Nearly one-quarter of young people surveyed said women exaggerated claims of sexual assault. This is only one reason why education on underlying values that lead to violence against women matters.
Police sometimes misidentify victims as perpetrators – because the real perpetrator has misled them, or because the victim is not displaying “typical” behaviour.
Research is revealing that both families who have experienced adolescent family violence and those working with them feel the criminal justice system is not an appropriate way to respond to it.
Family violence will not always be ‘obvious’ to CCTV. Therefore measures must be put in place to ensure that footage cannot be used against victims should circumstances of violence be challenged.
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. But in the light of 21st-century understandings of abuse, the play is recast as a textbook case of domestic terrorism.
Victoria’s family violence system unintentionally protects male perpetrators by making them invisible and providing opportunities for them to avoid responsibility.
Mainstream family violence services must also become culturally sensitive and responsive so they too can provide services to Indigenous community members.
Children may endure family violence directly, or witness violence perpetrated on others. Both scenarios result in severe adverse effects for children in the short and long term.
The royal commission’s recommendations seek a complete transformation of Victorian family violence services, and the state’s prevention of and response to family violence.
The silencing of children has as long a history as child abuse itself. It is why we need royal commissions, books, and now a play: to allow children to tell us the truth of what was done to them.
Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence will today hear how the health system can better respond to partner abuse, with the help of trained professionals and broader, government support.
Many public awareness campaigns fail to change attitudes and behaviours because they start from the flawed premise that just telling someone something is bad will make them stop doing it.