to the Lady Gowrie Convalescent Home. From April until July he was moved between hospital and convalescent home repeatedly. It seemed he was being invalided out of the army.</p>
<p>Somehow, though, and following his own brand of determination, he found his way back to the Parachute Battalion’s training ground in Queensland where he took charge of managing the officers’ mess. <a href="https://regimental-books.com.au/product/eagles-alighting-a-history-of-1-australian-parachute-battalion/">J. B. Dunn notes in his history of the paratroopers</a> that at this time Leo had earned the reputation of being “the most tight-lipped man in the Battalion”. </p>
<p>He had made his way back north, I imagine, because he had found for himself a place and a reputation among these paratroopers. Privy to information, accepted by this species of men, and probably at least on the fringes of whatever scams went on, Leo could be trusted to keep the truth close. This fits the man I knew. He loved to talk, and he could have his audience in his hands at the dinner table once he turned his talents to mocking our neighbours and friends. But when it came to business or money or murkier matters of sexuality he was either utterly tight-lipped or so meanderingly impenetrable in anything he said that I could not trust or follow his talk.</p>
<p>Operating from a zone of bluff somewhere between bully and charmer, salesman and commander, he never let up. I expect in business he wore people down. He was always looking to show us he was a man with the inside information, the man with a way through where others floundered. When he wanted one of my younger brothers to be privately tutored in mathematics he found a man a few doors away who was so smart “he could teach a cow to count”. </p>
<p>My brother was sent to him for lessons and I was encouraged to go there too to play chess with this apparently brilliant man. I don’t know why I agreed to go. A deep introvert as teenage years approached, I spent my days when I could with comics and books. Perhaps I went out of curiosity or most likely it was just easier to do what my father told me to do. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526139/original/file-20230515-23-ka4wer.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">I was encouraged to go there to play chess.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This amazing man my father had found lived in a small newly-built house with a young and beautiful wife. When we played chess his beautiful wife would serve us tea and cake, and he would say as she left the room that when he married her he thought he could teach her something, but that she had turned out to be plain dumb. She couldn’t learn anything and he couldn’t teach her anything. Had he made this confession to my father? Shocked that he would let his new, young wife witness him speak these insults, I was distressed. But I returned to the house many times. </p>
<p>I think I kept going back even when my brother’s lessons had ceased. I was half in love with his wife, and I hated him. He was large and pushy, his heavy eyes glistening with self-satisfaction. He liked above all to be able to impress a small boy with his big talk. After a while I thought I understood that in fact my father considered him a fool, and that I must be just as much a fool in my father’s eyes if I sought this man’s company.</p>
<p>**** <br></p>
<p>Perhaps it was some overly-rigid discipline adopted from his military years or an earlier implacable standard he identified with, for when leaving to go to school in the mornings it had to be with hair brushed, ties tied, caps and hats straight, and shoes polished. “You might be able to learn Latin but you can’t even learn to polish your shoes,” he would say to me. And in a bloody-minded way I became happy enough to construct a rough version of myself around that accusation. Perhaps the humiliation of it remains as a shadow, a provocation, and a point of pride for me. He held us close but he held us in contempt.</p>
<p>Does his silence about his father (and in fact his whole childhood), and that seeming eagerness to be gone into the army as a teenager, speak of damage done well before he became a soldier in a war? This would be another story, and much of it would have to be fiction.</p>
<p>The one value my father held to as a near-absolute was tribal loyalty. How could it be that we were Catholics (with the moral absolutes that came with that), but no matter how un-Christian or how “sinful” one of us might be, my father’s loyalty to family would come above all? And yet it was inside the family where he let his temper and venom loose. None of it made sense.</p>
<p>His obsession with sexual morality was equally intense. Politicians and public figures were judged on their fidelity in marriage. The increasing public disgrace of the Catholic Church for prolonged and incomprehensible abuse of children in their care confronted him. In the last year of his life my father did try to tell me something about his experience of abuse, perhaps impulsively as a plea for understanding, or more likely to prove some point important and urgent for him at the time. He talked of a family friend who used to visit their home and get drunk and stay the night. He said the man climbed into his childhood bed with him, so he understood what men could do to children. That was all. Perhaps he was showing me the world could teach him little he didn’t already know. He went on to some other topic, some other complaint. He had made his point — about vulnerability, knowledge, men’s evil, and even perhaps about the failure of parents to protect their children in his story that was so brief it was not even a story.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-is-headed-for-another-sex-abuse-scandal-as-nunstoo-speak-up-111539">The Catholic Church is headed for another sex abuse scandal as #NunsToo speak up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>****<br></p>
<p>While working on this essay I have been reading, among a half-dozen other books, Jess Hill’s report on research into domestic abuse, <a href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/see-what-you-made-me-do">See What You Made Me Do</a>. I realise that my childhood home was sometimes a prison and sometimes a haven. Each day as I returned from school and each morning as I woke in that place I couldn’t be sure which it would turn out to be.</p>
<p>****<br></p>
<p>My father believed he understood men — a conviction that could bring you forcefully in under his orbit. As long as he could see you as a type, he had you, even if it took him a few wrong guesses to get you right. Then you were pocketed.</p>
<p>His best years were his time in business managing teams of hot-asphalt spreaders. The workers were mostly Italians who loved him and were devoted to him. In my last couple of years at school during the mid 1960s I did labouring work with them through the summer and they told me what a good boss my father was. They bestowed on me some of the affection and loyalty they felt towards him. I was in another world with them, a place where my father was trusted, where something like love passed between him and these men, a place where migrant families saw him as their avenue to success and dignity. I was proud to be the son of such a man — and upset at him for not bringing these qualities into his own family. What happened to him in our presence? What was it that brought out such desperate meanness when he was with us? There was something about family life that could turn him inside-out with rage.</p>
<p>Sometimes, though, he was that generous father I craved and imagined. He could take us into the countryside for hikes and picnics or to the beach in summer where he liked to swim out until he was a far smudge on the sea. For a while there were purple-eyed ferrets caged in the back yard. I remember going ferreting with him and his mates, setting the nets at rabbit-hole entrances across a paddock, then letting a ferret into a burrow and waiting for the rabbits to come racing in a panic up and out and into those nets where they would be easy to grab and have their necks wrung. </p>
<p>Sometimes, though, a ferret would settle with its catch inside a burrow, refusing to emerge. It was then that each person had to guard an entrance while someone began digging down to where the ferret was guarding its kill. It was chaotic, messy, hit-and-miss. But it did put rabbits on our table, and for a while we ate rabbit as often as people eat chicken now. I think it was at this half-wild life of mucking about in the open air with other men, making up the rules as you went, that my father found himself most fully.</p>
<p>****<br></p>
<p>In January 1945 his extra parachutist pay was cancelled, with a note on his file indicating he was unfit for marching or for long standing due to a “stiff foot”. Nevertheless, in October Leo managed to join a group re-assigned to embark for Singapore. They visited the Changi Prison and contributed a contingent of troops to a guard of honour for the official surrender. Until January 1946 they operated as local Military Police preventing looting while order was restored to Singapore.</p>
<p>Then on May 29, 1946, Private Leo was discharged without ceremony back into civilian life. He had been in the military for most of the first eight years of his early adulthood, and upon resuming his civilian status his home address was still his parents’ address in Coburg.</p>
<p>By September 1949 he would be married with a two-year-old daughter and me, his new baby boy. Seven more children would follow.</p>
<p>How unprepared was this erratic, restless young soldier for the life that he found himself choosing so soon after the war? In her chapter on the experiences of children in families where fathers are abusive, Hill writes of a form of post-traumatic stress suffered by combat veterans: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Every time a potential threat arises a survival response triggers in the brain, motivating the soldier to act defensively — a reaction that can be the difference between life and death.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This describes my father’s reaction when faced with a crisis or even a passing difficulty within the family. He could react as if his physical life depended upon him fighting his way through to an immediate victory — darkly red in the face, veins striking lines down his neck, green eyes alive with an animal urge to survive no matter what damage might be done to others. It was easy to be terrified of him at these times.</p>
<p>Was this reaction fixed in him by the cumulative terrors of the bombing raids over Darwin, the repeatedly suppressed panic he must have faced in jumping from planes, the shock of seeing mates die in accidents, the physical and psychological rigours of training among men renowned for their wildness — and by feelings of grief and guilt over the death of his brother Bernie? He kept a photo of Bernie on his desk all his adult life. How far beyond his temperamental limits might he have been tested during those shaping years of his early twenties? I suspect there was as much shame as pride for him in his war experience, and more confusion than purpose.</p>
<p>Larrikin or patriarch? Trouble-maker or law-giver? Working man or thinker? Tribal lord or obedient Catholic parishioner? Scheming insider or cynical outsider? Husband or knockabout? Survivor or warrior? He loved telling stories, and he was good at it, but some form of confused shame, I think, kept him from telling the stories that were closest to him, which were the ones I wanted to hear.</p>
<p>The almost daily violence at home continued through my childhood in part because we kept it among ourselves. There I was, silent, arriving at school of a morning shamed by bruised legs; and there were the teachers keeping their distance. The vicious dog our neighbour kept in his tiny yard was no less loud, mad and wrong than my father. But nobody complained about either of them. There might have been no words for what was happening. Now I write what I can in the hope of coming somewhere close to comprehending how my father might have been as a young man bursting with himself while struggling, as I imagine him, between recklessness and fear, cowardice and bravado, all the while desperate to keep himself intact as much as a green young man could in that war-time world. I am writing this with an eye out for the ways my imagined father might point me away from a shamed, inchoate privacy that can only make each of us diminished versions of ourselves.</p>
<p>There is a surviving faded black and white photo of him with a mate who remained a lifelong friend. They are in Darwin on the wharves, both dressed in loose-fitting tropics uniforms, helmets at cocky angles, my father’s arm over his friend’s shoulder as their bodies lean in towards each other. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526434/original/file-20230516-21-b7f2vs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helmets at cocky angles … Leo and a lifelong friend.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My father’s expression is easy, open, confident, untroubled. They look like men who have arrived in a place that suits them. This isn’t the man I remember. But it’s a man I’d like to get to know and spend time with. This is the man my mother must have loved so completely just a few years later. In the moment of the photo he appears supremely comfortable with himself and with the kind of friendship made possible in that war zone. </p>
<p><em>This essay was recently shortlisted for the <a href="https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/prizes-programs/calibre-prize/2023-winners-and-shortlist">2023 Calibre Prize</a> for an outstanding essay.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin John Brophy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Kevin Brophy grew up fearing his violent father. Going through the papers of his war record, he began to wonder if his dad was someone else as a young man — someone he might have enjoyed knowing.Kevin John Brophy, Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2056552023-05-30T20:08:27Z2023-05-30T20:08:27ZNew research reveals harrowing stories of murdered Indigenous women and the failure of police to act<p><em>Readers please be advised this article mentions acts of intimate partner violence against First Nations people.</em></p>
<p>Indigenous women are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/05/rate-of-first-nations-women-eight-times-higher-than-for-non-indigenous-counterparts">eight times</a> more likely than non-Indigenous women to be murdered, according to national statistics. <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Rural_and_Regional_Affairs_and_Transport/FMDBiosecurity/Additional_Documents">Figures compiled</a> by the Australian Institute of Criminology show a significant proportion of these are attributable to intimate partner violence.</p>
<p>I conducted a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10345329.2023.2205625">study</a>, published this week, that examined the deaths of 151 Indigenous women and girls from across Australia over a 20-year period beginning in 2000. Almost all of these women and girls were subjected to intimate partner violence, whether at the hands of their husband or de facto spouse (72.2%), boyfriend (15.9%) or ex-partner (5.9%). The offenders were both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. </p>
<p>While these statistics paint a grim picture, they provide little insight into the full extent of the violence experienced, and its impact on women, children and families. Their stories, unfortunately, become muted in the numbers.</p>
<p>My research also revealed that in almost all of these instances, Indigenous women experiencing intimate partner violence had engaged with police to help them in their situations. However, a lot of women did not receive the support that potentially could have saved their lives.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1584308828018855938"}"></div></p>
<h2>The women being lost behind the numbers</h2>
<p>The people subjected to violence in the cases we investigated had died, so we relied heavily on coronial records. These records provided insight into their experiences of violence in the period leading up to and including their deaths. </p>
<p>We found the average age of Indigenous women who died from intimate partner violence was 35. The youngest was in her teens and the oldest was in her 60s. </p>
<p>These records also provide graphic details of the nature of these deaths, leaving little doubt as to the suffering the women endured. </p>
<p>Of those women whose stories we studied, 61.6% died from blunt force trauma assaults that went on for hours. The offenders used not only their bodies to inflict injury, but also whatever was at their disposal, such as rocks, pieces of concrete, fence palings and pieces of furniture. </p>
<p>The significance of this finding is that it speaks to the possibility of witnesses (other household members, neighbours, passersby) having the opportunity to intervene by calling 000 on behalf of the victim. Certainly there was evidence of this in the cases we examined. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, 106 offenders among the 151 cases have been held accountable through the justice system for the deaths of these women. However, it should be noted not all were convicted of murder or manslaughter. </p>
<p>We know from the case files that 41.7% of the cases we investigated are mothers. Seven of the women were also pregnant at the time of their deaths. </p>
<p>The records also show 25% of these women’s children witnessed violence in the home, potentially including the murder itself. This finding is important, as it reinforces the need for trauma-informed care for children in these situations.</p>
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<h2>Police involvement - or lack thereof</h2>
<p>It takes immense courage for our women to reach out for support, with many having to weigh up the risks and benefits of reporting the violence to police. </p>
<p>For example, a domestic violence report to police now means mandatory reporting to child protection services for those who have children. This fear is due to First Nations people being disproportionately affected by child protection services, with <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/socioeconomic/outcome-area12/out-of-home-care">42.2% of children</a> in out-of-home care being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. </p>
<p>Indigenous women have also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2021/may/13/are-police-biased-when-responding-to-domestic-violence">been arrested</a> when they have called for help, either through being misidentified as the perpetrator, or due to other matters such as overdue fines.</p>
<p>In one instance, Yamatji woman Tamika Mullally was beaten almost to death by her partner, but police arrested her and her father, who had come to help her. Her baby Charlie was <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/tamicas-story-broke-the-nations-heart-by-sharing-it-she-says-shes-starting-to-heal/9grzto35h">later killed</a> by her partner while she and her father were in police custody.</p>
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<p>Many will remember the case of Roberta, featured in the ABC 4 Corners program <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-01/murdered-and-missing-first-nations-women-four-corners/101602274">How Many More?</a> in 2022. This showed video footage of police not taking Roberta’s injuries seriously, and also <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-24/murdered-and-missing-indigenous-women-four-corners/101546186">telling her</a> in no uncertain terms not to call again.</p>
<p>Our study found there was a consistent practice of non-compliance with police general orders relating to domestic violence. For example, officers were not doing background checks on whether restraining orders were in place to determine the level of risk a victim may be in.</p>
<p>We also found police often did not follow through on victims’ requests for domestic violence orders to protect them. Some officers asked the victim whether they really wanted their partner to go to court, forcing victims to second-guess their own decisions about their safety. </p>
<p>A similar reluctance by police to act on breaches of domestic violence orders was also found in the case files. This pattern of actions and inaction means crucial opportunities to prevent tragic outcomes can be lost.</p>
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<p>A coroner (name witheld) who conducted 17.9% of the inquests and investigations into the cases in this study reported that in his experience if it was not institutional racism that was confounding the actions of police, “it was lazy policing”.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Just trying to find the easiest way to wind up an investigation. Or perhaps, it is cultural ignorance.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is significant in light of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-08/yoorrook-commission-police-chief-shane-patton-apology/102316124">recent statements</a> by the Victorian police commissioner to the Yoorrook Justice Commission. The commissioner admitted “our policing of Aboriginal persons is influenced by systemic or structural racism”, which has “gone undetected, unchecked, unpunished or without appropriate sanctions” and “caused significant harm across generations of Aboriginal families”. </p>
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<p>Other police jurisdictions have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-02/kumanjayi-walker-inquest-nt-police-no-systemic-racism-smalpage/102042932">stated</a> they “don’t believe that we have systemic racism” but equally recognised that members of their force were “exchanging racist and sexist, misogynist views”.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.qpsdfvinquiry.qld.gov.au/about/assets/commission-of-inquiry-dpsdfv-report.pdf">inquiry</a> into the Queensland Police Service’s responses to domestic and family violence found there is a lack of understanding of the dynamics of, and power imbalances within, domestic violence relationships. </p>
<p>The report stated there is a significant under-resourcing in this area, which leads to reactive and sometimes short-lived reform. And on the frontline, it can lead to confusion as to expectations in police practice.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/four-corners-how-many-more-reveals-the-nations-crisis-of-indigenous-women-missing-and-murdered-193216">Four Corners' 'How many more?' reveals the nation's crisis of Indigenous women missing and murdered</a>
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<h2>Police need to do better</h2>
<p>Coroners will <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-28/nt-indigenous-domestic-violence-coronial-inquest-indigenous/102277288">continue</a> to investigate and report on our women’s deaths. So, too, will domestic and family violence <a href="https://anrowsdev.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ADFVDRN-ANROWS-Data-Report-Update.pdf">death reviews</a> that are now being instituted in most jurisdictions across the country. </p>
<p>Indigenous experts need to be included in the teams reviewing this data to further investigate the racism, sexism and misogyny our women experience.</p>
<p>Police need to build in more effective accountability processes and measures so there is an appreciation that their actions and inaction impact lives. Indigenous women and girls who have experienced violence deserve to be treated with humility, respect and dignity. Working with and for them to achieve safety must always be at the centre of the work we do. This article and research reminds us we can and must do better.</p>
<p>These women’s lives mattered. They were loved and valued by our families and communities. We need to honour them by ensuring future victim-survivors are not let down as they were.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyllie Cripps receives funding from the Australian Research Council for projects unrelated to this specific project.
