NOTEPAD
Supporting migrant and refugee women experiencing violence
ANROWS Notepad | 24 August 2021
NEW ANROWS GRANTS ROUND OPENS SOON
2021–2024 Sexual Harassment Research Program
ANROWS is pleased to announce we will soon be launching the 2021–2024 ANROWS Sexual Harassment Research Program, with funds provided by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
Sexual harassment – a serious and harmful behaviour that occurs on the continuum of sexual violence – is prevalent and pervasive in every context of Australian society, including workplaces, public spaces and online. Sexual harassment and its impact on women financially, socially and emotionally is increasingly recognised as an issue of great concern.
The Australian Human Rights Commission’s national inquiry, Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces, highlighted the interlinking relationship between gender inequality and sexual harassment in workplaces, noting that one in three people experienced sexual harassment at work in the past five years. In response to Recommendation 4 of the Respect@Work report, ANROWS will establish a research program to build the evidence base on sexual harassment to guide policy and practice.
Sexual harassment research is also a priority identified in Australia’s National Research Agenda to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (ANRA) 2020–2022 and will enhance our understanding of the sexual violence continuum, upon which sexual harassment is situated.
This ANROWS grants round is currently seeking expressions of interest for peer assessors.
Being a peer assessor does not exclude you from submitting an application as part of the grants round. Any actual or potential conflicts of interest are managed through the appropriate process.
ANROWS peer assessors will have significant and current scholarly, policy or practice-based experience to assess research related to sexual harassment. ANROWS aims to ensure representation of experts across a range of disciplines and sectors. Participation in peer assessment of research proposals is considered a contribution of expertise within current roles and is not remunerated by ANROWS.
More information can be found on the ANROWS website under Guidelines for Peer Assessors.
If you wish to nominate yourself as a peer assessor, please complete the EOI form (this includes uploading a CV) by COB Monday 13 September, 2021.
BECOME A PEER ASSESSOR
Migrant and refugee women:
Upcoming webinar, new research and new resources
Systems, access, evidence:
Migrant and refugee women experiencing domestic and family violence
Over recent years there has been increasing advocacy and research highlighting the diverse experiences migrant and refugee women have of DFV. The evidence base documents important issues related to access and equity across the various systems responding to violence against women.
In an upcoming ANROWS webinar, to be held on Monday 30 August, an expert panel will discuss the ways in which engagement with these systems is a critical element of addressing DFV in all its forms. The panel will also unpack what the evidence suggests for working towards an ambitious and innovative national agenda to secure the safety of all women.
The discussion will be facilitated by Padma Raman (ANROWS) with a panel including Dr Sana Ashraf (Harmony Alliance: Migrant and Refugee Women for Change), Ela Stewart (inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence), Associate Professor Marie Segrave (Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre; Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre) and Kylie McGrath (Refugee and Immigration Legal Service). There will also be a live Q&A.
Registrations are now open through the ANROWS website.
REGISTER NOW
Domestic violence in migrant and refugee communities
Acknowledging that migrant and refugee victims and survivors of domestic violence are under-identified in primary care, the “HARMONY: A cluster randomised controlled trial of a whole of general practice intervention to prevent and reduce domestic violence among migrant and refugee communities” project is currently trialling an innovative intervention across 28 general practice sites in Melbourne.
These sites are located in regions with a high South Asian immigrant population, in the north-west and south-east suburbs of Melbourne. The intervention being trialled is a systems intervention designed to improve the capacity of primary care clinicians (general practitioners, nurses and others) to enquire about violence, provide first-line support, and offer confident referral to culturally and linguistically diverse women patients.
The “HARMONY” project, led by Professor Angela Taft of La Trobe University and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, has been registered with ANROWS through our Register of Active Research (RAR) – a centralised register of research currently underway in priority research areas, as defined by Australia’s National Research Agenda to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (ANRA) 2020–2022.
ANROWS encourages all researchers working in the field to submit their research to the RAR. The utility of the register increases with every new project registered, and registration is easy: just visit the ANROWS website and register your project with the user-friendly inclusion form.
Working with CALD communities
A new ANROWS resource, Best practice for working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities in addressing violence against women, has been published today.
The resource captures 10 insights from ANROWS’s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Projects with Action Research (CALD PAR) initiative. Twenty-six action research projects were captured in this initiative: 18 focused on primary prevention of violence against women, and eight focused on creating safer pathways to crisis and support services for victims and survivors.
The projects were led by local services across Australia including multicultural and settlement services and legal, health and other community services.
ANROWS supported the projects to use action research to evaluate and learn from their activities, and published a report highlighting 10 insights from the initiative, which are summarised for quick reference in the resource.
