NOTEPAD
All systems go:
Join the national conversation on responding to, and preventing, violence against women
ANROWS Notepad | 28 January 2021
WELCOME BACK
All systems go!
Welcome back! 2021 is already shaping up to be a big year for important developments in the reduction of violence against women. Coercive control is continuing to be a key focal point, with the ANROWS Chief Executive Officer, Dr Heather Nancarrow, unpacking the Australian experience of legislating against coercive control in quasi-criminal law for the National Roundtable on Coercive Controlling Violence hosted by No to Violence last week. Submissions for the NSW Joint Select Committee inquiry into coercive control are also set to close this week. Coercive control is a complex, nuanced issue that we’ll also be examining at the 2021 ANROWS National Research Conference in a session that Dr Nancarrow will facilitate.
The urgency of addressing violence against women has been recognised in the Australian Honours and Awards system. On 26 January 2021 the Chair of the ANROWS Board, Sam Mostyn AO, was recognised for her distinguished service to business and sustainability; to the community, through seminal contributions to a range of organisations; and to women. Tasmanian Grace Tame was awarded Australian of the Year for drawing on lived experience of child sexual assault to advocate for all victims/survivors of sexual assault. Working in Western Sydney, Rosemary Kariuki was named this year’s Local Hero for her work with migrant and refugee women facing domestic and family violence, language barriers and financial distress. ANROWS extends our congratulations to all award recipients.
ANROWS CONFERENCE
Early bird registrations closing soon!
Registrations are now open for the ANROWS National Research Conference on Violence against Women, “Evidence in Action”. Running as an online symposium from 1 to 5 March, 2021, this is the space to hear about and contribute to the national conversation on current evidence in responding to, and preventing, violence against women. Expect to find a broad range of sessions, including plenaries on responses to coercive control, the critical importance of engaging women with lived expertise, and strategies for getting evidence into action. The conference will wrap up with a practical day of “solutions sessions” focused on rising to meet key challenges in the field, including raising the status of children as victims of DFV in their own right; perpetrator accountability— what does this mean and look like; and engaging men in primary prevention. See the program here.
Those who register quickly can also secure early bird pricing— you can save $50 by registering before 5 February, 2021.
REGISTER NOW
VALE R. RUBUNTJA
Vale R Rubuntja
We join our Central Australian colleagues in mourning and celebrating the life and contribution of R Rubuntja, one of the founding members of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group. R Rubuntja, a community leader and an anti-family violence campaigner, was killed on 7 January. Her partner has been charged with murder.
R Rubuntja was elected Town President of her community Anthepe Camp in late 2019, with her successes celebrated in a Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group campaign, entitled Mums Can, Dads Can. The campaign was designed to challenge rigid gender stereotypes and attitudes about the roles of women and men in the community, especially in respect to parenting. R Rubuntja’s contribution to the campaign proclaimed: “Mums can be Camp Town Presidents!”
“We will be inspired by our sister’s legacy. We will not let her be forgotten and then we will ask you to stand with us against family and domestic violence.”
Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group
ANROWS joins Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group in their stand against domestic and family violence, and extends our deepest condolence to her friends, family and colleagues across the VAW sector.
UPCOMING WEBINAR
Violence against women and mental health
Domestic and family violence (DFV) is a major contributor to disease burden (the impact of illness, disability and premature death) among Australian women, with mental health conditions making up the largest proportion of this DFV burden. Research has found that mental health intersects with DFV in complex ways. Mental illness can be brought on by DFV, can compound the effects of DFV, can act as a barrier to reporting or accessing support during or after DFV, or can be used as a tool against women by perpetrators of DFV.
Join ANROWS between 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm (AEDT) on 8 February 2021 for a webinar exploring this nuanced issue. Drawing from the evidence base, our expert panel will discuss a move towards a collaborative approach to mental health policy and practice.
REGISTER NOW
THE “VOICES” STUDY
National study on intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women to involve over 1,000 voices
In an Australian first, ANROWS and the University of Melbourne are conducting a series of large-scale surveys that will meet a crucial need for population-wide data from a diverse range of abuse survivors, and address key evidence gaps on perpetrators and service needs. The surveys will bring together the perspectives of victims/survivors, perpetrators and experts as part of a project called “Transforming responses to intimate partner and sexual violence: Listening to the voices of victims, perpetrators and services” (the Voices study). This study will develop recommendations for service and system improvements to better respond to victims/survivors, their children and perpetrators.