The authors thanks the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety as the source organisation of the National Coroners Information System and source data for the research that this article references.
The author gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Marijke Bassani, UNSW PhD candidate, human rights lawyer and research assistant to this research. Marijke dilgently worked with the researcher to manage the ethics, coding and analysis of the cases for this research.
The author thanks UNSW Faculty of Law and Justice and the UNSW Scientia program for their support to complete this study.</span></em></p>New research has investigated the way police respond to intimate partner violence against First Nations women.Kyllie Cripps, Professor, Director Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, School of Philosophical, Historical & International Studies (SOPHIS), School of Social Sciences (SOSS), Faculty of Arts, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2055622023-05-18T05:29:22Z2023-05-18T05:29:22ZGovernment’s family law bill is a big step forward. But it doesn’t do enough to address family violence<p>The Labor government’s <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r7011">Family Law Amendment Bill 2023</a> is making its way quietly through Australia’s federal parliament. It will become one of the most important laws passed this year.</p>
<p>It <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/bill_em/flab2023204/index.html">proposes to</a> overhaul the family law system to make it “safer and simpler for separating families to navigate, and ensure the best interests of children are placed at its centre”. </p>
<p>We should celebrate the fact this bill is passing through parliament. It shows the government has responded to <a href="https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/no-straight-lines-self-represented-litigants-in-family-law-proceedings-involving-allegations-about-family-violence/">insistent calls for change</a> to protect families. </p>
<p>But here’s why it doesn’t go far enough in addressing family violence.</p>
<h2>What’s the bill for?</h2>
<p>The bill will make important changes to the rules that govern parenting arrangements after separation.</p>
<p>It will remove the presumption of “<a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s61da.html">equal shared parental responsibility</a>”. Under the current law, this presumption means both parents have a role in making major, long-term decisions about their children.</p>
<p>However, it’s often misinterpreted. <a href="https://consultations.ag.gov.au/families-and-marriage/family-law-amendment-bill/consultation/view_respondent?_b_index=240&uuId=931667378">Many people believe</a> it means parents are entitled to equal time with their children, regardless of domestic and family violence or abuse.</p>
<p>This bill will finally make it clear that equal time isn’t always appropriate or safe for families with a history of abuse.</p>
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<h2>The problem of family violence</h2>
<p>The grim reality is that family violence is the norm, not the exception in family law. <a href="https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-11/mr101121_0.pdf">Recent data</a> shows well over half of cases before the family court involve allegations of family violence against children or one parent.</p>
<p>Separation often doesn’t mean an end to the violence, but <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084682">more harm and control</a>, especially at contact changeover times for children or during the court process.</p>
<p>Helen Politis, a victim-survivor of abuse and veteran of the family law system explains what this meant for her:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The reign of chaos my children and I experienced prior to separation escalated post separation. Even worse was that this damaging behaviour was inadvertently enabled, legitimised, perpetuated and, I fear, normalised for my children.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Victim-survivors face a <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6255">common belief from family law professionals</a> that children need a relationship with their father, no matter the abuse they have suffered. As Helen explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Despite the overwhelming evidence of continued abuse and countless examples of the ways in which my children were being used as pawns, my own lawyers denied my situation. Routinely my desperate pleas to my lawyers were met with dismissive responses such as “it takes two to tango” and “you can’t clap with one hand”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is even worse when the system itself is deliberately used by perpetrators to control and intimidate victim-survivors. Research in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1748895817728380">Australia</a> and <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/895175/domestic-abuse-private-law-children-cases-literature-review.pdf">the United Kingdom</a> demonstrates this “legal systems abuse” is common in family law. </p>
<p>For Helen, the legal system was a core component of family violence:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Being caught in the family law system felt very dangerous. I was in an impossible situation, with no way out and no way of protecting my children.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What needs to be done?</h2>
<p>This bill makes important progress, but there are two main reasons why it doesn’t go far enough. </p>
<p><strong>It must allow histories of violence</strong></p>
<p>First, the bill needs to be stronger in recognising where family violence has occurred. </p>
<p>In the bill, there will be six principles to help judges, lawyers and parents decide what arrangements would be in children’s best interests. The bill includes reference to “safety” as one of these six principles, but at the same time proposes to remove a <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s60cc.html">reference in the current law</a> to a history of violence in considering the best interests of children. </p>
<p>Simplification of the law shouldn’t come at the cost of harm. As family law expert Zoe Rathus from Griffith University explains: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Talking about safety is talking about the future. Talking about violence is talking about the past – and talking about the past is critical to women and children being able to tell their stories when they have experienced family violence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There’s significant evidence that many <a href="https://theconversation.com/separated-parents-and-the-family-law-system-what-does-the-evidence-say-62826">victim-survivors’</a> allegations of family violence aren’t believed, and their experiences are <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.702873923415841">minimised in the family law system</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/separated-parents-and-the-family-law-system-what-does-the-evidence-say-62826">Separated parents and the family law system: what does the evidence say?</a>
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</em>
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<p>Helen’s own lawyers advised her not to raise her experiences of past family violence in her case, for fear it would be held against her: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believed that the family law system would provide my children with the safety and support that they rightfully deserved. What I experienced was an incredibly lengthy, frightening and financially depleting process. Family violence is what led me into the family law system, yet despite the irrefutable evidence, it was routinely ignored.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As it stands, this bill reinforces this problem. It suggests we should ignore information and evidence about past violence, and pretend it isn’t relevant to the future safety of victim-survivors or the children at the heart of these arrangements. </p>
<p>To address this, the bill should retain the provision that allows evidence of any family violence to be considered. </p>
<p><strong>It must recognise ‘legal systems abuse’</strong></p>
<p>Second, the bill needs to do more to address <a href="https://dfvbenchbook.aija.org.au/understanding-domestic-and-family-violence/systems-abuse/">legal systems abuse</a>. </p>
<p>A major achievement of this bill is it will introduce a new power for judges to make orders that stop people bringing court proceedings where it would cause harm to the other family members involved.</p>
<p>However, it needs to go further. The bill needs to reflect global evidence and finally recognise “systems abuse” as a form of family violence. </p>
<p>Systems abuse could be explicitly listed as an example of family violence in the <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s4ab.html">Family Law Act 1975</a>, as recommended by a recent unpublished study by Lucy Foster from Monash University. </p>
<p>We believe the bill could add systems abuse into the existing definition of family violence used in law.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-simple-solution-when-families-meet-the-law-58641">No simple solution when families meet the law</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s important parliament takes this opportunity to get our family laws as strong as possible on the issue of family violence. </p>
<p>We support Helen in her hope for this new law:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Although too late for me and my children… I am hopeful this time we have the courage to step up and deliver a Family Law Act that does not further damage the lives of vulnerable people. Simple changes such as recognising past violence can make all the difference. The proposed changes do not seem to go far enough to address the harms inflicted on vulnerable people before the family law system, overwhelmingly women and children.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors would like to acknowledge Helen Politis, who coauthored this article. Helen is a workplace advisor and advocate. She works with organisations, including 1800 Respect and the Judicial College of Victoria towards ending family violence.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Becky Batagol provided advice to Zoe Daniels MP on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023. Helen Politis provided statements and input to the solutions proposed for this story based upon her lived experience of family violence in the family law system. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Mant provided advice to Zoe Daniels MP on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023.</span></em></p>We should celebrate that this bill is passing through parliament. But there are 2 key concerns.Becky Batagol, Associate Professor of Law, Monash University, Monash UniversityJessica Mant, Lecturer in Law, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049102023-05-11T00:37:13Z2023-05-11T00:37:13ZAt times devastating, always powerful: new SBS drama Safe Home looks at domestic violence with nuance, integrity and care<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525289/original/file-20230510-21-j7m5gb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C0%2C3870%2C2598&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">SBS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Phoebe Rook (Aisha Dee) is a 20-something starting work as communications specialist for the Family Violence Legal Service, a state-wide community centre providing free legal assistance for people escaping domestic and family violence in Victoria. </p>
<p>Tasked with raising the centre’s profile amid rumours of funding cuts, Phoebe is quickly confronted with her own assumptions of the policies and services used to protect victim-survivors.</p>
<p>While shadowing prickly lawyer Jenny (Mabel Li) at the magistrate’s court on her first day, Phoebe reads through a list of intervention orders. </p>
<p>“These people should be in jail!” she exclaims.</p>
<p>“Because jail has always worked so well at stopping violent behaviour,” Jenny drily responds. </p>
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<p>The centre’s work in advocating on behalf of vulnerable people caught in cycles of abuse is urgent and vital. But as Phoebe settles into this new role, she is haunted by her complex past. </p>
<p>As Phoebe’s complicated relationships threaten to challenge her ethics, a series of gripping events attest to the ways violence is insidious and ingrained in systemic structures of power. </p>
<p>Safe Home, a new television series from SBS, is compelling, at times devastating, but always powerful in its commitment to articulating difficult truths around domestic and family violence with nuance, integrity and care.</p>
<h2>Domestic and family violence in Australia</h2>
<p>Safe Home offers an important critique of the assumptions and expectations that influence public understanding of domestic and family violence. </p>
<p>These abuses persist on endemic levels in Australia. On average, a woman is killed by an intimate partner <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/sr/sr39">every ten days</a>. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/latest-release">one in three</a> women have experienced physical violence since they turned 15. These rates are even higher for <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-sexual-violence-in-australia-2018/summary">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women</a> and women from marginalised groups.</p>
<p>While the Australian government has recently launched a <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/ending-violence">National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children</a>, experts have emphasised the significant, long term funding needed to meet its goal to end violence against women “<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">in one generation</a>”.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">A new national plan aims to end violence against women and children 'in one generation'. Can it succeed?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Telling stories of crisis</h2>
<p>Safe Home makes a timely contribution to a growing body of television that addresses socio-political crises through unflinchingly honest storytelling. </p>
<p>The BBC’s adaptation of NHS doctor Adam Kay’s bestselling memoir <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/08/this-is-going-to-hurt-review-ben-whishaw-stars-in-a-realism-packed-adaptation">This is Going to Hurt</a> engages with the experiences of junior doctors who endure high levels of fatigue and mental health related issues amid a lack of resources and compensation for the difficult and necessary work they do.</p>
<p>Based on Stephanie Land’s memoir, Netflix’s limited series <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/arts/television/review-maid-netflix.html">Maid</a> centres on a young mother fleeing an abusive relationship who takes up work cleaning houses and critiques the class and economic structures that enforce social exclusion and poverty. </p>
<p>Safe Home was inspired by creator Anna Barnes’ experience working at community legal centres in Melbourne. The show depicts domestic and family violence with sensitivity and awareness. It is particularly authentic in its portrayal of victim-survivors who must navigate an exceedingly complex and overloaded system.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two women smile at desks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525296/original/file-20230510-17-iywtwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Safe Home was inspired by creator Anna Barnes’ experience working at community legal centres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SBS</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>As Jenny explains to Phoebe, looming federal funding cuts threaten to eliminate a fifth of the Family Violence Legal Service’s budget – the equivalent of four lawyers. This would force the centre to decline walk-ins and limit their ability to manage the volume of cases they receive.</p>
<p>Against the backdrop of these precarious conditions, Safe Home deftly weaves stories of victim-survivors to highlight the blind spots, inequities and failures of the sector in providing adequate and urgent intervention.</p>
<p>Diana (Janet Andrewartha) struggles to leave her controlling husband Jon (Mark Mitchinson), a retired teacher well-regarded in their small town. </p>
<p>Ry (Tegan Stimson) falls into an unstable intimate relationship after escaping her mother’s verbal and physical abuse at home. </p>
<p>In perhaps the most heartbreaking story, Cherry (Katlyn Wong) risks losing her children after reporting her husband’s life-threatening violence to authorities because of a language barrier. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-data-shows-1-in-3-women-have-experienced-physical-violence-and-sexual-violence-remains-stubbornly-persistent-201758">New data shows 1 in 3 women have experienced physical violence and sexual violence remains stubbornly persistent</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The personal becomes political</h2>
<p>In these stories, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2022.2102598">cultural, linguistic and economic diversity</a> of victim-survivors who seek help is powerfully depicted. </p>
<p>We encounter the spectre of strategies used against victim-survivors: physical abuse, economic abuse, verbal threats and put-downs, control and coercion, love bombing and revenge porn. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young women, one white and one Black, in a waiting room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525294/original/file-20230510-15-mt2x11.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The diversity of victim-survivors who seek help is powerfully depicted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SBS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are confronted with perpetrators who evade common stereotypes to appear, on the surface, likeable, friendly, charming and sympathetic. </p>
<p>The situations faced by victim-survivors intersect with – and are exacerbated by – current crises surrounding housing, homelessness and the cost of living. These circumstances can force them to return or remain <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2016.1204684">in dangerous situations</a>. </p>
<p>Contrary to the show’s title, home is not safe for people experiencing domestic and family violence. But for many, it is preferable to being homeless, to losing access to their children, to becoming susceptible to other kinds of violence. </p>
<p>Telling stories is critical to humanise, to engender empathy, to bring awareness to issues often shrouded in silence. As Phoebe puts it, “We tell stories to change minds, to change legislation, and most importantly, to change behaviour”.</p>
<p>In Safe Home, the personal becomes political. The stories behind the case numbers sit in dialogue with the current crisis of domestic and family violence. </p>
<p>These are stories victim-survivors and those who advocate on their behalf know well, but the Australian public still struggles to understand. </p>
