Background Paper to Time for Action: The National Council's Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009-2021  

This part of the Background Paper provides information about the Plan’s central concepts and the issues surrounding sexual assault, domestic and family violence. It complements and supports the evidence outlined in Time for Action: the National Council’s Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.

2.1 What is violence?

There is no one universally accepted definition of violence against women and their children. The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 1993 defines it as: ‘any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life’. The Plan of Action uses this definition.

The Council understands that the extent and range of violent actions perpetrated against women are very broad and that violence and abuse is not always perpetrated by intimate partners, ex-intimate partners or family. Nor is it always perpetrated in the woman’s home, community, domestic or social surroundings.

The Council does not believe one form of violence is intrinsically more important than others. However, given that Australian research confirms that the overwhelming majority of violence against women is by way of sexual assault and domestic and family violence, most of which is perpetrated by intimate partners and in the home, the Plan of Action primarily focuses on these areas.

Defining Sexual Assault

As with violence against women, there also is no universally agreed definition of what constitutes sexual assault. Definitions used in Australia vary between jurisdictions, legislation, agencies and surveys. Sexual assault may include behaviours such as sexual harassment, stalking, forced or deceptive sexual exploitation (such as having images taken and/or distributed without freely given consent), indecent assault and rape. For the purposes of the Plan of Action, sexual assault is defined as both an ‘experience’ and an ‘offence’¹.

The ‘experience’ definition describes sexual assault as unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature directed towards a person:

• which makes that person feel uncomfortable, distressed, frightened or threatened, or which results in harm or injury to that person;
• to which that person has not freely agreed or given consent, or to which that person is not capable of giving consent;
• which involves another person using physical, emotional, psychological or verbal force or (other) coercive behaviour against that person.

The ‘offence’ definition describes sexual assault as physical assault of a sexual nature directed towards another person without their consent. Consent requires ‘free agreement’ and a person cannot be said to freely agree where the person is fearful for themselves or for someone else; has been threatened; is mistaken about the identity of the person or the nature of the sexual act; wrongly believes that the act is for medical purposes; is incapable of consenting because of the influence of alcohol or other drug(s); or, is legally deemed incapable of giving consent because of age, temporary or permanent incapacity, or where there is a familial relationship or other relationship of trust.

Most Australian states and territories have moved towards a definition of consent to reflect the community’s understanding of ‘free agreement’, which increasingly requires evidence of mutual participation in sexual activity. The most progressive definitions require juries to consider what a complainant has said or done to indicate their ‘free agreement’, rather than assume silence or submission equals consent.

[ top ]

Defining Domestic and Family Violence

Domestic and family violence is a complex phenomenon. It can take as many different forms as families and family arrangements and includes abuse of the elderly, sibling abuse, carer abuse, violence between same-sex partners, violence by adolescents against parents, or female to male partner violence. However, in the overwhelming majority of cases, domestic and family violence is perpetrated by males against their female partners.

A central element of domestic violence³ is that of an ongoing pattern of behaviour aimed at controlling one’s partner through fear (for example, by using violent and threatening behaviour) and occurs between people who have, or have had, an intimate relationship.

Generally, the violent behaviour is part of a range of tactics used by the perpetrator to exercise power and control over women and children, and can be both criminal and non-criminal in nature⁴. The laws in each state and territory differ in this respect – some define emotional abuse as a crime while others do not.

The Plan of Action states clearly that while some aspects of domestic and family violence constitute a criminal offence, all behaviour that causes a victim to live in fear is intolerable.

Behaviour associated with domestic and family violence includes⁵:

• Emotional abuse – blaming the victim for all problems in the relationship, constantly comparing the victim with others to undermine self-esteem and self-worth, sporadic sulking, withdrawing all interest and engagement (for example weeks of silence), emotional blackmail.
• Verbal abuse – swearing and continual humiliation, either in private or in public, with attacks following clear themes that focus on intelligence, sexuality, body image and capacity as a parent and spouse.
• Social abuse – systematic isolation from family and friends through techniques such as ongoing rudeness to family and friends to alienate them; instigating and controlling the move to a location where the victim has no established social circle or employment opportunities; and forbidding or physically preventing the victim from going out and meeting people.
• Economic abuse – complete control of all money, including: forbidding access to bank accounts; providing only an inadequate ‘allowance’; not allowing the victim/survivor to seek or hold employment; and using all wages earned by the victim for household expenses.
• Psychological abuse – includes: driving dangerously; destruction of property; abuse of pets in front of family members; making threats regarding custody of any children; asserting that the police and justice system will not assist, support or believe the victim; and denying an individual’s reality.
• Spiritual abuse – denial and/or misuse of religious beliefs or practices to force victims into subordinate roles; or misuse of religious or spiritual traditions to justify physical violence or other forms of abuse.
• Physical abuse – includes: direct assault on the body (strangulation or choking, shaking, eye injuries, slapping, pushing, spitting, punching, or kicking); use of weapons including objects; assault of children; locking the victim out of the house; and sleep and food deprivation.
• Sexual abuse – any form of pressured/unwanted sex or sexual degradation by an intimate partner or ex-partner, such as sexual activity without consent; causing pain during sex; assaulting genitals; coercive sex without protection against pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease; making the victim perform sexual acts unwillingly (including talking explicit photos without their consent); criticising, or using sexually degrading insults.

