SHOCKING NEW FINDINGS EMERGE FROM ANROWS RESEARCH

New evidence lends further weight to calls for action to improve responses to violence

Research sometimes provides an evidence base for what many already know or understand. This research still has an important role to play. The ability to produce tangible evidence of people’s experiences of violence is often one of the most critical challenges in taking the issue seriously.

The response to findings from four recently released ANROWS research reports suggests that the need for this kind of evidence has never been greater – nor has the desire to use it to inform improved responses.

Two reports, stemming from a project examining the extent and nature of and responses to technology-facilitated abuse (TFA), showed that 1 in 2 Australians have been victims of this kind of abuse in their lifetime. Despite being in Melbourne hosting a UNFPA delegation from Vietnam on the day of the reports’ release, our CEO Padma Raman PSM acknowledged their release with a live appearance on ABC News Breakfast television.

During the webinar that launched the reports, lead researcher, Associate Professor Asher Flynn, unpacked the research findings, highlighting the differences in the ways that women and men experienced the abuse. Panellist Ela Stewart from InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence nuanced the gendered nature of technology-facilitated abuse with the added layers of complexity this abuse can cause for women from migrant and refugee backgrounds, and Joanne Yates from No to Violence emphasised the connection between technology-facilitated abuse and other forms of domestic and family violence.

A third report, A life course approach to determining the prevalence and impact of sexual violence in Australia: Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, found that 1 in 2 women in their twenties have experienced sexual violence. Regardless of the cohort (twenties, forties, or sixties and seventies), the prevalence of sexual violence women experienced is higher than other national studies have reported. This is the first national study to take a longitudinal approach to understand better the prevalence and impacts of sexual violence across women’s lifetimes.

Talk alone is never enough, but the fact that this research reached diverse mainstream audiences across national news outlets, including television and radio, reflects a changing national conversation and an increased willingness to engage more closely in discussions about sexual violence and its financial, physical and mental health impacts. It is also significant to look at who is being encouraged to talk about sexual violence in this instance, with Ms Raman speaking across multiple media outlets about these findings, including ABC Radio National, World Today and News 24, and pieces on the research findings running in Crikey and publications targeting youth and mainstream male audiences, like Junkee (featured on Facebook and Instagram) and Triple J Hack.

Beyond the heartbreaking statistics were also clear and powerful findings about what helps women heal and recover in the aftermath of sexual violence. These included accessible healthcare services, especially mental healthcare, and strong social support.

The fourth report, published last week, engaged directly with more than 5,000 young people (aged 16 to 20) in Australia, and found that 1 in 5 have used adolescent family violence (AFV). Adolescent family violence in Australia: A national study of prevalence, history of childhood victimisation and impacts also found that 89 per cent of these young people had experienced violence themselves. Pieces in The Conversation and the Canberra Times reinforced the need, outlined in the report, to understand AFV “as part of intergenerational experiences of family violence” and “to view children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right when trying to understand and respond to their use of family violence”.

We have evidence outlining the magnitude of the problems of sexual violence, TFA and AFV. It’s now time to start implementing responses that prevent these kinds of violence from happening and investing in the services that support children’s and women’s healing and recovery. At ANROWS, we look forward to continuing to work on the evidence base to better understand what helps keep women and children safe from violence and helps their recovery.