<p><em>Safe Home is on SBS and SBS On Demand from today.</em></p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In immediate danger, call 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Sandford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Safe Home attests to the ways violence is insidious and ingrained in systemic structures of power.Shannon Sandford, Lecturer, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2017582023-03-15T04:14:35Z2023-03-15T04:14:35ZNew data shows 1 in 3 women have experienced physical violence and sexual violence remains stubbornly persistent<p>Eight million Australians have experienced violence since the age of 15, according to new findings of the fourth <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/2021-22">Personal Safety Survey</a> released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. </p>
<p>The results confirm that domestic, family and sexual violence remain a national crisis in Australia. </p>
<p>Headline findings show that since the age of 15 years old:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>one in four women, and one in 14 men, have experienced intimate partner violence </p></li>
<li><p>one in five women, and one in 16 men, have experienced sexual violence </p></li>
<li><p>one in three women, and two in five men, have experienced physical violence </p></li>
<li><p>one in five women, and one in 15 men, have experienced stalking. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The Personal Safety Survey collected data from 12,000 Australian women and men on the form and extent of violence they had experienced since the age of 15. Only Australians over the age of 18 were surveyed. </p>
<p>This survey is unique because it captures people’s experiences from March 2021 and May 2022, during the height of the pandemic. Schools were closed across the country and many cities had extensive lockdown periods with work-from-home mandates that reduced interactions between colleagues. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1635813923885809664"}"></div></p>
<h2>The gendered nature of violence</h2>
<p>The findings provide further evidence that violence in Australia is gendered. Women are more likely to experience all forms of violence within an intimate partner relationship, including physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse. Men are more likely to experience violence from strangers. </p>
<p>Women are more likely to experience childhood abuse, both physical and sexual, with 18% of women and 11% of men reporting such an experience during their childhood. </p>
<h2>How is violence changing in Australia?</h2>
<p>The pandemic means the survey findings should be interpreted with caution, and context is key. Many questions, for instance, focused on experiences of violence in the previous 12 months, which for many Australians will have included lockdown periods.</p>
<p>The findings do indicate a reduction in physical and emotional violence experienced by men and women compared to the 2016 findings. There was also a reduction in the prevalence of sexual harassment and stalking. </p>
<p>However, we need to remember the reduced use of public spaces and workplaces during the pandemic, as well as changes in people’s lifestyles. This could be a reason why victimisation rates were lower during this time. </p>
<p>The survey shows, however, that rates of sexual violence remained stubbornly persistent. This highlights the importance of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children’s commitment to bring “<a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/11_2022/national_plan_to_end_violence_against_women_and_children_2022-2032.pdf">addressing sexual violence out of the shadows</a>”.</p>
<p>For the first time, the survey also captured economic abuse by partners who lived together, which is defined as behaviours or actions “aimed at preventing or controlling a person’s access to economic resources, causing them emotional harm or fear”. </p>
<p>The survey shows that one in six women and one in 13 men have experienced this type of abuse since the age of 15. </p>
<h2>Hidden victimisation: what we don’t know</h2>
<p>Among the limitations of the survey is that it does not collect data specifically on the experiences of First Nations people. Budget commitments have been made for the Australian Bureau of Statistics to develop the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Personal Safety Survey. This is critically needed. </p>
<p>The findings today also do not capture the rate of violence specifically experienced by Australians with <a href="https://theconversation.com/lgbtq-people-are-being-ignored-in-the-national-discussion-on-family-and-sexual-violence-167634">diverse gender and sexual identities</a>, as well as people with disability. </p>
<p>There are also limits in the data collected in very remote areas of Australia. The findings do not provide information about differences in urban and non-urban victimisation rates. In a country as geographically dispersed as Australia, we need these insights. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/were-missing-opportunities-to-identify-domestic-violence-perpetrators-this-is-what-needs-to-change-198071">We're missing opportunities to identify domestic violence perpetrators. This is what needs to change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Findings from the <a href="https://alswh.org.au">Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health</a>, for instance, reveal the lifetime prevalence rate of domestic violence is <a href="https://theconversation.com/country-women-are-more-likely-to-experience-intimate-partner-violence-49049">higher in rural, regional and remote areas</a> than in cities. </p>
<p>Also absent are the voices of Australians under the age of 18. Given the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children’s call <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-end-gender-based-violence-in-one-generation-we-must-fix-how-the-system-responds-to-children-and-young-people-192839">for children to be recognised as victim-survivors in their own right</a>, this is a notable gap. </p>
<p>Survey participants do reflect on prior experiences of child abuse and witnessing parental violence before the age of 15. It found: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>one in six women, and one in nine men, experienced childhood abuse</p></li>
<li><p>one in six women, and one in nine men, witnessed parental violence during childhood. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Engaging children in this type of data collection can be challenging, but we need to improve our understandings of their experiences of violence and make space for <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/I_believe_you_Children_and_young_people_s_experiences_of_seeking_help_securing_help_and_navigating_the_family_violence_system/21709562">their voices</a> in national conversations. </p>
<p>It’s encouraging to see the survey now including a wider range of harms. For future iterations, however, we also need information about <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/199781/1/V1_Briefing_Paper_template.pdf">technology-facilitated abuse</a>, including using digital media and devices to abuse, harass and stalk and non-consensual sharing of images.</p>
<p>We must also ensure the survey captures different forms of intimate partner violence that happen within the one abusive relationship. Presently, the survey only records discrete acts and incidents of violence. However, <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/webinars/power-understanding-patterns-coercive-control">research</a> shows that many abusive behaviours are interconnected and occur as a pattern of abuse.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-family-violence-young-women-are-too-often-ignored-190547">When it comes to family violence, young women are too often ignored</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The need for more investment</h2>
<p>The survey provides evidence of the scale of the problem of violence in the country. There is an urgent need to bolster funding and initiatives that prevent and respond to all forms of gender-based violence. </p>
<p>Advocates have critiqued the government’s commitment of A$386 billion for nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS deal. In comparison, less than 1% of that has been invested in tackling violence against women, despite the national plan’s pledge last year to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-end-gender-based-violence-in-one-generation-we-must-fix-how-the-system-responds-to-children-and-young-people-192839">eliminate gender-based violence in one generation</a>. </p>
<p>Personal Safety Surveys will continue to document the gendered dimension of violence in Australia and the insecurity of women’s lives unless we tackle the underlying causes of violence. This survey must be a call to increase our focus on preventing violence and <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/status-women-report-card-2023">dismantling gender inequality</a> in all settings across Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201758/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate receives funding for family violence related research from the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Victorian Government and the Department of Social Services. In 2021 Kate led the National Plan Stakeholder and Victim-Survivor Advocates Consultation Projects. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her capacity as Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and are wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as Chair of Respect Victoria. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bridget Harris receives funding for family violence and technology-facilitated abuse research from the Australian Research Council and Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts and has previously received funding from The eSafety Commissioner and the Australian Institute of Criminology. </span></em></p>The new Personal Safety Survey shows eight million Australians have experienced some form of violence since the age of 15, but women are far more likely to be victims than men.Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Director, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash UniversityBridget Harris, Associate professor, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1996692023-03-03T21:14:58Z2023-03-03T21:14:58ZFamily violence is literally making us sicker – new study finds abuse increases risk of chronic illness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513038/original/file-20230301-26-19wqam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C107%2C5973%2C3853&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Frame Studio</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than half (54.7%) of women in New Zealand have experienced violence or abuse by an intimate partner in their lifetime. As we show in our <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.1311?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=030323">new research</a>, this increases their risk of developing a mental health disorder almost three times (2.8 times) and a chronic physical illness almost twice (1.5 times). </p>
<p>More than 1,400 women from a nationally representative sample from the 2019 New Zealand <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1177083X.2020.1862252">family violence study</a> He Koiora Matapopore told us about their experiences of intimate partner violence and their health. We asked them about chronic health problems (heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and asthma) as well as mental health conditions (depression, anxiety or substance abuse). </p>
<p>We also asked women about their lifetime experiences of physical violence, sexual violence, psychological abuse, controlling behaviour and economic abuse by any partner. We used questions from the World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/924159358X">multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women</a> – the international gold standard for measuring the prevalence of violence against women. </p>
<p>In addition to the physical and mental health problems described above, women who had experienced any of these types of intimate partner violence had increased risk of poor general health (2 times more likely), recent pain or discomfort (1.8 times more likely) and recent healthcare consultations (1.3 times more likely). </p>
<p>Physical and sexual violence hurts people, but it wasn’t just this type of violence that was associated with increased health problems. Women who experienced psychological abuse, controlling behaviours and economic abuse also had greater risk of adverse health outcomes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/domestic-violence-isnt-about-just-physical-violence-and-state-laws-are-beginning-to-recognize-that-159025">Domestic violence isn't about just physical violence – and state laws are beginning to recognize that</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Partner violence increases health risks</h2>
<p>It is common for women to experience multiple types of intimate partner violence. One in five women reported experiencing three or more types of partner abuse, and these women had a much higher risk of poor health. </p>
<p>More than one in ten (11%) had experienced four or more types of abuse and these women were over four times more likely to have a mental health condition and double the risk of chronic health problems, compared with women who had not experienced violence by a partner. </p>
<p>Our study reports on lifetime rates of intimate partner violence, but new and recurring violence keeps happening. There were <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/annual-report-2021-2022.pdf">175,573 family harm investigations</a> recorded by police in the year to June 2022. People who require police intervention may have even worse health than the women we talked to. </p>
<p>Our findings provide an even stronger rationale for supporting and strengthening strategies to counter the national scourge of intimate partner violence.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-covid-19-pandemic-has-made-the-impacts-of-gender-based-violence-worse-193197">The COVID-19 pandemic has made the impacts of gender-based violence worse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our recommendations</h2>
<p>The Manatū Hauora/Ministry of Health’s <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness/family-violence-and-sexual-violence">violence intervention programme</a> needs to receive more attention and funding, and Te Whatu Ora/Health New Zealand needs to prioritise implementation. </p>
<p>The programme has developed an infrastructure to provide evidence-based strategies for family violence assessments and intervention. However, it is not well embedded in the health system and needs strong policy, leadership and resourcing to achieve its potential. It also needs to be supported by the health infrastructure to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01276.x">put it into practice</a>.</p>
<p>Fundamentally, healthcare professionals need to recognise violence experience as a health issue. Effective, regular training about the prevalence and health consequences of intimate partner violence is essential to enable healthcare professionals to help women who have experienced abuse. </p>
<p>This education needs to be embedded in core practitioner training. Universities need to step up to ensure healthcare professionals have the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1524838021995951">knowledge and skills</a> they need to address the issue. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">A new national plan aims to end violence against women and children 'in one generation'. Can it succeed?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Healing and prevention</h2>
<p>We also need to expand our suite of responses. These must include referral options to help women in times of acute danger and crisis, but also to support long-term recovery and healing from abuse. </p>
<p>Increasing capacity to support healing is one of the key shifts recommended by Te Aorerekura, the <a href="https://tepunaaonui.govt.nz/national-strategy/">national strategy to eliminate family and sexual violence</a>. </p>
<p>We need to invest in evidence-based prevention strategies and ensure they have comprehensive and equitable coverage across the nation. Prevention is one of the recommendations from Te Aorerekura, but the effectiveness of local efforts could get a significant boost if they tapped into <a href="https://ww2preventvawg.org/">international</a> <a href="https://www.whatworks.co.za/">evidence-based prevention strategies</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="This diagram lists strategies to prevent intimate partner violence. The use of this diagram does not imply endorsement by CDC or the US government." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513047/original/file-20230301-18-9qomrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513047/original/file-20230301-18-9qomrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513047/original/file-20230301-18-9qomrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513047/original/file-20230301-18-9qomrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513047/original/file-20230301-18-9qomrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513047/original/file-20230301-18-9qomrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513047/original/file-20230301-18-9qomrj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Strategies to prevent and address the impact of intimate partner violence, developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ipv-technicalpackages.pdf">CDC ATSDR</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Prevention initiatives need to be brave enough to address unhealthy forms of masculinity and discrimination against women and girls. Targeting men’s and boys’ understanding of power and control in relationships and engaging them in violence prevention is both <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/978-1-137-44208-6">essential and possible</a>. </p>
<p>Developing and sustaining evidence-based prevention and response programmes to address intimate partner violence will require long-term investment and implementation. However, we are already paying for the health and social costs of intimate partner violence. This money could instead be spent fixing it. </p>
<p>Funding work that leads to healthy, respectful relationships could be the “win” we are all looking for. It would yield multiple benefits, including a healthier population, <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/ti_545_prevent_crime_and_save_money_131218.pdf">fewer incarcerations and criminal justice problems</a>, better educational outcomes and a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ipv-technicalpackages.pdf">more economically productive society</a>.</p>
<p>Our study also looked at <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2800729">men’s experiences of intimate partner violence</a>. It
showed that while the experience can affect men’s health, it did not consistently contribute to men’s poor health at the population level. However, men who experience partner abuse still need care and support options.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Fanslow has authored the Ministry of Health Family Violence Assessment and Intervention Guideline for Child Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence, and the Ministry of Health Intervention Guideline for Elder Abuse and Neglect.