[ top ]

For Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, when describing violence or abuse of this nature, the term ‘family violence’ is used. ‘Family violence’ better describes the matrix of aggressive behaviours that centre around family relationships. The term encapsulates not only the extended nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, but the context in which different and common forms of violence occur between kinsfolk in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities⁶.

Family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities may involve:

• the perpetrator being an individual or a group;
• the victim being an individual or a group;
• the term ‘family’ meaning extended family, which more technically means a kinship network of discrete intermarried descent groups and, in many such cases, ‘family’ may constitute an entire community;
• the ‘community’ being remote, rural or urban; its residents living in one location or dispersed, but nevertheless interacting and behaving as a social network;
• the violence constituting physical, psychological, emotional, social, economic and/or sexual abuse;
• acts of violence continuing over a long period of time⁷.

For women in same-sex relationships, abusive partners can rely on homophobia or heterosexism as a tool to control their partner. This type of abuse can involve:

• ‘outing’ or threatening to ‘out’ their partner to friends, family, police, church or employer;
• telling their partner that she will lose custody of the children as a result of being ‘outed’;
• telling a partner that the police or the justice system will not assist because the legal justice system is homophobic;
• telling a partner that the abusive behaviour is normal within gay relationships and convincing the abused partner that she does not understand lesbian or gay relationships and sexual practices because of heterosexism⁸.

2.2 What do we know about the prevalence of violence against women and their children in Australia?

Australian data regarding violence against women and their children is limited. Information is not collected consistently across jurisdictions, and where data exists, there are many limitations.

Data regarding violence against women and their children is limited. Information is not collected consistently across jurisdictions, and where data exists, there are many limitations.

Key limitations include⁹:

• Under-reporting, particularly given sample populations of large surveys often do not reach the most vulnerable groups of women such as: those experiencing housing instability; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in rural or remote areas without direct access to a telephone; women with limited or no English; women in custody; women under the age of 18; and women in group homes and institutional care.
• Some surveys are more effective at promoting disclosure from participants than other surveys.
• There is an over-reliance on data not supported by in-depth, detailed research that would provide a better understanding of the relevance of different social, physical, cultural, geographical and economic contexts.

Barriers to women reporting sexual assault and domestic and family violence include: a perception that it is too minor to report to police; a lack of awareness that such action constitutes an offence; a desire to ‘keep it private’ and deal with it themselves; shame; fear of the perpetrator; a sense of ongoing responsibility for the safety of other family members; a lack of awareness about, or lack of availability of, culturally responsive services; a fear of not being believed or that no one can help; and previous experience of asking for help but feeling re-victimised by parts of the service response (such as having to re-tell one’s story to multiple services, or being cross-examined)^{10 11 12.}

Australia’s knowledge about the extent of violence against women has therefore been derived from data drawn from sources that are not necessarily comparable due to different collection and analytical approaches. Notwithstanding these limitations, the following story about violence against women emerges from the available data.

[ top ]

Overview

Violence against women and their children is a profound moral and social problem in Australia. About one in three Australian women experience physical violence and almost one in five women experience sexual violence over their lifetime¹³. Violence cuts across all aspects of the Australian community – it knows no geographical, socio-economic, age, ability, cultural or religious boundaries¹⁴.

While women and children subjected to violence share many of the same experiences, some women experience higher rates of violence and face greater barriers when seeking support services, or may be more likely to receive inadequate or inappropriate responses. This increases their vulnerability to the risk and affects of violence.

For example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women report higher levels of physical violence during their lifetime than do non-Aboriginal and non-Torres Strait Islander Australian women, and they are much more likely to experience sexual violence and to sustain injury^{16 17 18}.