To help gather this important data, the research team are asking for your help in completing and distributing the surveys. If you are a service manager/designer, practitioner or researcher with expertise in responses to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women, please take the survey now (open until 12 February). Downloadable advertisements are available for the Voices surveys for victims/survivors (women) and people (men and women) who use intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women. These advertisements contain links to the information pages and survey. Please feel free to distribute the advertisements widely via newsletters, Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
The Voices study is led by Dr Dominiek Coates, Director, Research Program at ANROWS and Adjunct Associate Professor at UTS, and Professor Kelsey Hegarty at the University of Melbourne. The Voices 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. The surveys have received ethics approval from the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee.
Download the advertising package.
COMPLETE THE SURVEY
WORKUP QUEENSLAND WEBINAR
Intersectionality: What is it and how can we make it real in our work?
WorkUP Queensland is presenting a free SPARK Webinar on “Intersectionality: What is it and how can we make it real in our work?” This webinar is aimed at workers, managers and HR representatives in the domestic and family violence and women’s wellbeing sectors, including sexual assault services and women’s shelters in Queensland. The webinar will feature two experts from ANROWS: Dr Virginia Mapedzahama, a leading scholar in critical race, black and feminist theory, and Helen Sowey, a knowledge translation practitioner. Join them between 12 pm and 1 pm AEST on Friday 12 February to learn how to apply some of the tenets of intersectionality to your work.
REGISTER NOW
New research and resources
You can access the resources in this list and all the other articles in Notepad in the ANROWS Library.
Resources
Gayde, R., Bodenstein, A., Humphries, M., Oxton-White, J., James, L., Caine, E., . . . Vandeleur, M. (2020). Lived Experience framework: Principles and practices for Lived Experience partnerships. Retrieved from https://wacoss.org.au/library/lived-experience-framework-principles-practices-lived-experience-partnerships/
Research
Books and reports
Office of the eSafety Commissioner. (2020). Children and technology-facilitated abuse in domestic and family violence situations. Retrieved from https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/research/children-and-technology-facilitated-abuse-domestic-and-family-violence-situations
New research articles
You can access the resources in this list and all the other articles in Notepad in the ANROWS Library.
Brown, C., Flood, M., & Hegarty, K. (2020). Digital dating abuse perpetration and impact: The importance of gender. Journal of Youth Studies, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2020.1858041
Brown, S. J., Conway, L. J., FitzPatrick, K. M., Hegarty, K., Mensah, F. K., Papadopoullos, S., . . . Gartland, D. (2020). Physical and mental health of women exposed to intimate partner violence in the 10 years after having their first child: An Australian prospective cohort study of first-time mothers. BMJ Open, 10(12), e040891. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040891
De Simone, T., & Heward-Belle, S. (2020). Evidencing better child protection practice: Why representations of domestic violence matter. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2020.1840957
Maple, E., & Kebbell, M. (2020). Responding to domestic and family violence: A qualitative study on the changing perceptions of frontline police officers. Violence Against Women. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220975483
Marsden, S., Humphreys, C., & Hegarty, K. (2020). Women survivors’ accounts of seeing psychologists: Harm or benefit? Journal of Gender-Based Violence. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868020X16040863370635
Spiranovic, C., Hudson, N., Winter, R., Stanford, S., Norris, K., Bartkowiak-Theron, I., & Cashman, K. (2020). Navigating risk and protective factors for family violence during and after the COVID-19 “perfect storm”. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2020.1849933
Tarzia, L., Douglas, H., & Sheeran, N. (2021). Reproductive coercion and abuse against women from minority ethnic backgrounds: Views of service providers in Australia. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2020.1859617
Read
Most women who commit family violence turn to verbal abuse, report finds—The Guardian
Push to criminalise coercive control in relationships sparks concern for migrant and refugee women—SBS News
Men and women kill their children in roughly equal numbers, and we need to understand why—The Conversation
Sexual assault survivor and advocate Grace Tame named 2021 Australian of the Year—ABC News
Could a common antidepressant help some men deal with their domestic violence?—ABC News
How domestic violence services went out of their way to reach women during the pandemic—SBC News
Conferences & events
8 February 2021: Violence against women and mental health
12 February 2021: Intersectionality: What is it and how can we make it real in our work?
1–5 March 2021: ANROWS National Research Conference on Violence against Women: Evidence to Action
Opportunities
BREACHES OF FAMILY LAW PARENTING ORDERS: SURVEY
The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has been commissioned by ANROWS to undertake research into the compliance with and enforcement of family law parenting orders. The research will involve multiple studies, including a survey of legal and non-legal professionals working in the family law system.
You are invited to take part in this survey if you are a legal professional (including judicial officers, barristers and solicitors) or non-legal professional (including family dispute resolution practitioners, family violence sector professionals, and professionals working in post-separation support services, such as parenting order programs).
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