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Research

Our research

Violence against women and children affects everybody. It impacts on the health, wellbeing and safety of a significant proportion of Australians throughout all states and territories and places an enormous burden on the nation’s economy across family and community services, health and hospitals, income-support and criminal justice systems.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

News and events

ANROWS hosts events as part of its knowledge transfer and exchange work, including public lectures, workshops and research launches. Details of upcoming ANROWS activities and news are available from the list on the right.

ANROWS

About ANROWS

ANROWS was established by the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments of Australia to produce, disseminate and assist in applying evidence for policy and practice addressing violence against women and their children.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

Resources

To support the take-up of evidence, ANROWS offers a range of resources developed from research to support practitioners and policy-makers in delivering evidence-based interventions.


state of knowledge

Promoting community-led responses to violence against immigrant and refugee women in metropolitan and regional Australia: The ASPIRE Project:
State of knowledge paper

This state of knowledge paper examines a broad range of national and international research to present the current knowledge about family violence against immigrant and refugee women.

While the paper identifies critical evidence on the topic, it acknowledges that much of the available literature has methodological issues, including incomplete and inconclusive prevalence data; small sample sizes; and conceptualising family violence in ways that are not recognised by immigrant and refugee communities.

The paper finds:

  • Overall immigrant and refugee report similar forms of family violence as women from non-immigrant backgrounds, however there are some differences in the types of violence experienced and the structural contexts where it takes place.
  • The constraints produced by immigration policies are of significant concern, where women depend on perpetrators for economic security and residency rights.
  • Many immigrant and refugee women are motivated to resolve family violence without ending relationships and breaking up families, for reasons including immigration concerns and family and community pressures.
  • There is scant evidence that the increase in criminal justice responses to family violence, such as “mandatory arrest” and “pro-prosecution” approaches, are helpful for immigrant women, and may deter them from seeking assistance in crisis situations.

The paper also identifies key gaps in literature on this issue, particularly in connection to the ways immigration policies, structural disadvantage and location interact with immigrant and refugee women’s experiences of family violence.

 

 

Publication details

This commissioned work is part of the ANROWS Landscapes series. ANROWS Landscapes (State of knowledge papers) are medium length papers that scope current knowledge on an issue related to violence against women and their children. Papers will draw on empirical research, including research produced under ANROWS’s research program, and/or practice knowledge.


Authors

DR CATHY VAUGHAN
Lecturer, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

MS ERIN DAVIS
Research Assistant, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

DR ADELE MURDOLO
Executive Director, Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health

DR JASMIN CHEN
Research Assistant, Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health

DR LINDA MURRAY
Lecturer, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania

DR KAREN BLOCK
Research Fellow, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

DR REGINA QUIAZON
Senior Research and Policy Advocate, Multicultural Centre of Women’s Health

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DEB WARR
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne


ISBN: 978-1-925372-21-2 (print) 978-1-925372-20-5 (online)

80 pp.

 

Suggested citation

Vaughan, C., Davis E., Murdolo, A., Chen, J., Murray, L., Block, K., Quiazon, R., & Warr, D. (2015). Promoting community-led responses to violence against immigrant and refugee women in metropolitan and regional Australia: The ASPIRE Project: State of knowledge paper (ANROWS Landscapes, 12/2015). Sydney, NSW: ANROWS.

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