The research described in this article was funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. </span></em></p>Experience of any form of partner violence increases the risk of developing chronic illnesses. Healthcare professionals need to recognise family abuse as a health issue.Janet Fanslow, Associate Professor in Violence Prevention and Mental Health Promotion, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992472023-03-01T13:28:25Z2023-03-01T13:28:25ZSibling aggression and abuse go beyond rivalry – bullying within a family can have lifelong repercussions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510723/original/file-20230216-28-r81b4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5200%2C3432&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hurting a sibling is not the same thing as healthy rivalry.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/boy-grabbing-girls-arm-on-stairs-royalty-free-image/588312516">Glasshouse Images/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2011/demo/p70-126.html">80% of U.S. children grow up with a sibling</a>. For many, brothers and sisters are life companions, close confidants and sharers of memories. But siblings also are natural competitors for parents’ attention. When brothers and sisters view parents’ love and attention as limited – or lopsided in favor of their sibling – rivalry may ensue. </p>
<p>Rivalry can motivate children to develop unique talents, abilities – such as in academics, sports or music – and other characteristics to gain their parents’ attention. Sometimes, however, rivalry can lead to jealousy and bickering – and too much of it can lead to aggression, bullying and even abuse and violence. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=chKAWywAAAAJ">We are</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4NJRZ_AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researchers</a> who focus on sibling dynamics, parenting and mental health. Conflict among siblings is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015622438">widely viewed as normal</a> but, in the past decade, a new body of research consistently shows that sibling aggression and abuse are far from harmless – and can have lifelong repercussions.</p>
<h2>Overlooking aggression</h2>
<p>Aggressive behavior is characterized by an intent to cause harm, including physical pain and humiliation. Many behaviors between siblings fit this definition. </p>
<p>In 2013, using data from over 1,700 U.S. children, we found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.01.006">one-third of children under age 18 experienced</a> physical, property or psychological sibling victimization in the previous year. In fact, sibling aggression is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0676">most common form of family violence</a>, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0676">more children victimized by a sibling than by a caregiver</a>. It’s a form of family violence not talked about, despite its ubiquity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Kids and a teacher in the hallway of a school making a no bullying sign." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511715/original/file-20230222-26-ttpy0g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More and more schools have embraced anti-bullying programs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/campdarby/5690539312">Joyce Costello, USAG Livorno Public Affairs/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Great efforts have been aimed at <a href="https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/article-abstract/24/4/167/6527/Bullying-prevention-campaign-launched">reducing peer aggression</a>, better known as peer bullying. The negative <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/gr.6-5-50">consequences of peer bullying</a> are widely recognized. But a 2015 survey of 4,000 American children showed more are victimized over the course of a year <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0676">by a sibling (21.8%) than by a peer (15.6%)</a>. </p>
<p>When peer bullying occurs, parents want it stopped – and experts encourage parents to talk with their children about what happened. Corrective action can include <a href="https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/middle-school">helping the bully</a> develop understanding and empathy. </p>
<p>Yet, when the very same aggressive behaviors are displayed by siblings, they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9741-2">typically dismissed by parents</a> and <a href="https://doi.org//10.1007/s10896-015-9766-y">even by the victimized siblings themselves</a>. In fact, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sibling-Abuse-Trauma-Assessment-and-Intervention-Strategies-for-Children/Caffaro/p/book/9780415506861">victim blaming often occurs</a>, in which the victimized sibling is faulted for angering the abusing sibling or being overly sensitive. </p>
<p>Confusion about the difference between rivalry and sibling aggression prevents people from recognizing it. Aggressive behaviors, such as pushing, hitting or breaking cherished personal items, go beyond mild conflicts or fleeting bickering. But parents often rationalize aggressive sibling behavior – it’s just rivalry, it’s normal, no one got hurt. Sometimes adults even think <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9741-2">it’s good for kids’ development</a> to deal with aggressive behavior – that it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9766-y">makes them tougher</a>.</p>
<p>For some, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000087">sibling aggression can be chronic</a> and cross over to sibling abuse, which can leave physical or psychological injuries. Abuse involves objects, weapons, multiple tormentors or sexual assaults. About <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.01.006">4% of U.S. children</a> report that during incidents in which their sibling beat, kicked or punched them, they sustained an injury or a weapon was used. A widely held view is <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sibling-Abuse-Trauma-Assessment-and-Intervention-Strategies-for-Children/Caffaro/p/book/9780415506861">aggression between siblings cannot be abuse</a>. But for a surprising number of children, it is. This false belief has led to many suffering in silence. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A worried young woman in profile stressed out and unhappy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510728/original/file-20230216-22-5knoam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Sibling aggression is linked with poor mental health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/sadness-and-depression-women-stressed-out-at-home-royalty-free-image/1299892261">globalmoments/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Long term effects</h2>
<p>Sibling aggression is linked to worse mental and physical health across the life span of the perpetrators and victims. Both experience higher rates of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-3801">depression</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514539760">substance use</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559517751670">delinquency</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9741-2">and</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.09.007">sleeplessness</a>. Additionally, data shows <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-3801">just one incident of victimization</a> at the hands of a sibling is linked to worse mental health in childhood and adolescence.</p>
<p>Experiences of sibling aggression also influence other relationships. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9741-2">Parent-child relationships</a> can suffer. Some victims may become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12486">estranged from their sibling and parents</a>. Additionally, sibling aggression and victimization behavior is often reflected in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-018-0021-1">peer</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/088626099014008005">and</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.5993/ajhb.28.s1.3">dating relationships</a>. </p>
<h2>Origins of sibling aggression and abuse</h2>
<p>The cause of sibling aggression can be rooted in family dynamics. Parents may model negative behaviors that are then repeated by children. </p>
<p>Our research found parental conflicts, violence and harsh parenting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000016">are all associated with</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000592">sibling victimization</a>. In another study, we showed family adversity – such as job loss, illness and death – was also associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000087">sibling aggression and abuse</a>. </p>
<p>Certain personality traits, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1348/026151009X479402">low empathy</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514539763">and anger</a>, are also associated with being aggressive toward a sibling. </p>
<h2>Prevention and intervention</h2>
<p>Parents often want simply to stop the behavior and move on – or ignore it. However, this is a missed opportunity for teaching important social skills. To help children have positive relationships in their lives, parents should teach how to navigate conflicts in a healthy way.</p>
<p>When aggressive behavior occurs, parents should immediately interrupt it. Without taking sides, parents can help their children from a young age learn skills that lessen aggression, such as listening, seeing another person’s perspective, managing anger, negotiating and problem-solving. These important skills <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015622438">reduce destructive conflict</a> and are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000833">associated with better mental health</a>. They also potentially stave off aggression in other kinds of relationships. </p>
<p>In cases of sibling abuse, teaching siblings conflict resolution skills is not appropriate. Engaging in mediation may further victimize the targeted child when there is a power imbalance and potential or actual serious harm present. Being <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sibling-Abuse-Trauma-Assessment-and-Intervention-Strategies-for-Children/Caffaro/p/book/9780415506861">victimized and abused is not a form of rivalry</a>; it requires the family to seek help from a mental or physical health professional. </p>
<p>Research shows it’s time to change the commonplace idea that aggressive sibling dynamics are harmless. Caregivers should take these behaviors as seriously as they do peer bullying or other forms of family violence. Addressing sibling aggression and abuse can improve children’s mental and physical well-being – as well as the quality of their relationships, both inside and outside the family.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corinna Tucker receives funding from Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Rouleau Whitworth works for the Sibling Aggression and Abuse Research and Advocacy Initiative (SAARA), which receives funding from the Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation.</span></em></p>All brothers and sisters have tensions or disagreements from time to time as they jockey for position in the family. But when one sibling victimizes another, there can be serious and ongoing harms.Corinna Jenkins Tucker, Senior Project Director, Sibling Aggression and Abuse Research and Advocacy Initiative (SAARA) at the Crimes Against Children Center, University of New HampshireTanya Rouleau Whitworth, Research Scientist at the Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New HampshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1980662023-02-15T01:10:24Z2023-02-15T01:10:24ZWhy do men who kill their families still receive sympathetic news coverage?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509071/original/file-20230209-19-ncm7sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C18%2C2342%2C1672&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rick Egan/AP/The Salt Lake Tribune</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the number of mass shootings in the United States this year <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/22/us/mass-shootings-list.html">continues to grow</a>, so too have family murder-suicides. It is only February, and already at least <a href="https://jezebel.com/3-different-men-killed-their-female-partners-kids-and-1849985763">three families</a> have been shot and killed by men who took their own lives afterwards, following a string of similar such killings in 2022. </p>
<p>While public mass shootings are roundly condemned in the US and generate intense debate in the media about gun control, my research has found that family mass shootings tend to receive a different, more varied kind of coverage. </p>
<p>Although gun control is sometimes talked about, the coverage <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3">often points to other causes</a> – mental illness or the acts of violent men. Sometimes, they are simply portrayed as mysteries.</p>
<p>Compared to public mass shootings, perpetrators of family killings or “familicide” are also more likely to receive sympathetic coverage. Family members or friends sometimes ask what could lead a seemingly “loving” or “devoted” father to kill his family, shifting the focus from the victims’ lives to that of an anguished man. </p>
<p>Such reporting profoundly silences victims and insinuates that perpetrators lack control over their actions. It also fails to provide the proper context to help us understand such hideous acts of violence.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-men-kill-their-families-heres-what-the-research-says-132314">Why do men kill their families? Here's what the research says</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Glowing obituary sparks a backlash</h2>
<p>On January 4, Michael Haight shot and killed his five children – Macie, Briley, Ammon, Sienna and Gavin – his wife Tausha, and Tausha’s mother, Gail Earl, before killing himself.</p>
<p>The role of mental illness in family violence was <a href="https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2023/01/06/enoch-residents-students-reeling-after-shooting-deaths-of-haight-family/69785046007/">discussed</a> in some news reporting and social media commentary on the case. This reflects similar trends in coverage of familicides in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17416590211009275">Australia</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14648849211063265">Ireland</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps most alarmingly, however, The Spectrum newspaper in Utah ran a glowing obituary for Haight, in which he was described as a doting father who “cherished” each of his children and “lived a life of service”. Its publication was met with backlash and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obit-heaped-praise-utah-father-accused-killing-family-rcna66188">subsequently removed</a>.</p>
<p>As Haley Swenson wrote for <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/01/michael-haight-murders-mormon-obituary-gofundme.html">Slate</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Perhaps the statement that ‘Good dads, good men, do not hurt, do not shoot, and do not kill their families’ feels so obvious and uncontroversial it shouldn’t need to be made. The Haight case suggests it may be worth saying out loud after all.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Families and friends cannot always provide a complete picture</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3">Research</a> has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14648849211063265">shown</a> that family murder-suicides are routinely reported in a way that decontextualises them from the broader issue of domestic and family violence. Instead, these cases are often framed as unforeseeable family tragedies.</p>
<p>As Haight’s obituary demonstrates, such sympathetic reporting <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3">is often shaped</a> by the understandably complex responses of grieving family, friends and community members.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1614970344065957890"}"></div></p>
<p>When Peter Miles shot and killed his wife Cynda, adult daughter Katrina and Katrina’s four children – Taye, Rylan, Arye and Kadyn – in Western Australia in 2018, friends spoke of his struggles with <a href="https://people.com/crime/australian-murder-suicide-grandfather-had-depression/">depression</a>. </p>
<p>Katrina’s former partner and the father of the children who were killed initially <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/13/margaret-river-tragedy-father-says-he-still-loves-man-believed-responsible-for-deaths">talked about his “love” for Miles</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I still love who Peter was. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have Katrina, I wouldn’t have her kids</p>
<p>It’s not some random guy off the street who’s taken them away from me – he gave them to me and now he’s taken them away </p>
<p>If it had to happen, there is no better person than that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When Fernando Manrique killed his two children, Elisa and Martin, wife Maria and himself in their New South Wales home in 2016, <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/davidson-deaths-was-it-all-too-much-for-mum-maria/news-story/2e3c10958e12dd4467cf302033ee04ae">statements provided by neighbours</a> and at the family’s funeral also contributed to crafting a sympathetic picture in the news. </p>
<p>Manrique was cast as a father struggling from the “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/family-and-friends-farewell-manriquelutz-family-after-suspected-murdersuicide-20161031-gsebxa.html">economic, social and psychological stresses</a>” of caring for Elisa and Martin, who had autism.</p>
<p>In the direct aftermath of killings like these, the emotions of families and friends are still raw. People who have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713685897">lost loved ones in this way</a> often wish to “<a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3">suspend analysis to enable [their] grief and loss to be felt</a>”. </p>
<p>And as more details come to light and people process their grief, their responses may <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3_8">change</a>.</p>
<p>This is why media outlets shouldn’t rely on these sources alone when reporting on familicides. In the absence of experts to provide context on what drives men to kill their families, an over-reliance on grieving families and friends can often present a one-sided picture of the suspect that doesn’t tell the whole story. </p>
<h2>Why violent tendencies sometimes go unnoticed</h2>
<p>One reason these cases are perceived as happening “out of the blue” or due to mental illness is that the men are not always seen as violent or dangerous. It is <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=pZPRCx9GuVcC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">common</a> for perpetrators to hide these tendencies from those around them.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/coroners-court/download.html/documents/findings/2019/Lutz%2520Manrique%2520Finding%2520v2.pdf">coronial inquest</a> into the NSW familicide, for instance, found that psychological stress from raising an autistic child likely had nothing to do with the killings. Manrique had begun planning the killings after Maria announced her intention to separate.</p>
<p>Tausha, her children, and mother were similarly killed two weeks after she <a href="https://ksltv.com/518228/police-investigated-child-abuse-report-2-years-before-enoch-murders/">filed for divorce</a> from Haight. He had also been <a href="https://ksltv.com/518228/police-investigated-child-abuse-report-2-years-before-enoch-murders/">investigated for child abuse</a> after his daughter, Macie, told police he had choked her, was verbally abusive to Tausha and exhibited controlling behaviours.</p>
<p>A history of domestic violence is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1524838018821955">common in familicides</a>. Even in cases without a known history of abuse, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3">perpetrators are driven</a> by many of the same dynamics – a need for control and sense of entitlement over the fate of the family in decidedly patriarchal terms.</p>
<h2>Neither good men nor aberrant monsters</h2>
<p>These days, sympathetic coverage of perpetrators is often met with a <a href="https://meaww.com/michael-haight-outrage-utah-man-who-murdered-wife-and-five-children-is-replaced-with-jesus">swift rebuke</a>.</p>
<p>This is encouraging. Sometimes, though, criticism of sympathetic coverage can devolve into a “<a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3_13">monster narrative</a>”, in which perpetrators are <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/rita-panahi/good-blokes-dont-kill/news-story/f88d49c0970a96c32b99b91b7750bb5d">framed as monsters</a>, and little more. </p>
<p>Familicide is not the act of “nice” but ill men deserving of sympathy, nor monsters devoid of all human feeling or social context. Research suggests perpetrators commonly experience both intense, often painful emotions <em>and</em> a powerful sense of entitlement to control.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3_13">Setting up a binary</a> between violent men and distressed men is unhelpful. It reinforces assumptions that violent men are always easy to identify, and that men who are experiencing distress cannot also be violent.</p>
