RESEARCH REPORT Multicultural and Settlement services Supporting women experiencing violence: The MuSeS Project
Migrant and refugee women experience domestic and family violence at least as much as women in the wider population, and they face particular barriers to accessing the services that can help.
Multicultural and settlement services can offer a key avenue of contact with migrant and refugee women, who may engage with these services soon after their arrival in Australia.
This project sought to identify how multicultural and settlement services can be better supported to assist women and children experiencing violence. The research was conducted by university-based researchers in partnership with the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health in Victoria. It involved consultation workshops, focus groups and interviews with service providers and with migrant and refugee women in Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne, as well as a national online survey of multicultural and settlement service providers.
The project found that multicultural and settlement service providers regularly encounter and support clients experiencing family violence. However, services’ capacity to respond to the needs of their clients is undermined by limited funding and service scope, and limited options for referral. Importantly, the project also identified core practices that strengthen the services’ capacity to respond, such as training, organisational support structures, and community connectedness.
The report includes recommendations for policy and practice that build on these existing strengths and opportunities.
Publication details
This work is part of the ANROWS Research reports series. ANROWS Research reports (Horizons) are in-depth reports on empirical research produced under ANROWS’s research program.
Authors
DR CATHY VAUGHAN
Associate Professor, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
DR KAREN BLOCK
Senior Lecturer, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
CLAIRE SULLIVAN
Research Assistant, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
JEANINE HOURANI
Research Assistant, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
SARAH KHAW
Research Assistant, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
DR YARA JARALLAH
Senior Lecturer, NIDEA, University of Waikato (formerly University of Melbourne)
DR LANA ZANNETTINO
Senior Lecturer, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University
DR CAROLYN GREGORIC
Research Associate, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University
DR LINDA MURRAY
Lecturer, College of Health Sciences, Massey University (formerly University of Tasmania)
MARIYAM SUHA
Research Assistant, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania
DR JASMIN CHEN
Research Advocacy and Policy Manager, Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
DR ADELE MURDOLO
Executive Director, Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
MONISHA SANDHU
Research Assistant, Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
ISBN: 978-1-925925-35-7 (print) | 978-1-925925-36-4 (online)
104 pp.
Suggested citation
Vaughan, C., Chen, J., Sullivan, C., Suha, M., Sandhu, M., Hourani, J., … Murdolo, A. (2020). Multicultural and Settlement services Supporting women experiencing violence: The MuSeS project (Research report, 11/2020). Sydney: ANROWS.