The prevalence and seriousness of Indigenous family violence must be seen in the context of the historical, political, social and cultural environments in which it occurs¹⁹. As pointed out by the (Queensland) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Taskforce on Violence Report (2000): ‘the high incidence of violent crime in some Indigenous communities, particularly in remote and rural regions, is exacerbated by factors not present in the broader Australian community’²⁰. The factors referred to include: ‘dispossession, cultural fragmentation and marginalisation (which) have contributed to ... high unemployment, poor health, low educational attainment and poverty (that) have become endemic in Indigenous lives’²¹.

Similarly, women with disability are more likely to experience partner or sexual violence, of great severity, and over a longer period of time, than women without disability²².

For women who identify themselves as lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, more than a third has been in a relationship in which their partner has abused them²⁴. Immigrant women are more likely than other women to be murdered as a result of domestic and family violence and are less likely to receive appropriate assistance from services when they attempt to leave a violent relationship²⁵.

The Council’s Plan of Action recognises that women are not a homogenous group and that a ‘one-size fits all approach’ to overcoming the problem is not effective. The Plan focuses on helping women in different circumstances and from different backgrounds to live free from violence and the threat of violence. It uses an intersectional analysis to enhance our understanding of the way lifestyle factors affect women. This is because the ways in which women and their children experience violence, the options open to them in dealing with violence, and their access to services that meet their needs in all their diversity, are shaped by the intersection of gender with factors such as disability, English language fluency, ethnicity, geographical location and migration experience²⁶.

[ top ]

Prevalence of sexual assault

• Approximately one in five women (19 per cent) have experienced sexual violence at some stage in their life since the age of 15²⁷.
• About one in three women who experience physical violence are also raped by violent partners²⁸. Sexual violence by male intimate partners remains one of the least recognised, under-reported, and consequently, least prosecuted crimes²⁹.
• Sexual assault is common among young women and the majority of perpetrators are known to the victim/survivor. In 2005, more than 950,000 Australian women reported that they were sexually abused before the age of 15. Fewer than 10 per cent of these young women reported that they were abused by a stranger³⁰.
• Young women experience sexual assault at higher rates than older women. For example, in 2005, of all the women who experienced sexual violence in the previous year, 30.7 per cent were aged between 18 and 24, 29.8 per cent were 25-34, 24.6 per cent were 35-44; and 14.9 per cent were 45 and over³¹.
• Reports of sexual assault have increased by an average of four per cent each year since 1995 but it is estimated that fewer than one in five sexual assaults are reported to police — a reporting rate lower than for other major crime categories³².
• With respect to rape offences that proceed to prosecution, fewer than one in five are likely to result in conviction when the accused pleads guilty or is found guilty at trial³³. Estimates suggest that only one in 10 victims who choose to report a sexual assault to the police will succeed in achieving some kind of punishment³⁴ for the alleged offender.
• For some sub-groups of women, there are few or no statistics on the percentage of members who report incidents, or on the percentage of these reports that are then brought to trial, or on the percentage of these trials that result in convictions.

Prevalence of domestic and family violence

• One in three women (33 per cent) has experienced physical violence at some stage in her life since the age of 15³⁵.
• The majority of cases are perpetrated by men against women and their children³⁶.
• Women are mostly assaulted at their home, often repeatedly, by a man they know and with whom they are/were engaged in an intimate relationship³⁷.
• Intimate partner homicides account for about one in five homicides nationally³⁸.
• Where violence occurred between current partners, more than a quarter of incidents involved children witnessing the violence. In situations of violence between former partners, children were witnesses to more than a third of cases³⁹.
• Older women experience violence and abuse at a rate that is 2.5 times more than older men⁴⁰.
• Almost one in four children in Australia have witnessed violence against their mothers or stepmothers⁴¹.
• There is a high co-occurrence of adult partner violence and child abuse, estimated to be between 30 per cent and 60 per cent⁴².
• For some sub-groups of women, there are few or no statistics on the percentage who report incidents or on the percentage of reports that are prosecuted.

Other facts on prevalence

• Nearly one in six women have experienced violence by a current or previous partner in their lifetime⁴³.
• Women more often talk to family or friends about the violence they are experiencing than go to the police or a support agency⁴⁴.
• More women are reporting violence to police than 10 years ago⁴⁵.
• Physical and sexual abuse increases the risk of alcohol and substance abuse and criminal offending.
• The majority of women in Australian gaols have experienced physical, sexual or psychological abuse as children or adults⁴⁶.