<p>News reporting on familicides should focus on the humanity of the victims and hold perpetrators accountable, while not ignoring the way everyday gender norms contribute to legitimising this violence in the minds of perpetrators.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denise Buiten does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The media needs to take greater care when covering these cases, as the reasons behind such violence are incredibly complex.Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1926062023-02-08T03:00:42Z2023-02-08T03:00:42ZWho is perpetrating domestic, sexual and family violence?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505505/original/file-20230120-12-aaxkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C22%2C5081%2C2851&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-couple-arguing-fighting-domestic-violence-2040549059">shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/239821">1.6 million women (17%) and 548,000 men (6.1%)</a> in Australia aged 15 or older have experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or previous cohabiting partner. This means significant proportions of the population in Australia have perpetrated domestic or sexual violence.</p>
<p>There are no national Australian data on people’s perpetration of domestic or sexual violence. While we have good data on violence victimisation, we know far less about violence perpetration.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/centre-for-justice/wp-content/uploads/sites/304/2023/01/Who-uses-domestic-family-and-sexual-violence-how-and-why-The-State-of-Knowledge-Report-on-Violence-Perpetration-2023.pdf">State of Knowledge Report on Violence Perpetration</a>, released today, reviews the current data and research on who perpetrates domestic, family, and sexual violence, how, and why, in order to enhance national efforts to end this violence. Here’s what it found.</p>
<h2>Data from victims and police</h2>
<p>One of the consistent findings from victimisation data, legal system data, and survey self-reports is that most violence is perpetrated by men.</p>
<p>Among all people in Australia who have suffered violence, <a href="https://violenceagainstwomenandchildren.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/abs-personal-safety-survey-victim-perpetrator-sex-and-relationship6.pdf">nearly all</a> have experienced violence from a male perpetrator (95% of male victims and 94% of female victims). Around one quarter of all victims have experienced violence from a female perpetrator (28% of male victims and 24% of female victims).</p>
<p>The vast majority of perpetrators of <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/sr/sr39">homicide in Australia</a> – 87% – are male. Three-quarters (75%) of all <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-sexual-violence-in-australia-2018/summary">victims of domestic violence</a> reported the perpetrator as male and 25% reported the perpetrator as female. Among all <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/latest-release">victims of sexual violence</a> aged 15 or older, six times as many people reported violence by a male perpetrator as by a female perpetrator.</p>
<p>As most victims do not formally report to authorities, police and legal data are limited sources of information on perpetration. Police data tend to capture only the most severe cases, legal definitions vary across Australia, and existing data are shaped by <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/309729">the over-policing of First Nations</a> and ethnic minority communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man and woman holding hands" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507755/original/file-20230202-18-o4ls0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most perpetrators of violence are male and most victims are female.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Self-report data</h2>
<p>Another stream of data comes from surveys in which people report on their own use of violent behaviours. A key issue here is that most self-reported data on domestic violence relies only on asking individuals if they or their partners have ever committed any violent acts from a specified list (slapping, kicking, punching, and so on). </p>
<p>Popular measures such as the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178917301982?casa_token=K40TCQ-od5wAAAAA:zjBneG9B9LOY9bXRm4UHl_lfo5SKBQVt_iO33suf_fcVoT-PyqtfoCF5XQwX9fWd7qltKmttKFg#bb0065">Conflict Tactics Scale</a> <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-44482-001">do not also ask</a> about <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=068e7002b6aff6ffea1e9be8d13720f5d48b7e6f">severity, frequency, impact</a> (injury or fear), intent, whether the acts were in self-defence, or their <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/44/3/324/471260">history and context</a>. They <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1524838015596963?casa_token=ztf8QUmzqv4AAAAA:Xa5Rw_zu4KaWiJgi1nVdrTTndJlclfC0LdKtCQMoy19qczbSsA7ieZC0Tj7UDXlLAvK_q0T9PT5x">omit</a> sexual violence, stalking, other violent acts, and violence after separation.</p>
<p>Much self-reported data on domestic violence do not measure the pattern of power and control exerted by an individual over their intimate partner or former partner, although many researchers and advocates see this as <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Tackling_Domestic_Violence_Theories_Poli/rpJgLOoPYIUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">defining domestic violence</a>.</p>
<p>Studies of domestic violence that use the Conflict Tactics Scales or other similar, acts-based measures <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1524838015596963?casa_token=BJDBe47RiXsAAAAA:-djm8DByZxH6guVFIFaQdA0RrRz7zLy24Gn5jSMGcDvqGKS3maSnAeMIr7PA8BfSFRB2VdYdK_8U">tend to find</a> males and females perpetrate aggression against intimate partners at similar rates, or in some instances that women report higher rates of perpetration than men.</p>
<p>Such studies also often find substantial proportions of people have used at least one type of aggression or abuse against a partner. For example, in <a href="https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrpa/3/1/76.abstract">a US study</a> among university students, 18% of men and 34% of women reported perpetrating physical aggression towards their partners and 98% of both men and women reported perpetrating psychological aggression.</p>
<p>Apparent findings that men and women are using domestic violence at similar rates must be interpreted with caution, for four reasons. </p>
<p>First, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1524838015596963?casa_token=BJDBe47RiXsAAAAA:-djm8DByZxH6guVFIFaQdA0RrRz7zLy24Gn5jSMGcDvqGKS3maSnAeMIr7PA8BfSFRB2VdYdK_8U">most studies</a> are just “counting the blows”, measuring any use of a set list of violent acts. They may lead to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-44482-001">false positives</a> or <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/56/4/646/2747208">over-reporting</a>, including of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077801216658977?casa_token=gtVdIinYBsQAAAAA:yEqAqvbCEx1wAyIkwKFx5iJXCwBeHr8aNaEhtQyo2_b7Xxu1kdF-7_zKzReNkUPPKNQmklrw92zp">harmless</a> and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-44482-001">innocuous</a> behaviours. </p>
<p>Second, there is evidence <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135917891100022X?casa_token=bpwGXvtGyXMAAAAA:FD1DsvAW-T3nii-qk_uu8xZmBwQt7w1E0iB0BrRyyr6PZwPYT0IbYqyhSyRlgDVgm4xAb83dwoA">men are less likely than women to report</a> their own use of violence. </p>
<p>Third, women’s violence is more often in <a href="https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrpa/3/4/429.abstract">self-defence</a> than men’s. </p>
<p>And fourth, even where overall rates of the use of various violent acts are similar among males and females, males’ use of violence typically is more frequent, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10896-015-9732-8">severe, fear-inducing</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-009-9697-2">injurious</a>, and harmful than females’ use of violence.</p>
<p>Gender contrasts in rates of perpetration are far stronger for sexual violence. Boys and young men have significantly higher rates of sexual violence perpetration than girls and young women, as documented in reviews of studies among <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0040194">teenagers</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178914000755?casa_token=v5KC2vJxS3UAAAAA:m-bdpiqpnhJruRRRXfq3xTj4bTCqy2yP1i8U-mSkTo7_jH1yDvj4D0_CUOzLLZhqhmcu2Dglp7A">young people</a>.</p>
<p>Significant numbers of males have perpetrated sexual violence. For example, close to one-third (29%) of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1524838019860619?casa_token=PchjRf4zt1cAAAAA:VBGC7c6gtIc7YSbH7QoFdx1fy47szb1ZfQOqtezNrsenXxlr0ZqYf8xPuTfRI7nZEJfSdfxp8IHo">men at universities in the USA and Canada</a> reported having perpetrated sexual violence. In <a href="http://www.svri.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2018-05-09/Why%20do%20some%20men%20use%20violence%20against%20women_1.pdf">a multi-country self-report study</a> in the Asia-Pacific, proportions of men reporting they had perpetrated some form of rape against a woman or girl ranged from 10% to 62%.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pregnant-women-are-at-increased-risk-of-domestic-violence-in-all-cultural-groups-95048">Pregnant women are at increased risk of domestic violence in all cultural groups</a>
</strong>
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<h2>Perpetrators in society</h2>
<p>People’s use of violence often starts young. Substantial proportions of adolescents perpetrate dating violence against their intimate partners and ex-partners. US studies find the average age of first perpetration of sexual violence by males <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-017-0810-4">is 16</a>.</p>
<p>Few perpetrators are held to account for their crimes. The vast majority of perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137356192_3">do not ever come</a> to the attention of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1158136018300379">police or legal systems</a>.</p>
<p>Perpetration is driven by risk factors at the individual, relationship, and community levels. Prevention efforts must address <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359178915000828">childhood exposure</a> to domestic and family violence, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15248380211030224">violent</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128192023000134">sexist</a> norms, peers’ <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128192023000092">condoning of violence</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29333974/">community disadvantage</a>, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128192023000043">other factors</a>.</p>
<p>We need to know far more about perpetrators and perpetration. We <a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/centre-for-justice/wp-content/uploads/sites/304/2021/06/Michael-Flood-briefing-paper-issue-13.pdf">need national data</a> on the extent and character of people’s use of domestic and sexual violence. We need <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jomf.12652?casa_token=KslqCHMkT-8AAAAA%3ALi00prlQntGpqDsXUOKBH86gG6g_0kXBlk15L8dMcQrpQlRcw-l-pZ-NzBW4vO4PtWoNT2P84mXaqSM">well-designed methods</a> that capture the character, breadth, severity, impact, and contexts of violence perpetration. We need research on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/10790632221091193?casa_token=Wb-UplImOv8AAAAA:j3aya9-WH-zoiJWmGRvnlc0LItfZdulujuFhiSjYu0GyiO14fOQyMINrpHbR5_8i7NB5ufXWD7M0">female and LGBT</a> perpetrators and on diverse forms of violence. We need to know more about the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128192023000043">risk</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1524838012470031?casa_token=YVWPMwKDn3cAAAAA:rCua9zDw8nIrHCAGlo1oL34Hk36DVhBzBk9PLNokhIeiEXcd3bJKT2aERiybYSpLrjlmFHVAkpUa">protective</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-013-9907-7">factors</a> that either feed into perpetration or protect against it.</p>
<p>Without this information we do not know where best to target interventions against perpetration effectively, when to intervene early, and whether Australia’s efforts to reduce the use of violence are making progress. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-who-suffer-domestic-violence-fare-much-worse-financially-after-separating-from-their-partner-new-data-190047">Women who suffer domestic violence fare much worse financially after separating from their partner: new data</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Flood has received funding from the Australia Research Council, Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute Foundation, Jesuit Social Services, Victorian Government, and Victorian Health Promotion Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chay Brown receives funding from ANROWS and the Australian National University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lula Dembele received payment from QUT (who was sponsored by PwC) as co-author of the report this article references. Lula is affiliated with the Independent Collective of Survivors. Lula is sole director of Accountability Matters Project Pty Ltd, lived experience consultant for ANROWS, lived experience advisor for the Department of Health and the Department of Social Services, and works for the Women's Trauma Recovery Centre, as Director Lived Expertise, Government Relations, and Advocacy. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsti Mills does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The State of Knowledge Report on Violence Perpetration, released today, reviews the current data and research on who perpetrates domestic, family, and sexual violence.Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of TechnologyChay Brown, Research and Partnerships Manager, The Equality Institute, & Postdoctoral fellow, Australian National UniversityKirsti Mills, Research Assistant, Queensland University of TechnologyLula Dembele, Lived experience research assistant, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1980712023-02-02T01:49:07Z2023-02-02T01:49:07ZWe’re missing opportunities to identify domestic violence perpetrators. This is what needs to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506714/original/file-20230127-27-jtz7er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4230%2C2817&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Identifying perpetrators of domestic and family violence is critical to ending violence against women.</p>
<p>Practitioners across different sectors, including mental health, alcohol and drug services, have a vital opportunity to “screen” clients to identify if they’ve experienced or perpetrated domestic violence.</p>
<p>However, our <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/Domestic_and_family_violence_perpetrator_screening_and_risk_assessment_Current_practice_and_future_opportunities/21905868">new research</a> reveals practitioners across a range of services are missing opportunities to identify people who choose to perpetrate violence.</p>
<p>The research, funded by the Australian Institute of Criminology and led by Griffith University’s Silke Meyer, reveals there’s significant work to be done to embed screening practices across a range of different services.</p>
<p>States and territory governments across Australia have repeatedly committed to increasing perpetrator accountability. This research shows we need to improve the training of practitioners across various sectors to ensure perpetrators are consistently identified at the earliest opportunity.</p>
<h2>Identifying and assessing risk</h2>
<p>People who perpetrate domestic violence routinely come into contact with a range of services for other, often co-occurring issues, such as mental health concerns. Each contact with a service presents an opportunity to screen for perpetrators of such violence, and to support the safety of victim-survivors. </p>
<p>Screening for potential perpetrators involves practitioners reviewing available information and asking questions. It can require them to identify warning signs that may signal the perpetration of violence. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/see-what-you-made-me-do-why-its-time-to-focus-on-the-perpetrator-when-tackling-domestic-violence-119298">See What You Made Me Do: why it's time to focus on the perpetrator when tackling domestic violence</a>
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<p>Practitioners use <a href="https://dfvbenchbook.aija.org.au/dynamics-of-domestic-and-family-violence/factors-affecting-risk/or">risk assessment tools</a>, such as <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/family-violence-multi-agency-risk-assessment-and-management-framework">Victoria’s Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework</a>, as well as their professional judgement. This is highly skilled and challenging work.</p>
<p>Without effective screening and risk assessment practices, people who perpetrate violence may go undetected, may not be referred to intervention services, and their ongoing risk of violence remains unaddressed.</p>
<p>Our research found missed opportunities are evident in child protection, health settings, mental health settings, drug and alcohol interventions, and in corrections.</p>
<h2>We need to invest more in training</h2>
<p>Our findings demonstrate that enhancing specialist training increases practitioners’ likelihood of screening. Yet practitioners in our study reflected on the often limited training available. One corrections staff member commented:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>People coming into our agency generally don’t have a good understanding of domestic and family violence, and it’s something that they’re learning either on the job or through a DV person […] There’s nothing really consistent, as a whole agency.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Practitioners consistently said they want more domestic violence training. This will require substantive investment in specialist workforce training across all relevant service sectors. </p>
<p><a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/Domestic_and_family_violence_perpetrator_screening_and_risk_assessment_Current_practice_and_future_opportunities/21905868">In our study</a>, mental health practitioners were least likely to report regular screening of clients for potential domestic violence perpetration. Practitioners described mental health services, in particular emergency settings and crisis responses, as fast-paced and under-resourced.</p>
<p>A mental health practitioner told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Everybody’s under the pump, and you just see people […] meeting just the bare minimum to cover your back and meeting the minimum standards.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This environment increases the likelihood that perpetrators will be missed. </p>
<p>Increased resources, specialist training, and improved information sharing across the mental health system as well as other services is needed to ensure perpetrators are more consistently identified, their risks assessed and monitored.</p>
<p>Also, the need for improved practices doesn’t stop at the point of identifying risk. Practitioners in our study said there are limited services available for referrals. There’s a need for more early intervention referral options for domestic violence perpetrators. </p>
<p>The study also highlights the importance of organisational leadership and the need to prioritise risk assessment of domestic violence as “core business”. Practitioners in these service settings are well placed to screen potential perpetrators for use of violence. Embedding this in everyday practice will ensure screening occurs at every opportunity. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1542317811770396672"}"></div></p>
<h2>Achieving perpetrator accountability</h2>
<p>This study <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/Domestic_and_family_violence_perpetrator_screening_and_risk_assessment_in_Queensland_Current_practice_and_future_opportunities/21906216">focused on Queensland</a> and to a lesser extent Victoria. However, the research findings have national importance.</p>
<p>Launched in 2022, <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/women-programs-services-reducing-violence/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032">Australia’s National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032</a> includes a key principle to hold perpetrators to account. To achieve this goal we must ensure they’re identified at every opportunity. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-end-gender-based-violence-in-one-generation-we-must-fix-how-the-system-responds-to-children-and-young-people-192839">To end gender-based violence in one generation, we must fix how the system responds to children and young people</a>
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<p>Australian governments are currently preparing the first five-year Action Plan. This strategy will identify the actions needed to progress the National Plan’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">goal to eliminate gender-based violence in one generation</a>. Our research highlights why consistent and improved screening and risk assessment processes must be included.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by the Australian Institute of Criminology. Nicola also receives funding for family violence related research from No to Violence and Family Safety Victoria. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study was funded by the Australian Institute of Criminology.
