NOTEPAD
Domestic and family violence-related homicide
ANROWS Notepad | 10 September 2020
NEW PROJECT
ANROWS collaborating on new national homicide report
A new collaboration between ANROWS and the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network (the Network) will update the Network’s important Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report 2018.
The collaboration will draw on the Network’s specialist teams in all Australian states and territories to identify, collect, analyse and report data on deaths related to DFV. The analysis will include information from Coroners Courts, Ombudsmans’ offices and government agencies to develop an understanding of the circumstances of each death that occurred in a DFV context.
The project will also develop analysis of the common risk factors in DFV-related homicides in Australia based on the breadth of information that is available to the Network. Additionally, the project will develop a national dataset of the characteristics of the deaths of children by parents to inform prevention initiatives at a national level.
Covering 2010–2014, the 2018 report provided data on all domestic and family violence (DFV)-related homicides that occurred across the country.
This new project will use the latest information available to provide an updated report on Australian DFV-related homicides from July 2010–June 2017.
This study is part of a program of research led by ANROWS and funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services under the Fourth Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022.
ANROWS is seeking to engage a Research Officer—4th Action Plan to work on this project. More details on the role and how to apply are below.
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
SUBMISSION
ANROWS’s submission to the inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence
On Tuesday 8 September 2020 the ANROWS CEO testified at the second public hearing of the House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiring into family, domestic and sexual violence.
Referred by the Minister for Women, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, and the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, the inquiry seeks to inform the next National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.
The specific areas of inquiry included measures to prevent all forms of violence against women and their children, the efficacy of perpetrator intervention programs and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of abuse. The invitation for ANROWS to appear came as a result of an organisational submission outlining the evidence base for the next National Plan, and providing specific recommendations, which was well received by the Committee.
INQUIRY
NCAS
Community Attitudes to Violence against Women: Toolkit
Respect Victoria, working with ANROWS, VicHealth and Swinburne University of Technology, has released a new toolkit for use in the primary prevention of violence against women.
Re-shaping attitudes: A toolkit for using the National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) in the primary prevention of violence against women draws on ANROWS’s findings from the 2017 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS). Funded by the Australian Department of Social Services, since 2009 the NCAS has built up a body of evidence telling us how Australian people understand violence against women, what attitudes they hold towards it, what influences their attitudes, and if there has been a change in these over time.
This new toolkit aims to support primary prevention practitioners by providing 10 accessible, evidence-informed tools, designed to help them understand the NCAS findings and apply the evidence directly to their everyday work.
The toolkit will help practitioners deal with backlash and resistance, tap into media and social media, and effectively use storytelling in their work. It has been designed to sit alongside Australia’s national violence against women prevention framework, Change the Story .
ACCESS TOOLKIT
PERPETRATOR INTERVENTIONS RESEARCH
Webinar: Strengthening accountability across perpetrator intervention systems
“Holding perpetrators accountable” for domestic and family violence is often a key policy goal. But what does “accountability” mean in practice, and how can we achieve it?
Our last webinar offered a deep-dive into these questions, exploring accountability in the context of interventions for perpetrators of domestic and family violence (DFV).
The recording of this broad-ranging and insightful conversation is now available.
Featuring Professor Donna Chung, Dr Karen Upton-Davis, Elena Campbell and Rodney Vlais, the panel unpacked the recent ANROWS research project on this topic, “Improved accountability—The role of perpetrator intervention systems”.
Discussing the justice system, men’s behaviour change programs and other services such as housing, child protection, health and community support, the panel explored different definitions of accountability in policy and practice, and how systems can be coordinated to prevent DFV and respond to men who use violence.
ACCESS WEBINAR
PERPETRATOR INTERVENTIONS RESEARCH
Webinar: Invisible practices—Working with fathers who use violence
A recording is also now available of the recent webinar on “Invisible practices: Working with fathers who use violence”, exploring ANROWS research led by Professor Cathy Humphreys from the University of Melbourne.
Women and children living with violence can experience inconsistent responses from different service systems. While domestic and family violence services often focus on supporting them to separate from men who use violence, the family law system generally allows contact between parents who use violence and their children.
In this webinar, hosted with the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), our panel explored how all-of-family approaches can help to address these differences between service systems, and the need to work with men who use violence.
The panel of experts included Professor Cathy Humphreys and three practitioners from the Queensland Government Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women: proud Aboriginal Yindinji woman and Cultural Practice Advisor Jackie Wruck, Regional Domestic and Family Violence Senior Practitioner Emma Rogers, and Practice Leader (Domestic and Family Violence) Steven Lock.
While there were several questions that we didn’t have time for during the webinar, the full panel stayed on to record another video answering more of your questions.
In this new video, find out the panellists’ responses to interesting and important questions, such as:
- Is there a risk that fathers will become more abusive if a professional engages with them? If so, how do you manage the risk and safety implications?
- When working with men who use violence [using this model], why is there more emphasis on the perpetrator’s role as a father than his role as a partner?
