NEW ANROWS RESEARCH

Help-seeking journeys of victims and survivors and people who use violence

In the wake of the new National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022–2032, it is essential to not only hear but to amplify the voices of victims and survivors. That principle underpins newly published ANROWS research, where victims and survivors described “carrying the burden alone” as they navigated the path to healing and recovery.

This project is also Australia’s first study to explore the help-seeking journeys of people who use violence. Participants who had used violence identified a need for help to release emotions and regain stability, and wanted the same things from service providers as victims and survivors: to feel listened to, and not feel judged.

One finding that has enormous implications for policy and practice is that both victims and survivors and people who use violence were more likely to seek help from their friends and family than from professional services. This pointed to a need for “healthy relationships” training, and training for family and friends to be able to respond to disclosures of violence. Unpacking key recommendations from the reports was a key focus of the launch webinar, which attracted nearly 600 people.

“Any role that involves working with people involves working with families, and when you are working with families, a percentage of your clients will be experiencing or using violence. It is everyone’s responsibility”, said Lily Fetter, midwife and advocate, in the webinar. The expert panel also reflected on the introduction of “allies training”, community first responder training and the use of “care navigators” to provide emotional support and guidance through the service system.

ANROWS CEO, Padma Raman PSM, spoke to the research in a keynote address at Western Sydney University’s 16 Days of Activism event, “Collaborative approaches to addressing gender and sexuality- based violence in Greater Western Sydney”. She focused on key findings relating to people who use violence, such as the concerning discovery that over a third of participants who had used violence believed that violence was a normal part of their relationship. These findings, Ms Raman emphasised, underscore the need to focus on perpetration. However, she said, “the shift in the conversation to focusing on perpetration does not mean a shift in our driving goal: the safety of women and children.”

WATCH THE WEBINAR

 

APPOINTMENT OF MICAELA CRONIN

Australia gets a dedicated Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner

Australia is now one of only three countries in the world to have a dedicated domestic violence commissioner. Micaela Cronin, a social worker and former President of the Australian Council of Social Service, has been appointed as Australia’s first Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner.

Ms Cronin told the ABC, “I’ve spent my career working to support women and children. I started out as a social worker working in a women’s refuge, I feel very passionate about contributing to the change that we need to see.”

The commissioner role is central to the oversight of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–32, released in November. It is envisaged that Ms Cronin will be responsible for reviewing the progress of the National Plan, tracking and reporting on its outcomes, and determining whether the goal of ending violence against women is on track. ANROWS looks forward to working with the Commission and Ms Cronin, as we progress our research agenda against the National Plan’s framework and agenda.

NEW RESEARCH SYNTHESIS PUBLISHED

Economic security and intimate partner violence

With a clear focus on the nexus between women’s safety from intimate partner violence and their economic security, a recently published ANROWS research synthesis contributes to the discourse surrounding the need to focus on bolstering women’s economic security, particularly in light of findings from Anne Summers’s The Choice: Violence or Poverty, and findings from a report based on data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) panel that assesses the financial consequences of partner violence.

The synthesis pays particular attention to what the economic stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed about the relationship between economic insecurity and experiences of intimate partner violence, and addresses the negative impact that intimate partner violence has on victims and survivors. It reiterates that women’s economic equality and workforce participation are essential components of women’s economic security, and their safety, and includes a section on the relationship between the social security system and women’s ability to leave violent relationships.

The publication of the synthesis coincided with an appearance by our CEO at the ASX where she spoke on a panel held for White Ribbon Day 2022. To a very engaged audience, Ms Raman spoke about the effects of COVID on domestic violence, the impacts of domestic violence of women’s economic security, and supports workplaces can offer – in addition to paid leave – to support victims and survivors of domestic and family violence. The synthesis speaks to these issues and more, and it is now available through the ANROWS website.

 

New research and resources

This edition of Notepad includes a range of new Australian research across the ANRA 2020-2022 topic areas of economic abuse and health, primary care and specialist service responses.