Kate also receives funding for family violence related research from the Australian Research Council, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Victorian Government and the Department of Social Services. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her capacity as Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and are wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as Chair of Respect Victoria.</span></em></p>Our research found missed opportunities are evident in child protection, health settings, mental health settings, drug and alcohol interventions, and in corrections.Nicola Helps, Research fellow, Monash UniversityKate Fitz-Gibbon, Director, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1987622023-01-31T02:11:57Z2023-01-31T02:11:57ZVictoria has implemented all 227 recommendations from its royal commission into family violence. So was it a success?<p>In 2016, the <a href="http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/Report-Recommendations.html">Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence</a> released its findings following an exhaustive 13-month inquiry. In it were 227 recommendations to completely transform the state’s family violence services.</p>
<p>The royal commission <a href="http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/Community-Consultations.html">involved</a> more than 1,000 written submissions, 44 group sessions attended by some 850 people, and 25 days of public hearings. </p>
<p>It is widely regarded as the largest family violence reform process in Australia’s history. In the past seven years, many have looked to Victoria to gauge what a multi-billion-dollar government commitment to reform can deliver. </p>
<p>Last week, with relatively little fanfare, the <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/230128-Landmark-Royal-Commission-Recommendations-Implemented.pdf?utm_source=miragenews&utm_medium=miragenews&utm_campaign=news">Victorian government announced</a> it has now implemented all 227 recommendations. </p>
<p>Does this mean the royal commission was a success? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/royal-commission-calls-for-complete-overhaul-of-victorias-family-violence-services-and-responses-56034">Royal commission calls for complete overhaul of Victoria's family violence services and responses</a>
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<h2>Have rates of family violence gone down?</h2>
<p>With <a href="https://www.budget.vic.gov.au/ending-family-violence">$3.7 billion invested</a> in the reforms, it is fair to question what has been achieved. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. Rates of family violence and violence against women in Victoria and across Australia remain stubbornly high. </p>
<p><a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/Responding_to_the_shadow_pandemic_practitioner_views_on_the_nature_of_and_responses_to_violence_against_women_in_Victoria_Australia_during_the_COVID-19_restrictions/12433517">Research has found</a> the severity and frequency of intimate partner violence intensified during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. By that point in the reform agenda, many had hoped the state would be starting to see decreasing prevalence rates.</p>
<p>It is critical the Victorian government and others do not view continued high rates of family violence as a failure of the royal commission, and the state continues to invest in efforts to address the issue. </p>
<p>Family violence is a much bigger problem than any one reform cycle. </p>
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<h2>What was achieved?</h2>
<p>Undoubtedly, much has been achieved in Victoria since the royal commission. This is due to the hard work of the family violence sector, victim-survivor advocates and practitioners, alongside the government’s funding and commitment to deliver, especially on the big-ticket reforms. </p>
<p>Among the significant reforms from the royal commission that have been implemented:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/family-violence-information-sharing-scheme">Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme</a>, which enables sharing of information between organisations to support family violence risk assessment and management </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/family-violence-multi-agency-risk-assessment-and-management">a new framework</a> that supports practitioners to effectively identify, assess and manage family violence risk </p></li>
<li><p>the creation of specialist family violence courts</p></li>
<li><p>the introduction of the <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/victim-survivors-advisory-council">Victim-Survivors Advisory Council</a> to ensure individuals with lived experience are consulted in the ongoing delivery of the reforms</p></li>
<li><p>and the establishment of <a href="https://www.respectvictoria.vic.gov.au">Respect Victoria</a>, an organisation dedicated to the prevention of violence against women and family violence. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Many of these are nationally leading reforms seeking to deliver a more connected service system based on the principles of victim-survivor safety and perpetrator accountability.</p>
<p>While marking these achievements is important, the royal commission’s reforms should be viewed as the first step in a much longer commitment to end family violence. </p>
<p>Here are four lessons we believe are important as the Victorian government plans its next steps:</p>
<h2>1. We need ongoing strategic vision and leadership</h2>
<p>Creating a cohesive reform agenda out of the sheer size of the recommendations was a formidable task. There were many <a href="https://www.fvrim.vic.gov.au/first-report-parliament-1-november-2017">problems</a> in the early implementation phase. Among them was a tick-box approach to the reforms at the expense of an overarching strategic approach to implementation. </p>
<p>Strong leadership is now critical to ensure women’s safety remains a core government focus as we emerge from the pandemic. Victim-survivors may now be able to access a more connected system compared with seven years ago, and the risks they face should now be more apparent to practitioners. But undoubtedly violence continues at unacceptable rates. </p>
<h2>2. We must not lose sight of prevention</h2>
<p>The royal commission’s recommendations were heavily weighted towards response measures. That is, how family violence is responded to once it has occurred. </p>
<p>Prevention, on the other hand, encompasses work that aims to stop violence from happening in the first place. While it was the focus of fewer recommendations, it is absolutely essential.</p>
<p>Tackling the underlying drivers of violence must be at the forefront of future efforts. Prevention is one of four pillars in the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/ending-violence">National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children</a>. To align with the national plan, the next steps in Victoria must by focus on whole-of-society prevention measures and early intervention, alongside the need to build a system that supports victim-survivors’ recovery and healing. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1581766931077812224"}"></div></p>
<h2>3. We need a coordinated, national approach</h2>
<p>A key challenge of combating family violence is its complexity. Family violence intersects with many other problems, such as mental health, housing and homelessness, alcohol and drug use. Responses to family violence can involve many different government departments, service settings and jurisdictions.</p>
<p>Such complexity requires a coordinated approach led at the national level but with significant resource commitment from every state and territory. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/ending-violence">The national plan</a>, which has bipartisan commitment, will hopefully guide and coordinate the much needed ongoing action. </p>
<h2>4. We need to focus attention on child victim-survivors</h2>
<p>The royal commission’s report referred to children as the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/silent-victims-royal-commission-recommends-better-protections-for-child-victims-of-family-violence-56801">silent victims</a>” of family violence. </p>
<p>There were only a small number of recommendations directly targeted at improving responses to children who are victims of family violence. As we move forward, it is critical <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-end-gender-based-violence-in-one-generation-we-must-fix-how-the-system-responds-to-children-and-young-people-192839">children are viewed as victim-survivors in their own right</a>. </p>
<p>To achieve this, we need to train practitioners and provide more resources to services that are geared toward children and young people who have experienced family violence. </p>
<p>We will not <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-end-gender-based-violence-in-one-generation-we-must-fix-how-the-system-responds-to-children-and-young-people-192839">eliminate violence in one generation</a> without bringing the children and young people clearly into focus.</p>
<h2>Where to next?</h2>
<p>These overarching lessons merely scratch the surface of what can be learned from this world-leading commitment to end family violence. </p>
<p>Last year was another horrific year for violence against women. A woman in Australia was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/24/horrific-decade-high-number-of-women-killed-in-december-demands-serious-investment-in-prevention">killed by male violence</a> every six days. We must do better. </p>
<p>The national plan and the ongoing commitments by state governments give us a good chance to reduce this number, but the work needs to be driven by a transformational vision, funding commensurate with the scale of the crisis, and greater inclusion of victim-survivors to inform policy and practice. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">A new national plan aims to end violence against women and children 'in one generation'. Can it succeed?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198762/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate receives funding for family violence related research from the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Victorian Government and the Department of Social Services. In 2021 Kate led the National Plan Stakeholder and Victim-Survivor Advocates Consultation Projects. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her capacity as Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and are wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as Chair of Respect Victoria.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Buys does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many have looked to Victoria to gauge what a multi-billion-dollar government commitment to family violence reform can deliver.Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Director, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash UniversityRebecca Buys, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1951972022-12-07T04:45:47Z2022-12-07T04:45:47ZFamily violence can include fire threats and burning. We can do more to protect women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499385/original/file-20221206-26-41dnqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=95%2C344%2C4793%2C2909&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-depressed-woman-domestic-rape-violencebeaten-1022172910">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Using fire and burning, and threats to burn, as part of family violence is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10345329.2022.2095794?journalCode=rcic20">more common</a> than many people realise. These tools and tactics are used to <a href="https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/defining-and-responding-to-coercive-control/">coercively control</a> a partner or ex-partner. </p>
<p>Recent legal cases highlight the issue. As one of several acts of family violence against his partner, <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/nsw/NSWDC/2020/210.html">Brett</a> doused her in diesel and set her hair alight. Similarly, one of <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSCA/2014/222.html">Michael’s</a> acts of violence against his partner was to splash her with turpentine and threaten to “watch her burn”. </p>
<p>Other acts of family violence include burning the survivor’s <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VCC/2021/701.html">clothing</a> or her <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VCC/2021/1600.html">furniture</a>.</p>
<p>Yet the threat of fire and burning isn’t routinely considered by police and family violence safety services in their risk assessments and safety planning for women who have experienced family violence. </p>
<h2>How do perpetrators use fire and burning?</h2>
<p>After separation, abusive partners sometimes <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10345329.2022.2095794?journalCode=rcic20">use fire</a> to punish their partners for leaving them. The time soon after <a href="https://dfvbenchbook.aija.org.au/dynamics-of-domestic-and-family-violence/factors-affecting-risk/">separation</a> is particularly risky for survivors. </p>
<p>Rowan Baxter set alight and killed <a href="https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/723664/cif-hannah-clarke-aaliyah-baxter-laianah-baxter-trey-baxter-and-rowan-baxter.pdf">Hannah Clarke</a> and their children soon after they separated. Similarly, recently separated <a href="https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/723372/cif-langham-and-hely.pdf">Doreen Langham</a> and her ex-partner Gary Hely died in a house fire. The coroner found Hely intentionally lit the fire. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-hannah-clarke-inquest-reveals-yet-again-significant-system-failures-heres-whats-urgently-needed-for-womens-safety-186050">The Hannah Clarke inquest reveals, yet again, significant system failures. Here's what's urgently needed for women's safety</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Burns can easily be explained away as an accident, especially to those who are not aware of the connections between family violence and the use of fire and burning. This is particularly a concern where the injured woman is unable to tell her story. </p>
<p>Using, or threatening to use, fire is so dangerous because once ignited it spreads easily. It can cause extreme damage, pain, and trauma and, if the woman survives, the <a href="https://burnstrauma.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41038-019-0163-2">impact of injuries</a> can be lifelong.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Smoke alarm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499389/original/file-20221206-21-w85ujq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499389/original/file-20221206-21-w85ujq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499389/original/file-20221206-21-w85ujq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499389/original/file-20221206-21-w85ujq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499389/original/file-20221206-21-w85ujq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499389/original/file-20221206-21-w85ujq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499389/original/file-20221206-21-w85ujq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Perpetrators of family violence sometimes use fire and burning to coercively control or punish their partner or former partner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smoke-detector-interlinked-fire-alarm-action-2044171184">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The use of fire and burning has long been identified as a form of family violence in South Asian countries. In India, for example, a very <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.rhm.2016.05.004">high proportion of deaths</a> from fire are acknowledged as likely to be associated with family violence. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2516602620959060">Kerosene burning</a> is considered a unique form of family violence in India. </p>
<p>However, burn-related violence against women and girls has been reported from countries across the world, regardless of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15248380211048445">national income</a>. Perpetrators of burn-related violence are mostly the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15248380211048445">partners or ex-partners</a> of injured women. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-clinical-psychiatrist-reveals-how-indian-women-in-australia-experience-family-violence-and-how-to-combat-it-184468">A clinical psychiatrist reveals how Indian women in Australia experience family violence – and how to combat it</a>
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<h2>We need to collect better data</h2>
<p>Australia has been slow to recognise and address the link between family violence and burning or threats to burn. This is, in part, due to limited data collection. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305417918305783">small Australian study</a> is the exception. This study conducted at the Royal Darwin Hospital, found women were more likely to be burnt, or were threatened with burning, during interpersonal violence, compared to men. Over 80% of the victims who suffered burns in this context required surgery, with many requiring skin grafts. </p>
<p>However, there’s more we can do right now. Existing burns data held in emergency clinics across Australia should be analysed to identify the links. This would provide a greater understanding of how common this form of family violence really is. </p>
<h2>Assessing the threat</h2>
<p>We should develop our risk assessment tools so those who provide support to survivors of family violence – such as police, health workers and family violence support workers – recognise fire and burning threats.</p>
<p>Threats to cause harm are recognised in <a href="https://dfvbenchbook.aija.org.au/dynamics-of-domestic-and-family-violence/factors-affecting-risk/or">Australian risk assessment tools</a> but they do not consider fire and burning threats. For example, while threats to cause harm are recognised in Victoria’s <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/family-violence-multi-agency-risk-assessment-and-management-framework">Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework</a>, fire and burning threats are not mentioned. </p>
<p>Improved recognition of the risk of fire, burning and threats to burn may have positive implications for safety planning and prevention. This might include arranging alternative housing, upgrading smoke alarms and disposing of fire accelerants. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Social talks to young woman" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499390/original/file-20221207-23-frkdm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499390/original/file-20221207-23-frkdm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499390/original/file-20221207-23-frkdm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499390/original/file-20221207-23-frkdm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499390/original/file-20221207-23-frkdm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499390/original/file-20221207-23-frkdm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499390/original/file-20221207-23-frkdm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Risk assessment tools should identify the threat of fire and burning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-teacher-therapist-social-worker-talking-2113724357">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Notably, in risk assessments undertaken by police before Doreen Langham’s death, fire threat was not identified. However, her ex-partner, Gary Hely, had previously been investigated for setting fire to another ex-partner’s home just five years earlier. </p>
<p>If Hely’s suspected fire setting had been identified as a risk factor, the history might have been uncovered and more appropriate safety planning undertaken. This might have saved her.</p>
<h2>Fire services have an important role</h2>
<p>Australian fire services could play an enhanced role in preventing, recognising and responding to fire related family violence. We could model the approach of England, where fire services have been part of the family safety response for more than ten years. </p>
<p>English fire service representatives contribute to family violence risk assessments and are represented in <a href="https://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/public-safety/campaigns/awareness-campaigns/domestic-abuse">high-risk teams</a> working with survivors to keep them safe. English fire services also provide enhanced home fire safety checks for those who are identified to be at risk. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-family-violence-young-women-are-too-often-ignored-190547">When it comes to family violence, young women are too often ignored</a>
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<p>Australian fire services do not collect data that allows identification of connections between fire and family violence. Collection of this type of data would be useful in improving understanding, recognition and prevention of family violence related fire incidents. The Victorian fire service, for instance, doesn’t include intentional arson deaths when publishing <a href="https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=WTWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.weeklytimesnow.com.au%2Fnews%2Fvictoria%2Ffire-fatalities-frv-excludes-deliberately-lit-fires%2Fnews-story%2F1c10e46fb67f4cd0e59cfba51e50338c&memtype">statistics on arson deaths</a>. Yet this is important information. </p>
<p>An enhanced role for fire services would require employees receive family violence training so they can recognise family violence, know how to properly secure any potential crime scene and how to respond to, and work with, survivors. Fire service staff should also have access to <a href="https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/report/staff-wellbeing-fire-rescue-victoria?section=">mental health support</a> after attending family violence related fires. </p>