Data analysis and research demonstrates that women can be victims of violence at any stage of life – prior to birth, as a baby or child, as a young person, in a dating relationship, in long-term relationships, during marriage or a de facto relationship, during separation, while being dependent on others for their care, or in old age^{47 48}.

The persistent and pervasive nature of the above statistics support the view that the prevention of violence against women and their children must feature as a key priority for policy transformation and the repositioning of investment by the nation’s leaders. Making the prevention of violence against women and their children a public national priority will ensure that sexual assault and domestic and family violence are not legitimised through silence and inaction⁴⁹.

[ top ]

2.3 What is the international response to violence against women and their children?

Australia is not alone in this problem – violence against women and their children is a worldwide phenomenon. Historical cultural tolerance of the unequal power balance between women and men has resulted in a range of inequalities in every society. One of the manifestations of this unequal power balance has been the traditional acceptance of the use of violence against women.

The growing international consensus on human rights stresses the right of women and their children to live free from violence. Domestic and family violence can no longer be hidden as a private matter within families, nor sexual assault hidden as a personal shame beyond the reach of our governments or the sanction of our communities. Violence against women and their children violates the universal human rights instruments to which the international community has agreed through the United Nations (UN). These instruments include:

• The Universal Declaration on Human Rights – which recognises the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. It protects the right to life, liberty and security of person for everyone; provides that no one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and identifies that mothers and children are entitled to special care and assistance.
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – which guarantees women equal rights with men in all spheres of life, including education, employment, health care, electoral voting and marriage. In November 2008, Australia formally moved to become a party to the CEDAW Optional Protocol. This protocol enables women in Australia to make a complaint to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women about alleged violations of Australia’s obligations under CEDAW, once domestic legal options have been exhausted. The protocol also permits a UN investigation process⁵⁰.
• The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women – which explicitly states that violence against women is a violation of the rights and fundamental freedoms of women, and sets out the responsibility of nation states to ensure prevention, investigation and consequences for all perpetrators⁵¹.
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child – which articulates the basic human rights of children: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life⁵².
• The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – which outlines the rights of people with a disability, and aims to ‘promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity’.⁵³
• The Vienna Declaration and Program of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights – which mandated the creation of a Special Rapporteur on violence against women and established that women’s human rights must be protected in public and in the home⁵⁴.
• The Beijing Platform for Action 1995 – which established strategic objectives and specific commitments by governments to act to prevent and eliminate violence against women⁵⁵.
• The Millennium Development Goals – are eight international development goals identified by the UN in 2000. The goals centre on assisting developing countries more proactively, with a focus on reducing poverty and increasing child health outcomes⁵⁶.

In addition to the above instruments, on 25 February 2008, the UN Secretary-General launched a Framework for Action report under Campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women 2008-2015 to mobilise international efforts to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world. The Framework for Action identifies five key outcomes as benchmarks for the campaign which are to be achieved in all countries by 2015:

• adoption and enforcement of national laws to address all forms of violence against women and girls, in line with international human rights standards;
• adoption and implementation of multi-sectoral national plans of action that emphasise prevention and that are adequately resourced;
• establishment of data collection and analysis systems, and the collection and analysis of data on the prevalence of various forms of violence against women and girls;
• establishment of national and/or local campaigns and the engagement of a diverse range of civil society actors in preventing violence and in supporting women and girls who have been abused;
• systematic efforts to address sexual violence in conflict situations and to protect women and girls from rape as a tactic of war, and full implementation of related laws and policies⁵⁷.

Australia is signatory to each of the above international instruments⁵⁸.

Consistent with Australia’s international obligations, the Australian Government and the Federal Opposition are united and committed to the goal of reducing violence against women and their children.

[ top ]

2.4 Why is the Plan of Action focused on women and their children?

While both women and men can be perpetrators and/or victims of sexual assault and domestic and family violence, research shows that the overwhelming majority of violence and abuse is perpetrated by men against women⁶⁰.

Witnessing or experiencing violence as a child increases sharply the risk of becoming a perpetrator or victim of violence in later life⁶¹. Women who experience abuse as a child are one-and-a-half times more likely to experience violence, and twice as likely to experience sexual violence as an adult than those who have not⁶². Women who are physically and sexually abused in childhood also have an increased risk of being sexually abused in adulthood⁶³.

Evidence suggests there are strong relationships between physical and psychological abuse, and between physical and sexual abuse of children, with multiple forms of violence happening simultaneously in the same family⁶⁴. Having children taken into care by the child protection system is a common fear of many women experiencing domestic and family violence⁶⁵.