Professor Kelsey Hegarty, along with Associate Professor Laura Tarzia, co-authored a research paper published recently in the Medical Journal of Australia, titled “Transforming health settings to address gender-based violence in Australia”. This research is open-access and available through the ANROWS Digital Library. Professor Hegarty leads the ANROWS Fourth Action Plan research project “Transforming responses to intimate partner and sexual violence: Listening to the voices of victims, perpetrators and services”, two reports from which were published this week.

You can view the list of new research, along with over 10,000 records of sector-relevant resources and research, in the ANROWS Digital Library.

 

Resources

AVITH in Context—Outcomes, Practice and Evidence Network (OPEN) Child and Family Services
https://www.outcomes.org.au/adolescents-who-use-violence-in-the-home-avith/in-context/

Online facilitated sexual violence (support and resources)—Say it Out Loud
https://sayitoutloud.org.au/learn-more/online-facilitated-sexual-violence-support-and-resources/

 

Books and reports

Allen, D., & Orifici, A. (2022). Understanding pregnancy discrimination: A pilot study of Victorian women’s experiences at work. Monash University. https://issuu.com/monashbusinessschool/docs/understanding_pregnancy_discrimination_allen_orifi

Australian Human Rights Commission. (2022). Time for respect: Fifth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. AHRC. https://humanrights.gov.au/time-for-respect-2022

Buiten, D. (2022). Familicide, gender and the media. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5626-3

Centre for Women’s Economic Safety. (2022). Making a difference: International responses to economic abuse. https://cwes.org.au/publications/

Fitzpatrick, C. (2022). Designed to disrupt: Reimagining banking products to improve financial safety. Centre for Women’s Economic Safety. https://cwes.org.au/publications/

Hirsch, R. (2022). The extent, nature and impact of family, domestic, and sexual violence (FDSV) against women in the Australian sex industry: A state of knowledge paper. Project Respect. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/projectrespect/pages/2069/attachments/original/1669675005/Extent-nature-and-impacts-of-FDSV_State-of-knowledge-paper.pdf?1669675005

ORIMA Research. (2022). Evaluation of eSafety Women’s disability workforce and frontline worker program. eSafety Commissioner. https://www.esafety.gov.au/research/evaluation-disability-workforce-frontline-worker-program 

Royal, K. (2022). Economic abuse: A global perspective Findings on the prevalence and nature of economic abuse, and responses to it. Surviving Economic Abuse. https://survivingeconomicabuse.org/economic-abuse-a-global-perspective/

 

Articles

Easteal, P., Bartels, L., & Dodd, S. (2022). Professional stakeholders’ views of the Family Violence Law Act 2016 (ACT): Has law reform achieved its primary aims? Monash University Law Review, 47(3). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.26180/21541404.v1

Hegarty, K. L., Andrews, S., & Tarzia, L. (2022). Transforming health settings to address gender-based violence in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51638

Heward-Belle, S., Lovell, R., Luong, M., Tucker, H., & Melander, N. (2022). Misunderstandings, misalignments, and motivation for changing systems: Professionals’ accounts of working with families experiencing domestic and family violence in the child protection system. Social Work & Policy Studies: Social Justice, Practice and Theory, 5(1). https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SWPS/article/view/16435

Hourani, J., Jarallah, Y., Block, K., Murray, L., Chen, J., Hach, M., & Vaughan, C. (2022). How structural and symbolic violence during resettlement impacts the social and mental wellbeing of forced migrant women: The lived experiences of Arabic speaking survivors of IPV resettled in Melbourne, Australia. Conflict and Health, 16(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-022-00494-6

Kutin, J. J., Russell, R., & Reid, M. (2022). “I didn’t even know it was a thing”: Australian young adults’ experience of economic abuse. Health Promotion International, 37(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daac152  

O’Donnell, M., Usher, R., Burrow, S., Nguyen, R., McKenzie, A., & Fisher, C. (2022). Victim-survivors, family and domestic violence service providers and support people: Identification of priority issues for research and translation into policy and practice. Global Social Welfare. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-022-00249-4