<p>Fire services aren’t currently part of Australia’s family violence safety system, but including them could save lives.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, contact <a href="https://1800respect.org.au/">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732). In an emergency, call 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Douglas receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Singer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The threat of fire and burning as a tool of family violence isn’t routinely assessed and addressed in Australia.Heather Douglas, Professor of Law, The University of MelbourneYvonne Singer, BRANZ Research Fellow/Burns Program Coordinator, Victorian Adult Burn Service, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1942492022-11-10T04:09:03Z2022-11-10T04:09:03ZFirst Nations women are 69 times more likely to have a head injury after being assaulted. We show how hard it is to get help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494551/original/file-20221110-17-4yfpkn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1000%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-sitting-on-ground-arm-holding-461451844">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>First Nations people, please be advised that the following article mentions family violence and assault.</em></p>
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<p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2008/188/10/hospitalisation-head-injury-due-assault-among-indigenous-and-non-indigenous">69 times more likely</a> than non-First Nations women to go to hospital with a head injury because of an assault.</p>
<p>But not all First Nations women get the support they need.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14744">Our new study</a> shows how health and support services working in remote areas are not equipped with the tools to identify the potential of a head injury for women who experience violence.</p>
<p>Not only are service workers not asking women about a potential traumatic brain injury, there’s a lack of referral options, and often no diagnosis, limiting women’s access to services and supports for recovery.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/four-corners-how-many-more-reveals-the-nations-crisis-of-indigenous-women-missing-and-murdered-193216">Four Corners' 'How many more?' reveals the nation's crisis of Indigenous women missing and murdered</a>
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<h2>What is traumatic brain injury?</h2>
<p>Head injuries after an assault range from cuts and bruises to the type that can cause longer-term damage, known as traumatic brain injury. </p>
<p>Traumatic brain injury <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003999310006507">is defined as</a> damage to, or alteration of, brain function due to a blow or force to the head. Non-fatal strangulation can also lead to <a href="https://www.biausa.org/public-affairs/media/strangulation-domestic-violence-and-brain-injury-an-introduction-to-a-complex-topic">brain injury</a> as the brain is deprived of oxygen.</p>
<p>Such injury can have short-term (acute) effects or cumulative effects (over months or years). Changes vary from person to person but can include memory loss, difficulty with motivation, impaired awareness, sensory problems, mood changes and anxiety. </p>
<p>Some types of traumatic brain injury are also a <a href="https://theconversation.com/having-a-brain-injury-does-not-mean-youll-get-dementia-97254">risk factor</a> for early onset dementia.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-traumatic-brain-injury-75546">Explainer: what is traumatic brain injury?</a>
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<h2>We’re talking about family violence</h2>
<p>Our work tries to understand the needs and priorities of First Nations women who have experienced a traumatic brain injury due to family violence.</p>
<p>Timely and culturally safe care, and support, following such brain injury is vital. But not all First Nations women <a href="https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-australians-want-care-after-brain-injury-but-it-must-consider-their-cultural-needs-115128">get access</a> to it.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1542331369497366533"}"></div></p>
<p>So, in early 2022, we spoke to 38 professionals from various sectors – including health, crisis accommodation and support, disability, family violence, and legal services – working across remote areas of the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>The data offers insights into the barriers that can prevent people asking First Nations women about possible brain injury, and women’s access to health care afterwards.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-australians-want-care-after-brain-injury-but-it-must-consider-their-cultural-needs-115128">Aboriginal Australians want care after brain injury. But it must consider their cultural needs</a>
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<h2>Often, there’s no follow-up</h2>
<p>Participants told us that while the more severe cases were evacuated from a remote community to a hospital, less-severe cases were not always followed up.</p>
<p>One participant told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Women are often not evac-ed out following a head injury, if it’s assessed to not be an urgent thing, so might not necessarily be getting CT scans.</p>
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<p>CT scans can help inform diagnosis, treatment and support. </p>
<p>Service providers were also often unaware of follow-up pathways to identify and connect women with the right supports, should they have ongoing symptoms.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541936693799833600"}"></div></p>
<h2>A fly-in, fly out workforce</h2>
<p>Participants told us that high workforce turnover and <a href="https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-017-0229-9">fly-in, fly-out health services</a> in remote regions could also affect identification of traumatic brain injury.</p>
<p>They told us short-term staff can lack knowledge and familiarity of working in remote communities, and in building community relationships.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fly-in-fly-out-heath-care-fails-remote-aboriginal-communities-7948">Fly-in, fly-out heath care fails remote Aboriginal communities</a>
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<h2>Lack of referral, diagnosis, training</h2>
<p>Not all women were referred to neuropsychologists (health professionals who might assess symptoms), which led to gaps in medical reports and formalised assessments. One participant told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t know any who actually have a confirmed diagnosis.</p>
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<p>This has implications for how women are managed and the supports they receive.</p>
<p>None of the staff we interviewed had completed training about traumatic brain injury. One told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We get ADD [attention-deficit disorder] workshops, we get domestic and family violence workshops, disability support workshops, but nothing around brain injury.</p>
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<p>Other than some legal services, service providers did not ask specific questions of women who had experience violence and assaults about possible traumatic brain injury. </p>
<p>One participant said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’ll screen for domestic violence, but we don’t screen for specific injuries.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What can we do about it?</h2>
<p>As our research shows, First Nations women with traumatic brain injury need better access to support and services, which is critical for their long-term recovery. </p>
<p>Here’s how we support frontline staff:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>design and roll out education about traumatic brain injury to develop staff knowledge and confidence. This education needs to be tailored to the type of frontline staff (remote area nurses will clearly need different education to housing staff), be designed with First Nations input and be culturally appropriate</p></li>
<li><p>ask women about the possibility of traumatic brain injury as part of existing family violence and health assessments</p></li>
<li><p>ask culturally appropriate questions that are not meant to diagnose traumatic brain injury, but help to identify cognitive impairment and complex disability </p></li>
<li><p>explore different ways of delivering rehabilitation for mild traumatic brain injury, and whether telehealth might be appropriate under some circumstances.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Giving a voice to First Nations women living with traumatic brain injury is also crucial to providing the necessary supports during their rehabilitation and recovery.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, contact <a href="https://1800respect.org.au">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732) or <a href="https://www.13yarn.org.au/">13YARN</a> (13 92 76). In an emergency, call 000.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>Dr Gail Kingston (Townsville Hospital and Health Service) and Elaine Wills (Western Sydney University and Menzies School of Health Research) are co-authors of the journal paper on which this article is based. The authors would like to thank members of the project advisory group and all participants who shared their time and knowledge.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194249/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Fitts receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Cullen receives funding from the Department of Social Services and the NDIS. She is the CEO of Synapse Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Soldatic receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council. </span></em></p>Health and service workers are not asking women about a potential traumatic brain injury, there’s a lack of referral options, and often no diagnosis.Michelle Fitts, ARC DECRA Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityJennifer Cullen, Adjunct Associate Professor, College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook UniversityKaren Soldatic, Professor, School of Social Sciences & Institute Principle Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1914972022-10-31T19:02:23Z2022-10-31T19:02:23ZThis Melbourne Cup, alcohol and sport collide. We need to watch out for domestic violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490762/original/file-20221020-25-1bq09z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1914%2C1279&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-squeezing-a-woman-s-shoulder-4379914/">Karolina Grabowska/Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not everyone looks forward to the Melbourne Cup. Domestic violence and emergency services ready themselves for a <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/%7E/media/resourcecentre/publicationsandresources/alcohol%20misuse/drinkingcultures-sportingevents/fullreport_drinkingcultures-sportingevents_vichealth-turningpoint.ashx">potential increase</a> in calls, call-outs and admissions.</p>
<p>But as our recent <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hsc.14028">review shows</a>, the Melbourne Cup isn’t the only major sporting event around the world linked to a rise in domestic violence. </p>
<p>Not everyone agrees on why this is happening. We show alcohol is just one factor.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-melbourne-cup-still-the-race-that-stops-the-nation-or-are-we-saying-nuptothecup-170801">Is the Melbourne Cup still the race that stops the nation – or are we saying #nuptothecup?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s going on?</h2>
<p>Police-recorded assaults and emergency department presentations for assault <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/%7E/media/resourcecentre/publicationsandresources/alcohol%20misuse/drinkingcultures-sportingevents/fullreport_drinkingcultures-sportingevents_vichealth-turningpoint.ashx">increase</a> on or around the major sporting events in Victoria – the AFL grand final, Melbourne Cup and Formula 1.</p>
<p>In particular, domestic violence assaults <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/%7E/media/resourcecentre/publicationsandresources/alcohol%20misuse/drinkingcultures-sportingevents/fullreport_drinkingcultures-sportingevents_vichealth-turningpoint.ashx">rise significantly</a> on the day of the Melbourne Cup.</p>
<p>In New South Wales, police data across six years shows domestic violence assaults increased <a href="http://fare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/The-association-between-State-of-Origin-and-assaults-in-two-Australian-states-noEM.pdf">by more than 40%</a> following State of Origin rugby league games compared with non-State of Origin nights.</p>
<p>Our review also shows domestic violence <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hsc.14028">increases</a> on days of, and around, major sporting events around the world. This includes major National Football League games in the United States and Canada, and soccer matches in Scotland.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whether-teams-win-or-lose-sporting-events-lead-to-spikes-in-violence-against-women-and-children-99686">Whether teams win or lose, sporting events lead to spikes in violence against women and children</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why is this happening?</h2>
<p>Not everyone agrees on why domestic violence is linked with major sporting events. We know perpetrators are more likely to use violence or become more violent <a href="https://web.archive.org.au/awa/20090129005223mp_/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/93593/20090129-1148/Stakeholder+paper_2.pdf">during public holidays</a> in Australia. Both the AFL grand final and the Melbourne Cup receive a dedicated public holiday in Victoria on or around the event.</p>
<p>Alcohol is certainly a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/add.15485">risk factor</a> for increased frequency and severity of domestic violence. The use of alcohol during major sports events and over holidays is <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/%7E/media/resourcecentre/publicationsandresources/alcohol%20misuse/drinkingcultures-sportingevents/fullreport_drinkingcultures-sportingevents_vichealth-turningpoint.ashx">well documented</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/the-relationship-between-gambling-and-intimate-partner-violence-against-women/">gambling</a> and stress over income loss is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1524838014561269">also linked to </a> the increased use and escalation of domestic violence. These too can occur around the time of events, such as the Melbourne Cup.</p>
<p>But focusing on alcohol and gambling alone runs the risk of such violence <a href="https://media-cdn.ourwatch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/18101814/Change-the-story-Our-Watch-AA.pdf">being excused</a>. This focus can send the message that men cannot be held entirely responsible for their behaviour.</p>
<h2>A sport’s culture</h2>
<p>A sport’s culture can also be a <a href="https://xyonline.net/sites/xyonline.net/files/Flood%20Dyson%2C%20Sport%20and%20violence%20against%20women%2007.pdf">contributing factor</a> to domestic violence. Sport, violence, and what it means to be a man have long been recognised as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29338922/">connected</a>. For instance, coaches <a href="https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/boys-will-be-boys-assessing-attitudes-of-athletic-officials-on-sexism-and-violence-against-women">promote aggression</a> for performance.</p>
<p>There’s also an <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hsc.14028">emotive connection</a> to sport. Sport fans display “irrational passions”, maintain “blind optimism”, have “highly charged” memories and passion that mimic “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.smr.2009.07.002">addiction</a>”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toughen-up-snowflake-sports-coaches-can-be-emotionally-abusive-heres-how-to-recognise-it-110267">Toughen up snowflake! Sports coaches can be emotionally abusive – here's how to recognise it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hsc.14028">our review</a> also showed that not all sports or their events are associated with domestic violence. Each sits within a culture that differs from sport to sport and country to country. </p>
<p>Some studies we reviewed showed that contact sports, such as <a href="https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/126/1/103/1903433?login=true">American football</a>, were associated with increases in domestic violence. Meanwhile, other contact sports, for instance, rugby union in the United Kingdom, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620306766?via%3Dihub">were not</a>. </p>
<p>Soccer is a non-contact sport but was linked to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022427813494843">increased rates</a> of domestic violence in the UK. Traditional rivalry between opposing soccer teams had a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obes.12105">significant impact</a> on domestic violence rates.</p>
<p>Perhaps emotionally charged games may best indicate whether an increased rate in domestic violence is likely. Examples include finals, or when a team is close to winning or losing a league. Frustrating or controversial outcomes, such as poor play or refereeing decisions, may also predict a rise in domestic violence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Soccer fan raising fist while watching soccer match" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490823/original/file-20221020-18-n71vxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490823/original/file-20221020-18-n71vxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490823/original/file-20221020-18-n71vxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490823/original/file-20221020-18-n71vxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490823/original/file-20221020-18-n71vxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490823/original/file-20221020-18-n71vxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490823/original/file-20221020-18-n71vxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frustrating or controversial outcomes, such as poor play or refereeing decisions, may also predict a rise in domestic violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-red-and-blue-top-raising-left-hand-54308/">Pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An unexpected loss, for example, is connected with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjr001">increased domestic violence</a> rates, more so if that game is also considered important, for example during finals or potentially exiting a World Cup. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620306766?via%3Dihub">a UK study</a> found that alcohol-related domestic violence significantly increased only when England won, not when they lost or drew. So losing is not necessarily the key factor.</p>
<p>Drinking motives may come into play here, with different supporters drinking (more) <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-four-types-of-drinker-which-one-are-you-89377">to celebrate or to cope</a>.</p>
<p>When taken together, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.15485?af=R">we can conclude</a> it’s the culture of a particular sport in a particular country, exaggerated by keen rivalry, how emotionally charged a game might be, and when the game is played, that can predict a rise in domestic violence. That’s in addition to increased gambling or alcohol use linked to these events.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sport-can-tackle-violence-against-women-and-girls-107886">How sport can tackle violence against women and girls</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can we do about it?</h2>
<p>Policies to address domestic violence associated with sport need to be tailored to the places where an event is taking place and how a country’s, or even state’s, culture influences sporting fans’ behaviour. </p>
<p>We need to think about:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>when major sporting events are scheduled (ideally away from public holidays)</p></li>
<li><p>limiting alcohol availability and increased prices, particularly during major events</p></li>
<li><p>joint planning across police, health and specialist domestic violence services ahead of major sporting events</p></li>
<li><p>developing social marketing campaigns for fans to coincide with
with sporting events, such as the AFL grand final’s #liftyourgame. Such campaigns need to be free of alcohol and gambling sponsorship.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1573099860437385223"}"></div></p>
<p>Initiatives need to be developed with support from policy makers, state, and national sports organisations, as well as specialist domestic violence and emergency services. </p>
<p>They need to be effectively tailored to the sport, its fans, and the cultural context being targeted. They need to happen now and be evaluated.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, contact: <a href="https://1800respect.org.au">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732), <a href="https://www.safesteps.org.au">Safe Steps</a> (1800 015 188), <a href="https://ntv.org.au">Men’s Referral Service</a> (1300 766 491) or <a href="https://mensline.org.au">Mensline</a> (1300 78 99 78). In an emergency, call 000.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>William Douglas, policy and projects officer at <a href="https://ntv.org.au">No to Violence</a> co-authored this article and is a partner in the research mentioned in it.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsty Forsdike currently receives funding from the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions of the Victorian Government to research the prevention of violence against women through sport and has previously received funding from the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation to explore violence against women in sport. She also receives funding from the Victorian State Government Crime Prevention Innovation Fund and has previously received funding from the Department of Social Services, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Respect Victoria and Department of Social Services.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne-Marie Laslett receives funding from the
Australian Research Council and
*veski