The majority of women who experience violence from their partner, first experience it during pregnancy. Women during pregnancy experience higher levels of violence. There is in no way a direct causal relationship between violence and pregnancy but, rather, a complex relationship that increases women’s vulnerability^{66 67}.

Given children are dependent on adult caregivers to provide them with a safe environment and to shape their sense of what is normal and right, any form of domestic and family violence harms children, whether they are directly or indirectly a target or victim of abuse.

The Plan of Action therefore gives focus to the holistic and inextricably linked needs of women and their dependent children, but does not attempt to analyse or address strengths and weaknesses in the child protection systems across Australia. The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children is under development and will address these issues and complement this Plan of Action.

2.5 What are the causes of violence against women and their children?

Violence is never caused or invited by the victim/survivor. The choice to use violence always rests with the perpetrator. The Plan of Action aims to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable for their use of violence and are challenged to take responsibility for their actions and stop their violence.

There is no single cause of violence against women and their children. Violence against women and their children arises from a complex interaction of many factors at the community and societal levels as well as the individual and relationship levels^{68 69 70}. Many of these factors are linked to the social inequality between men and women and some of the contributing factors are explored in the following sections.

In terms of preventing violence, it is important to note that female economic independence and education levels, and male education levels and socialisation, can be protective factors that decrease the likelihood of sexual assault and domestic and family violence⁷¹.

What role does power play in violence against women?

The biggest risk factor for becoming a victim of sexual assault and/or domestic and family violence is being a woman.

Sexual assault and domestic and family violence affects people of all races, classes, abilities and cultures. Socially learned attitudes and beliefs that men should have authority over women, and that violence is an acceptable way to gain control, can authorise violence against women within every culture.

Power operates at all levels of society – overtly, with people directing others, and covertly, through the values and attitudes within our communities. It is evident in the practices of governments, courts, police, schools, religious environments, prisons, in business and in families. These institutions can reflect the norms and values of our communities and can shape them.

Power imbalances that impact negatively on women are exacerbated when additional factors such as disability or language barriers are present and can increase an individual woman’s vulnerability to violence.

Leadership from people in positions of power can influence community values and attitudes, resulting both in negative as well as positive outcomes. Power can be exercised by institutions in ways that have strong negative consequences for individuals, families and communities. The sexual abuse of children within religious organisations, which was denied for many decades, or the law’s omission until the 1980s to criminalise rape in marriage, are two such examples. However, the practices employed by institutions also have the potential to promote equity and redress past wrongs. The 2008 Australian Government’s Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a clear example of positive leadership as is the Inteyerrkwe Statement from the 2008 Aboriginal Male Health Summit. Legal reforms across Australian jurisdictions to address the needs of victims of sexual assault and domestic and family violence are another.

In the interpersonal context, all relationships are imbued with power. This power may have positive intentions as, for example, when a parent sets reasonable limits on a child’s behaviour. But when this power is used in an abusive or excessive way, the outcomes can be very different. A young man coercing his girlfriend to have sex with him through psychological manipulation or using physical force is an example of an abuse of his power both as a male and in his relationship with her.

The Plan of Action recognises and rejects the use of violence as an abuse of power by men against women. It includes strategies and actions to raise community awareness and change attitudes and behaviours in a way that fosters respectful relationships.

[ top ]

What role do controlling attitudes and behaviours play in violence against women?

Men’s attitudes about gender equality and controlling behaviours towards women are a major predictor of violence against women.

Studies of women’s experiences show that domestic and family violence is usually characterised by a pattern of controlling and abusive behaviours by the male partner⁷⁴. The acting-out of negative attitudes toward women, especially through men seeking to control and devalue their female partners, is an especially important predictor of violence. If the woman’s partner is engaged in controlling behaviour, she is six times more likely to experience physical violence⁷⁵.

Societal norms also affect the forming of individual beliefs and attitudes that enable violence against women. For example, collective social attitudes and beliefs that favour conservative gender roles, trivialise violence and its effects, blame the victim, deny that violence has occurred, insist on the privacy of the family and encourage the sexual objectification of women⁷⁶. In particular, men who hold ‘violence-supportive attitudes’ are more likely to use violence against women, and violence is more common in those communities in which these attitudes are prevalent⁷⁷. When some sporting sub-cultures, especially team-based contact sports, express more sexist and conservative norms for gender and sexuality, they often are upholding violence-supportive attitudes⁷⁸.