Developed out of the ASPIRE project (“Promoting community-led responses to violence against immigrant and refugee women in metropolitan and regional Australia”), the “Immigration, visas and family violence” fact sheet summarises the project’s findings about the impact of immigration policy and visa status on women’s experiences of family violence, and includes the voices of women who participated in the project.
A later ANROWS-funded project (the “MuSeS” project), led by Associate Professor Cathy Vaughan and Dr Adele Murdolo of the ASPIRE project, examined the role of multicultural and settlement services in supporting migrant and refugee women experiencing violence. Join Associate Professor Vaughan and Dr Murdolo on 9 September in a seminar discussing this very topic.
RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS EDUCATION
Opportunity to have respectful relationships education in your school
An ANROWS-funded study, led by Professor Helen Cahill, will examine the influence of “Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships” (RRRR), an integrated social and emotional learning and respectful relationships education program, on the social health of Year 7 and Year 9 students in Victorian and NSW schools.
Following a two-day professional learning workshop, and equipped with a teacher manual, teachers in participating schools will deliver the RRRR program in 2022. Among the topics covered are gender and identity and positive gender relations, which focus on respectful relationships and the prevention of gender-based violence using age-appropriate activities.
The study of the program aims to identify what is required to advance student resilience, gender-related attitudes, peer relationships, student–teacher relationships and coping strategies.
The study has received ethics clearance, and the research team is now recruiting participant high schools in New South Wales. Prospective NSW public high schools should have more than 700 students, with four classes at each of the Year 7 and Year 9 levels. If you would like your school to participate in the study, or would like further information on what is involved, please contact Anne Farrelly of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne.
Enhancing education for young people
You can also catch Professor Cahill in a recent ANROWS webinar entitled “Sex Ed”: Young people, consent and the Australian curriculum. Professor Cahill joined an expert panel that included Janice Atkin from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and Professor Kath Albury from Swinburne University of Technology. The panel discussed the role of digital cultures in young people’s relationships and sexual learning, and opportunities for sexual and consent education. The webinar is now available to be viewed through the ANROWS website.
WATCH NOW
STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CONFERENCE 1 TO 3 DECEMBER 2021
Program launched!
The Australian & New Zealand Mental Health Association’s STOP Domestic Violence Conference will take place on the Gold Coast from 1 to 3 December 2021. This annual domestic violence conference, aimed at mental health workers, will address the 2021 theme, “Strong words, stronger actions: Creating change now and for future generations”. Launched just last week, the conference program includes keynote addresses from speakers including Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner, Anne Hollonds; international experts like Dr Marsha Scott (Scottish Women’s Aid) and David Mandel (Safe & Together Institute); and authors like Amani Hayder and Jess Hill. Conference sessions will feature academics including Dr Silke Meyer from the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and Dr Kristen Smith from the University Of Melbourne, plus a range of speakers from key organisations including Rosalie O’Neale from eSafety Women and Hayley Foster from Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia. Early-bird pricing ends on 15 October, for both in-person and virtual registrations, so it pays to register quickly.
REGISTER NOW
Opportunities
AUDIT: POLICE RESPONSES TO DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE
The Audit Office of New South Wales is welcoming contributions to their assessment of the effectiveness of the NSW Police Force’s responses to domestic and family violence. The audit will respond to the following questions:
Does the NSW Police Force effectively conduct capability planning for responding to domestic and family violence and supporting victim-survivors?
Has the NSW Police Force effectively resourced its approach to respond to domestic and family violence and support victim-survivors with the required capability?
Is the effectiveness of domestic and family violence policing and NSW Police Force support to victim-survivors improving over time?
Contributions are confidential and will be accepted until 30 September 2021.
LISTENING TO THE VOICES OF VICTIMS: THE “VOICES” PROJECT SURVEY
There is still time to complete the VOICES project survey. This project offers you an opportunity to share your experiences and perspectives, and to join 450 other women who have already had their voices heard. If you live in Australia, are a woman aged 18 and over, have ever been afraid of an intimate partner, we would like to hear from you.
For more information, and to take the survey, visit the Safer Families website. The survey closes on 1 September 2021.
BREACHES OF FAMILY LAW PARENTING ORDERS: SURVEY
The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has been commissioned by ANROWS to undertake research in relation to the compliance with and enforcement of family law parenting orders. The research will involve multiple studies, including a survey of parents and carers.
Parents or carers who have had family law parenting orders made in the past five years are invited to participate in this survey. We also encourage you to share this information with your client base if you feel that it would be of interest.
This research will help us to understand whether parents comply with parenting orders, how the enforcement process in the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) operates, and how well it works. You can take the survey through the AIFS website: there is one version for parents and carers within Western Australia, and another version for those in the rest of the country.
QUEENSLAND WOMEN’S STRATEGY: CONSULTATION PERIOD NOW OPEN
Queenslanders are invited to share their thoughts on the successor strategy to the Queensland Women’s Strategy 2016–21. The new strategy aims to promote and protect women’s rights and wellbeing, and ensure their full social and economic participation in society.