The webinar also contained roleplays illustrating some of the key issues. There are now extended versions of these available, exploring:
Interview skills to engage mothers in collaborative planning
The destructive way to interview a perpetrator of domestic violence
Interview skills to engage fathers safely and avoid collusion
ACCESS WEBINARWork with ANROWS
Research Officer—4th Action Plan
ANROWS is seeking a Research Officer (4th Action Plan Research Program) to work together with the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network on a new collaborative project.
The Research Officer will work with the Network to produce an update to the first Death Review Network Data Report, develop a research report identifying common risk factors in relation to intimate partner homicide, and establish a minimum dataset for filicide.
This is a part-time position (0.8 FTE), available until 31 March 2022. The successful applicant will be based at the NSW Coroners Court, Lidcombe, Sydney.
Applications for the position close at midnight on Sunday 20 September 2020. Find out more about the role and how to apply on our Careers page.
New resources and reports
Resources
The use of domestic and family violence perpetrator interventions in sentencing: A national statement—Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre
Perpetrator interventions research brief—Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre
Disrupting the System – Preventing and Responding to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace—Male Champions of Change
Identifying economic abuse for women with disability in Victoria: A toolkit—Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre
Pride in prevention: A guide to primary prevention of family violence experienced by LGBTIQ communities—Rainbow Health Victoria
Books and reports
NSW recorded crime statistics quarterly update June 2020—NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research
Sexual assault in Australia—In focus—Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Evaluation of the Victoria Police Digitally Recorded Evidence-in-Chief Family Violence Trial: Final report—Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre
New research
You can access the resources in this list and all the other articles in Notepad in the ANROWS Library.
Articles
Dawson, M., & Carrigan, M. (2020). Identifying femicide locally and globally: Understanding the utility and accessibility of sex/gender-related motives and indicators. Current Sociology.
Douglas, H., & Fitzgerald, R. (2020). Women’s stories of non-fatal strangulation: Informing the criminal justice response. Criminology & Criminal Justice.
Lemke, M., & Rogers, K. (2020). When sexting crosses the line: Educator responsibilities in the support of prosocial adolescent behavior and the prevention of violence. Social Sciences, 9(9).
Sawrikar, P. (2020). Service providers’ understanding of cross-cultural differences in belief of myths about child sexual abuse: Results from a program evaluation study in Australia. Children and Youth Services Review, 105391.
Sleep, L. N., & Diaz, L. G. (2020). When transparency can be deadly: Reporting of identifiable and locatable personal information in AAT couple rule decisions that involve domestic violence. Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity, 8(1).
Walter, B., & Chung, D. (2020). How practitioners respond to men’s use of intimate partner violence in rural areas. Rural Society, 29(2), 100–115.
Wilson, I. M., Graham, K., Laslett, A.-M., & Taft, A. (2020). Relationship trajectories of women experiencing alcohol-related intimate partner violence: A grounded-theory analysis of women’s voices. Social Science & Medicine, 264.
Watch
Stopping domestic violence—The Morning Show
Listen
Partnered with a survivor: Listening to the voices of children and young people harmed by fathers who choose violence: An interview with Professor Cathy Humphreys and Dr Katie Lamb—Safe & Together Institute
Commissioner Kate Jenkins says online harassment and image based abuse is increasing—ABC
Read
Boosting support for at risk families in the family law system—Attorney-General for Australia
Calls for obstetric health practitioners to better detect signs of domestic violence—News.com.au
Lockdown stresses creating first time family violence, experts say—The Age
More help required: The crisis in family violence during the coronavirus pandemic—The Conversation
#LetUsSpeak: “Outrageous” demand Victorian courts are making of rape victim—News.com.au
Silenced by law: The right of sexual offence survivors to self-identify needs to be heard—Monash Lens
At 15, young women enter a sexual assault “danger zone”, study finds—ABC
Launch of new online sexual assault reporting platform (ACT)—Police News
Queensland police officer who leaked address of domestic violence victim has conviction overturned—The Guardian
Workplace sexual harassment reports are rising during coronavirus—Working from home may be a reason—ABC
Disclosing and sharing domestic violence information begins to pay off—Monash Lens
Conferences & events
11 September 2020—RMIT Centre for Innovative Justice: Responding to family violence by adolescents: Finding the best way forward
14 September 2020—Parramatta Region Family Law Interagency webinar: Cross-sector collaboration in the domestic violence landscape
15 September 2020—AIFS: Why is it important to hear the voices of children and young people in research?
23 September 2020— Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre: Two Critical Issues: Women on Temporary Visas + Housing & Homelessness
23 September 2020—WESNET: Choosing apps for survivors of DFV
23 September 2020—Family Law Pathways Network: Angela Lynch Webinar—Reimagining family law outcomes
7 October 2020—2nd Safe & Together Model European Conference (online): Domestic abuse and children
7–28 October 2020—Coercive control and social entrapment: Addressing the violations of family violence by examining systems of power
21 October 2020—Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre: Keeping perpetrators “in view” during the COVID restrictions
25 November 2020— Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre: Justice for women during COVID-19
16 December 2020— Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre: Mental health and women
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