There is evidence that suggests that these attitudes and behaviours are learned as children through family life and social norms, and have serious implications for children being raised in families where violence is occurring. In one study, women experiencing violence observed strong similarities in the behaviours and attitudes of their sons to those of their ex-partners. All observed that their sons used the same or similar words as their fathers when they verbally abused them. The sons showed a similar lack of respect and contempt for their mothers. Most women felt their sons had learnt these attitudes and behaviours from their fathers^{79 80}.

There is a critical need for interventions that change individual and social attitudes that support inequality between women and men, including those that accept controlling behaviours by men over their female partners.

What role does alcohol play in violence against women and their children?

Alcohol is usually seen as a trigger, or a feature, of violence against women and their children rather than a cause. Research shows that addressing alcohol in isolation will not automatically reduce violence against women and their children. This is because alcohol does not, of itself, create the underlying attitudes that lead to controlling or violent behaviour^{81 82}. While alcohol use or abuse is not a primary cause of violence against women and their children, there is evidence that it may influence the severity of the violence inflicted and injuries sustained⁸³.

Women with male partners who get drunk twice or more a month experience more violence than other women⁸⁴. A study conducted in Central Queensland found that women whose partners drank excessively were more than twice as likely as other women to experience physical abuse, and more than one-and-a-half times as likely to experience psychological abuse⁸⁵. Alcohol and drug use is a feature of the vast majority of sexual and physical assaults by strangers met on the night of an assault⁸⁶.

The influence of alcohol on family violence is also of serious concern. More than 90 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander intimate partner homicides recorded in 2005-06 involved either the victim or offender, or both, being under the influence of alcohol. This compares to 39 per cent for non-Aboriginal and non-Torres Strait Islander intimate partner homicides⁸⁷.

[ top ]

What role does isolation play in violence against women and their children?

Geographical and social isolation compound problems of sexual assault and domestic and family violence, mainly because they reduce the victim’s access to support networks.

Victims of violence residing in rural and remote communities sometimes face considerable disadvantage in terms of:

• Isolation – the community may be isolated both geographically and culturally from appropriate supports (services, family and friends).
• Access to independent advice/support/assistance – smaller communities may have very limited access to basic services such as a community phone as a means through which to seek help. They also tend to have access to fewer professionals. For example, there may be one or no police officers in the area, or the local counsellor may have to support both the victim and the perpetrator.
• Access to interpreters for women who do not speak English or women with complex communication needs – interpreters need to be accessible and well trained to be effective and this can be difficult in rural and remote communities. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, gaining access to an appropriate interpreter may be almost impossible. Many victims may not have access to an interpreter who is not connected with the perpetrator or his family. For women with disabilities, there is an undersupply of sign-language interpreters Australia-wide, and particularly in non-urban areas.
• Access to appropriate services – fewer services and fewer service options are a reality in smaller communities and women and children may need to leave their community to access appropriate services.
• Lack of effective transport or alternative accommodation – limited transport options and fewer safe-crisis accommodation options are available in rural and remote locations.
• Difficulties in maintaining confidentiality and safety – confidentiality is more like to be compromised in smaller communities and victims are more likely to encounter perpetrators in these communities as they go about their daily routine. Perpetrators may be high-profile or respected members of the community and victims may struggle to be believed and gain support.
• Accessibility of firearms – firearms are a prominent feature in rural life. The literature points to the threat or use of firearms as a major reason that women do not flee or seek help. Firearms play an important role in contributing to the disproportionate number of domestic violence-related homicides in rural and remote areas.

It is difficult to estimate the prevalence of violence against women in rural and remote locations as many of the broad-based Australian surveys have not sorted data by geographical region⁸⁸. The data that is collected frequently measures report rates to police rather than the actual frequency of the violence. However, there is evidence of a higher reported incidence of sexual assault and domestic and family violence in rural and remote communities than in urban Australia^{89 90}.

Some groups of women within rural and remote communities experience particularly high rates of domestic violence. For example, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who reported being victims of physical or threatened violence has been found to be similar in remote and non-remote areas⁹¹. However, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote areas who said that they, their family or friends had witnessed violence is three times as high as for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in non-remote areas⁹². In remote and very remote areas, more than three-quarters of homicide victims in 2005 06 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander⁹³.

There are varying degrees of geographical isolation. Remoteness is generally determined by access to a range of services or by how far one must travel to populous centres. This can be measured by a combination of factors such as population density (distance from other people), road distance to the closest service centres, and accessibility⁹⁴. These factors combine in different ways for different individuals and different rural or remote communities.