The 2016–21 Strategy outlines a vision of respect for women and embraces gender equality. The Queensland Government is proud of the work done under the Strategy, and hopes to build on this progress with the development of its successor.
Community feedback will be incorporated into the new strategy, which is slated for development by the end of 2021. To find out more and have your say, visit the Queensland Government website. Submissions close on Friday 8 October.
PHD SCHOLARSHIPS IN FAMILY VIOLENCE AND GENDER EQUALITY
The Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre (MGFVPC) is currently advertising three PhD scholarships in the area of gender, domestic and family violence. The successful applicants will join the MGFVPC and contribute to the Centre’s program of research while also undertaking their own distinct PhD projects. The successful candidates will have access to funding to support fieldwork, transcription, travel, and conference attendance. The candidates will benefit from expert supervision from research leaders in domestic and family violence, policy and practice reform, primary prevention and gender equality.
For more information, and to apply, visit Jobs at Monash. Applications close on Friday 27 August 2021. Enquiries can be addressed to Associate Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Director, MGFVPC.
New research and resources
You can access the resources in this list, and all of the other articles in Notepad, in the ANROWS Library.
Resources
1800RESPECT. (2021). Self-isolation and COVID-19. https://www.1800respect.org.au/help-and-support/self-isolation-and-covid-19
Roberts, Z., Carlson, B., O’Sullivan, S., Day, M., Rey, J., Kennedy, T., Bakic, T., & Farrell, A. (2021). A guide to writing and speaking about Indigenous People in Australia. Macquarie University. https://doi.org/10.25949/5tfk-5113
Books and reports
Aymer, S. R. (2021). Intimate partner violence: Clinical interventions with women, men, and their children. Rowman & Littlefield. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZGM9EAAAQBAJ
Otter, C. (2021). Chronology of current family and domestic violence legislation in Australia, Parliamentary Library and Information Service. Parliament of Victoria. https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/publications/research-papers/send/36-research-papers/14011-chronology-of-current-family-and-domestic-violence-legislation-in-australia
Articles
Dragiewicz, M., Harris, B., Woodlock, D., & Salter, M. (2021). Digital media and domestic violence in Australia: Essential contexts. Journal of Gender-Based Violence. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16153782923978
Easteal, P., Bartels, L., Dodd, S., & White, J. (2021). Do survivors feel protected by family violence legislation? Reflections on the Family Violence Act 2016 (ACT) from those with lived experience. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211035885
Gendera, S., valentine, k., & Breckenridge, J. (2021). The significance of technology as both a resource in enhancing safety, and a means of perpetrating violence: The implications for policy and practice. Journal of Gender-Based Violence. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16255656776492
Loney-Howes, R., MacPhail, C., Hanley, N., & Fabrianesi, B. (2021). Youth attitudes to domestic and family violence: A scoping review of young people’s attitudes and exceptions in Australia. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211036054
Marson, K. (2021). Consent a low bar: The case for a human rights approach to relationships and sexuality education. Australian Journal of Human Rights, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238X.2021.1956739
McKibbin, G., & Humphreys, C. (2021). Frontline workers’ response to harmful sexual behavior: Building blocks for promising practice. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211036077
Read
1 in 3 women have experienced sexual harassment working on mining sites in WA—Women’s Agenda
https://womensagenda.com.au/business/employers/survey-reveals-one-in-three-women-experience-sexual-harassment-in-wa-mining-sites/
Woman awarded almost $160,000 damages in sexual harassment case against boss at Brisbane laundromat—ABC News
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-09/qld-record-damages-awarded-laundromat-sexual-harassment-case/100362242
Data reveals only 14 per cent of child sexual abuse claims before Family Court believed to be true by judges—ABC News
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/100355902
Listen
Ep. 57: I need to keep her safe: Domestic violence in the emergency department—Social Work Stories Podcast
https://socialworkstories.com/episodes/ep-57-i-need-to-keep-her-safe-domestic-violence-in-the-emergency-department
WORK WITH ANROWS
Senior research officer (NCAS) – (Quantitative) role available
ANROWS is seeking a senior research officer (NCAS) with expertise in quantitative social research to assist the Director, Research Program (NCAS) to deliver the 2021 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS).
The senior research officer will undertake a range of research and project management tasks for the survey, including contributing to the analysis and write-up of the survey, supporting stakeholder engagement in the NCAS, and assisting with knowledge translation of the findings and communications activities. This is a full-time position (37.5 hours per week) to be located at the ANROWS national office in Sydney. The appointment is from commencement until 30 September 2022.
For more information, and to apply, please visit the ANROWS website. Applications close at midnight on Thursday 26 August 2021.
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