*The Victorian Near-miss Award Pilot is being administered by veski for the Victorian Health and Medical Research Workforce Project on behalf of the Victorian Government and the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes. Funding for the Pilot has been provided by the Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. The Victorian Near-miss Awards are provided to eligible individuals who narrowly missed out on the 2021 NHMRC Investigator Grant funding in the Emerging Leaders 2 stream.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Associate Professor Leesa Hooker currently receives funding from a Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions Crime Prevention grant. She does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no other relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.</span></em></p>For years, we’ve taken major sporting events, a public holiday, added alcohol and gambling, then watched domestic violence rates rise. It’s time we did something different.Kirsty Forsdike, Senior Lecturer, La Trobe Business School and Senior Researcher in Centre for Sport & Social Impact, La Trobe UniversityAnne-Marie Laslett, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe UniversityLeesa Hooker, Research Director, Rural Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1926202022-10-21T03:58:54Z2022-10-21T03:58:54ZHow ‘closing the gap’ may close doors for First Nations women in new plan to end violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490752/original/file-20221019-26-kn7ouu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C134%2C8167%2C5322&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/aboriginal-australian-family-spends-time-together-royalty-free-image/1396258302?phrase=Aboriginal%20woman%20and%20child&adppopup=true">GettyImages</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ten-year <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/10_2022/national_plan_accessible_version_for_website.pdf">National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children</a> was launched this week.</p>
<p>It is without doubt an important policy for shaping the actions and priorities of all governments to work across <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">four main areas</a> of prevention, early intervention, response, as well as recovery and healing. </p>
<p>The National Plan states there are key government strategies and policies that need to be engaged to progress this work to address family violence. One significant strategy mentioned is <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/">Closing the Gap</a>. The National Plan states,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Addressing the disproportionate rates of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is an urgent national priority, which is why the commitments in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap are embedded across the National Plan.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Closing the Gap already has an <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement/national-agreement-closing-the-gap/7-difference/b-targets/b13">existing target</a> to address family violence. However, according to the Productivity Commission, there has been <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/socioeconomic/outcome-area13">no new data</a> on this target’s progress since the baseline year, 2018-19. </p>
<p>The current proposed alignment between Closing the Gap and the National Plan therefore has the potential to be problematic – partly due to Closing the Gap’s current lack of reportable progress in addressing family violence, but also because linking the two plans could potentially limit access to family violence services for First Nations women seeking help.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-senate-inquiry-into-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-children-prevent-future-deaths-192020">Could the Senate inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and children prevent future deaths?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What does the National Plan say about First Nations people?</h2>
<p>Little is known so far about the specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan contained within the National Plan. Action plans detailing how the National Plan’s vision will be enacted are forthcoming, likely in the next year.</p>
<p>The details released so far indicate the plan will respond to the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/family-violence-indigenous-peoples/summary">disproportionate rate</a> of violence experienced by members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and the specific drivers that contribute to this. These include <a href="https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/media/media-releases/ending-violence-against-women-and-children">rising rates</a> of child protection involvement linked to family violence, and women increasingly being misidentified as perpetrators of violence when they seek assistance.</p>
<p>Navigating these multiple forms of oppression and discrimination add to and worsen Indigenous women’s <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/marlene-longbottom-systemic-responses-continue-to-fail-and-traumatise-aboriginal-women-who-survive-violence/">experiences of violence</a>. Indeed, this speaks clearly to the need for a standalone action plan, and Aboriginal women have been <a href="https://www.croakey.org/an-open-letter-in-response-to-the-lack-of-public-concern-or-response-to-the-killings-of-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-women/">calling for this for some time</a>. </p>
<p>The National Plan acknowledges the significant leadership First Nations people have provided in the development of past plans to address violence in our communities, and the roles we will play in the implementation of the National Plan in our communities. </p>
<p>This is an important acknowledgement, given it has not always been recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been at the <a href="https://www.indigenousjustice.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/mp/files/publications/files/brief012-v1.pdf">forefront</a> of responding to family violence in communities. Despite the heartache that comes with the rising numbers of our women and children dying, Nannas, Aunts, mums, sisters, and also menfolk are <a href="https://www.telethonkids.org.au/globalassets/media/documents/aboriginal-health/working-together-second-edition/wt-part-5-chapt-23-final.pdf">providing care and support</a> to those in need when services are unable to do so.</p>
<p>In its intention to align with Closing the Gap, the National Plan aims to directly and indirectly support six Closing the Gap targets in the areas of justice and out-of-home care systems and suicide reduction.</p>
<p>This strategy for addressing violence against Indigenous women and children with two national plans coming together to meet the one overall objective could lead to more sustainable long-term services and programs in this area. This has been requested of government for a long time. As a Gunbalunya resident stated in the <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/8402">Little Children are Sacred</a>report , “We have a 20-year history of six-month programs.” However, there are also limitations to be considered.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1569929115981221888"}"></div></p>
<h2>It’s a good idea, but there needs to be caution</h2>
<p>We have misgivings about aligning the Closing the Gap strategy with a national plan to address violence against First Nations women and children because Closing the Gap has different objectives to the national plan.</p>
<p>The Closing the Gap <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement">objective</a> is to “enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and governments to work together to overcome the inequality experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and achieve life outcomes equal to all Australians.” However, the latest progress report shows a lot of these objectives aren’t <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/annual-data-report/report#pr">on track</a> to be achieved by their deadlines, and the data on the progress of addressing family violence isn’t even listed. There is a danger the target to end family violence is being, and will continue to be, lost in this list.</p>
<p>Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/2022-wiyi-yani-u-thangani-first-nations-womens-safety-policy-forum-delegate-statement">claims</a> the National Plan will be “committed to putting the voices and aspirations of First Nations women and girls at the centre of plans to improve family safety”. This requires a more specific approach. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1579776668943945728"}"></div></p>
<p>Currently, the family violence services sector is competing for funding. Although Closing the Gap could get select organisations extra funding, it could mean First Nations women get no choice but to be funnelled into Indigenous-only services. This lack of agency could risk women feeling discouraged from disclosing or escaping violence because these services might not work for them. This is based on a range of factors including access to services, safety and privacy in the aftermath of violence. </p>
<p>The Monash Stakeholder Report <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/National_Plan_Stakeholder_Consultation_Final_Report/20304420">speaks to this</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For the National Plan to be successful […] it needs to be something that upholds and preserves the dignity of women. And we do that by centring her as the expert in her life and stepping away, stepping out of the way and allowing her to have choice and agency, that is essential. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is why we must ensure mainstream services are accessible and <a href="https://theconversation.com/boosting-indigenous-only-services-alone-wont-end-aboriginal-family-violence-56923">culturally safe</a> for First Nations women and children.</p>
<p>The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council on family, domestic and sexual violence is currently charged with the responsibility of drafting the First Nations Action Plan. They have been provided with advice from a recent <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/first-nations-women-take-leading-role-addressing-family-and-community">public statement</a> from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO and delegates at a recent policy forum.</p>
<p>The advice <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/delegate_statement_wyut_womens_safety_forum_final_2.pdf">reiterated</a> the importance of Indigenous self-determination. This includes guaranteeing Indigenous women lead in the development and delivery of a standalone plan. Also, the plan should include the voices of First Nations women, gender diverse people, and our families in all their diversity. </p>
<p>Associate Professor, human rights lawyer and Kurin Minang Noongar woman Hannah McGlade has been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-06/jody-gore-release-domestic-violence-indigenous-aboriginal-women/11570042">leading the charge</a> for a standalone strategy for First Nations women for years. She has advocated strongly for this noting, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We will not stay silent. Our lives matter, Black women’s lives matter. Stop this genocide of Indigenous women in our lands and country</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The National Plan states it will promote partnerships to ensure culturally safe mainstream services. To achieve this will require Indigenous-led, trauma-informed approaches to working with Aboriginal families. If we’re wanting to end the violence against First Nations women, our voices need to be included in how we do this.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192620/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>BJ Newton receives funding from the Australian Research Council. Please see her profile page on the UNSW website for the list of current projects. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyllie Cripps has received and is receiving funding from the Australian Research Council for research she has undertaken or is presently undertaking. Please see her UNSW website for full list of projects.</span></em></p>The ten-year National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children is proposing to align with Closing the Gap to address First Nations violence. This could work, but there are limitations.BJ Newton, Senior Research Fellow in Social Policy and Social Work, UNSW SydneyKyllie Cripps, Scientia Associate Professor, School of Law, Society & Criminology, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1928392022-10-20T05:05:04Z2022-10-20T05:05:04ZTo end gender-based violence in one generation, we must fix how the system responds to children and young people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490777/original/file-20221020-19-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouetted-studio-shot-of-boy-and-girl-9794730/">Photo by Ron Lach/Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Federal, state and territory governments this week released Australia’s ten-year <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/ending-violence">National Plan to end Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032</a>, which is framed by the ambitious goal of ending gender-based violence in one generation.</p>
<p>The plan organises governments’ commitments across four domains: prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing. </p>
<p>But there’s a crucial part of the story you might have missed: how and why the plan acknowledges children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right, and what needs to happen next.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6720%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman and child are seen in silhouette against a white background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6720%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490773/original/file-20221020-21-aw3wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One in two young people who experience domestic and family violence during childhood go on to use violence in the home during adolescence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-9-in-10-young-australians-who-use-family-violence-experienced-child-abuse-new-research-190058">Almost 9 in 10 young Australians who use family violence experienced child abuse: new research</a>
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<h2>Children and young people’s experiences of family violence</h2>
<p>Latest <a href="https://anrowsdev.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/RP.20.03-RR1_FitzGibbon-AFVinAus.pdf">Australian data</a> on domestic and family violence show that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>one in two young people who experience domestic and family violence during childhood go on to use violence in the home during adolescence</p></li>
<li><p>of those who report using violence in the home during adolescence, almost nine in ten report childhood experiences of domestic and family violence and other forms of maltreatment. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>This highlights the intergenerational transmission of domestic and family violence. </p>
<p>Ending gender-based violence, including domestic and family violence, requires a clear commitment to ending children’s and young people’s experiences of such violence. </p>
<p>It also requires a clear commitment to providing age-appropriate recovery support and services for children experiencing domestic and family violence.</p>
<p>Childhood experiences of domestic and family violence further increase young people’s <a href="https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/domestic-violence/about/effects-of-dv-on-children#:%7E:text=Studies%20show%20that%20living%20with%20domestic%20violence%20can,aggressive%20towards%20friends%20and%20school%20mates%20More%20items">risk</a> of:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>poor mental health</p></li>
<li><p>suicide</p></li>
<li><p>educational disengagement</p></li>
<li><p>disability and other chronic health problems. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Many of these are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384540/">associated</a> with an increased risk of being a victim or perpetrator of domestic and family violence. </p>
<p>We need not just an acknowledgement of children as victim-survivors in their own right, but also a commitment to boost resourcing of child-centred recovery support. </p>
<p>Every child experiencing violence must have access to recovery support. </p>
<h2>The status quo: children as an extension of their parent</h2>
<p>For too long, system responses to domestic and family violence in Australia have seen children only as extensions of their primary carer. This means we fail to recognise and adequately respond to children’s unique safety, support and recovery needs.</p>
<p>This can make children invisible in relevant risk assessment; assessors may <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004865818760378">miss</a> the specific risk to children’s safety and wellbeing in the context of domestic and family violence. This can lead to preventable harm, injury or even homicide and suicide. </p>
<p>Approximately <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/almost-every-fortnight-an-australian-child-is-killed-by-a-parent-so-why-dont-we-talk-about-it/lzox5j90i">one child a fortnight</a> is killed in the context of domestic and family violence in Australia. </p>
<p>More data are needed on the link between domestic and family violence and young people’s suicide. But existing research has identified a link between childhood experiences of domestic and family violence, the impact of unaddressed trauma and an <a href="https://www.psypost.org/2016/06/link-found-witnessing-parental-domestic-violence-childhood-attempted-suicide-43299">increased risk of suicide</a>.</p>
<p>So embedding short- and long-term recovery support for children affected by domestic and family violence is not only an investment in ending domestic and family violence in one generation. It is also an investment in securing children’s lives.</p>
<p>But it requires long-term government funding and political will.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A child sits in a hallway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490791/original/file-20221020-23-jkobon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research has identified a link between childhood experiences of domestic and family violence and increased risk of suicide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building whole-of-system responses for children and young people</h2>
<p>Acknowledging children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right is a starting point. </p>
<p>Their specific support needs and how these will be met must be clearly embedded in the first five-year action plan, to be delivered in early 2023.</p>
<p>The rights and needs of children and young people must be considered at each point of the plan – from prevention to early intervention, through to response and recovery. </p>
<p>This includes early childhood- and school-based education targeted at gender equality and respectful relationships. </p>
<p>Responses must recognise the intersecting support needs of young people at risk of using violence in the home. </p>
<p>This includes recognising <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-9-in-10-young-australians-who-use-family-violence-experienced-child-abuse-new-research-190058">many</a> young people using violence in the home have childhood trauma themselves. </p>
<p>Recognising this would help build trauma informed responses across education, child and family welfare services, child and young mental health services and youth justice.</p>
<h2>Housing needs for children and young people fleeing family violence</h2>
<p>The upcoming action plan must address the paucity of crisis housing options for children and young people experiencing domestic and family violence. </p>
<p>Australia currently has minimal domestic and family violence specialist crisis intervention and accommodation services for young people as victim-survivors in their own right. </p>
<p>The current service system is geared towards adult victim-survivors. If a child flees violence without their parent, they are met with a service system that does not cater to them. As a result they face significant risk of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/03/young-people-are-invisible-family-violence-survivors-falling-through-cracks-at-crisis-services">homelessness</a>.</p>
<p>The national plan provides an opportunity to address this critical service system gap but young people must be able to access a domestic and family violence informed response, whether they’re with or without a victim-parent. They need protection, housing and recovery support. </p>
<h2>Taking children’s risk and safety seriously</h2>
<p>In developing the first action plan, governments must consult closely with experts, including practitioners, academics and – most importantly – young advocates who have experienced domestic and family violence.</p>
<p>Interventions for and responses to children and young people experiencing domestic and family violence must be informed by lived experience. </p>
<p>Getting this right won’t be easy and it won’t be cheap. But properly meeting the needs of children and young people experiencing domestic and family violence will help secure a safer future for the next generation. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-national-plan-aims-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-in-one-generation-can-it-succeed-192497">A new national plan aims to end violence against women and children 'in one generation'. Can it succeed?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silke Meyer receives funding from Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Australian Institute of Criminology, and the Qld Department for Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs. In 2021 Silke co-led the National Plan Stakeholder and Victim-Survivor Advocates Consultation Projects.
She is a Subject Matter Expert for the clinical management committee of 1800RESPECT. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate receives funding for family violence related research from the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Victorian Government and the Department of Social Services. In 2021 Kate led the National Plan Stakeholder and Victim-Survivor Advocates Consultation Projects. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her capacity as Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and are wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as Chair of Respect Victoria.</span></em></p>We need not just an acknowledgement of children as victim-survivors in their own right but a commitment to boost resourcing of child-centred recovery support.Silke Meyer, Professor of Social Work; Leneen Forde Chair in Child & Family Research, Griffith UniversityKate Fitz-Gibbon, Director, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.