[ top ]

It should be recognised that social isolation can occur in any setting, including urban centres. Social isolation relates more to individuals than places, and reflects an individual’s level of connectedness with the community and broader society around them. Women who have experienced partner violence often have less social support – such as someone to confide in, assistance with financial aid and transport, and people to provide information⁹⁵. Women who experience barriers to accessing a safe physical environment can experience extreme isolation irrespective of geographical location. Young women who are actively connected to schools and have links with supportive adults experience lower rates of violence than those who are poorly connected or without links to supportive adults⁹⁶.

For many immigrant and refugee women, insufficient knowledge of English creates a specific disadvantage in comparison to men in their families. English is often used as a tool of power and control, engendering the total dependence of refugee women on their husbands⁹⁷.

Women who are sponsored by Australian citizens and residents are particularly vulnerable to abuse due to the threat of deportation⁹⁸. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, domestic violence practitioners became concerned about the number of repeat or serial sponsors who abused the women and then triggered their deportation⁹⁹. Predominantly, the concern related to the abuse of Filipino women by serial sponsors¹⁰⁰, although more recently concerns have increased about women sponsored from other countries such as Russia, Thailand, Indonesia and Fiji.

For women in emerging communities, the disclosure of family violence may exacerbate their sense of isolation with the added burden of shame associated with ‘failure’ in the new country¹⁰¹. Immigrant women are often under extreme pressure to keep the family together in a situation where other supports are absent, in a context where English is not a familiar language, and the culture and legal system of the new country are not well understood. Where a family has already undergone the difficulties of immigration, and where they may feel isolated because of their perceived ‘difference’, maintaining the integrity of the family unit becomes an imperative beyond the woman’s individual sense of safety¹⁰².

Social isolation is also relevant to the perpetration of violence – men with weak social networks are more likely to perpetrate violence, particularly after the separation from an intimate partner. This is thought to be because social networks provide a buffer to stress or because they act to censure violence¹⁰⁴.

Improving service provision can mitigate the impacts of social and geographical isolation by strengthening the supports around women and their children and reducing men’s violence. The Plan of Action supports a range of measures to expand and improve the delivery of services, including for women of rural and remote communities and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Contributing factors for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders

From an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective, other systemic factors also impact on the nature of violence that is perpetrated, including:

• dispossession from land and traditional culture;
• breakdown of community kinship systems and erosion of traditional laws and customs;
• racism and vilification;
• economic exclusion and entrenched poverty;
• effects of overcrowding and inadequate housing;
• the effects of institutionalism and child removal policies;
• inherited grief and trauma;
• the loss of traditional Aboriginal female roles, male roles and status¹⁰⁵.

[ top ]

2.6 What are the effects of violence on women and their children?

The effects of sexual assault and domestic and family violence are long-term and wide-ranging.

This violence damages the health and wellbeing of women and their children. It also affects communities, disrupting community and intra-familial relationships, isolating people from social networks, encouraging negative norms and perpetuating social exclusion. Violence also places a large burden on the national economy through the cost of health, support and justice services and the loss of human capital.

Psychological impacts of sexual assault

The psychological effects of sexual assault are severe. They include: intense fear of death and disassociation during the assault; anxiety and ongoing fears; feelings of low self esteem, self-blame, and guilt; shock, confusion, and denial; self-harm, suicidal ideation and attempted suicide; and post-traumatic stress disorder¹⁰⁶. Common mythology suggests women should be responsible for avoiding sexual assault, for example, by dressing in particular ways. This can result in the victim of sexual assault immediately feeling guilty and responsible for the assault.

The perceived threat of sexual assault also generates fear in women generally. Research has found that women are most worried about sexual assault by a stranger, feel most unsafe outside at night time, regard certain areas such as underpasses and parks as frightening, and consider neighbourhoods other than their own to be dangerous¹⁰⁷. Women say they employ strategies that minimise risk in public areas such as carrying a personal alarm, not going out at night, not going out alone, or being accompanied by a man^{108 109 110 111}. There is a clear discrepancy between this perceived threat and the actual nature of sexual violence. Women are, in fact, most at risk in their domestic dwellings and at the hands of people they know.

It is not only sexual assault and violence that impedes Australian women from living their lives, but the very real fear of violence. This can severely limit women’s actions and their full participation in the society, the political system and the economy¹¹².

[ top ]

Psychological impacts of domestic and family violence

The effects of domestic and family violence have a cumulative impact on the mental health of the victim/survivor. Many women describe the long-term psychological impacts of emotional, verbal, social and economic abuse as being more devastating. Women who have experienced partner violence are also more likely to suffer mental health issues including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, self-harm tendencies and suicidal thoughts^{113 114}.

Women can interpret their partner’s actions in the context of prior violence and controlling behaviour, and often become experts at reading behavioural cues that signify danger and which may not be evident to anyone else¹¹⁵. In between incidents of violence, women experience fear and dread – and similar feelings are often experienced by their children. The very real fear of domestic and family violence limits women’s capacity to identify and access services and support, as a result preventing their full participation in society, the political system and economy.

Effects of violence on physical health and wellbeing

Violence against women and their children is a primary indicator of future health outcomes.

Women who have experienced sexual assault may suffer major physical health effects, which could include immediate injuries; sexually transmitted infections (STIs); unwanted pregnancies¹¹⁶; and ongoing physical problems such as chronic diseases, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, eating disorders and gynaecological conditions. Other studies have found sexual assault seriously affects women's mental health, causing depression, post-traumatic stress disorder; and affecting women's reproductive health¹¹⁷. Studies have also demonstrated the wider ripple effects of the trauma of sexual assault on the woman’s family, friends and professionals working in the sexual assault field^{118 119}.

Australian studies show that women who have experienced partner violence have poorer health and use health services more frequently than other women, even after they are no longer exposed to the violence¹²⁰. Domestic violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in Victorian women under the age of 45, eclipsing other common risk factors such as obesity, smoking and high blood pressure¹²¹. Long-term physical symptoms include pain and fatigue, allergies and respiratory disorders, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bowel problems, onset of breast cancer, and eyesight and hearing difficulties.

For younger women, violence affects their reproductive health. The chances of miscarriage, herpes, Hepatitis C and Human Papilloma Virus are between two and 11 times higher for women who have experienced partner violence than for women who have not. For older women, there is an association between partner violence and cervical cancer; higher stress levels and an increased likelihood of physical and mental illness. Victims/survivors of violence also have a higher use of tobacco and alcohol¹²².

However, studies show that health improvements are possible – particularly when women are no longer exposed to the violence, have received appropriate medical and emotional counselling support and have suitable social supports in place.

The human cost is greatest when women cannot escape the violence. In 2006-07, 21 per cent of female homicide victims were killed by family members, and 53 per cent were killed by an intimate partner^{123 124}.

Effects on children

Exposure of children to family violence causes long-term psychological, emotional, physical and behavioural problems¹²⁵.

Children and young people exposed to sexual assault and domestic and family violence experience anger, sadness, shame, guilt, confusion, helplessness and despair. Children do not need to be physically present when violence occurs to suffer negative consequences. Living in an environment where violence occurs is extremely damaging to children and there is little difference in outcomes for children whether they see the violence or not.

Living with domestic and family violence can directly affect infants, causing negative developmental, social, emotional and behavioural consequences¹²⁶. At a time of rapid neurological growth, an infant’s development may be compromised by exposure to ongoing violence, whether or not they are the target of the violence¹²⁷. Infants may have symptoms typical of post-traumatic stress.

Chronic exposure to traumatic events as a child, such as witnessing or being the victim of violence, results in chronic over-activity of the body’s stress response (the fight or flight response, separation anxiety) and permanent changes to the brain’s architecture¹²⁸. It stops children who grow up in this kind of environment from focusing on the developmental tasks appropriate to their age.

The mental health effects of domestic violence include loss of self esteem and decision-making ability, depression, anxiety, phobias, self-harm, somatisation and dissociative disorders, including sleep disturbances, night terrors, separation anxiety, aggressiveness, hyperactivity, emotional detachment and constriction¹²⁹. Domestic and family violence is known to directly compromise infant mental health. The negative effects on an infant’s behaviour and development can affect the mother’s desire to care for and bond with the infant, so the infant finds the mother’s availability becomes less predictable¹³⁰.

It would be reasonable to assume that if a child is forced to go on contact visits (with an abusive father) by the mother, because she is legally compelled to send him/her, this must have negative consequences for the child’s trust of, confidence in, and relationship with, the mother¹³¹.

The effects of domestic and family violence can be compounded by risk factors associated with immigrant children and families. For example, a history of persecution and trauma, loss of an extended family network, the stress of adapting to a new culture, isolation from the broader community due to language and other barriers, lack of available resources, and so forth, can reduce the protective factors that help children and families cope.

On the other hand, many immigrant families enjoy the support of their extended family, religious affiliation and strong community ties. This often provides children of immigrant families with a dependable network of interested adults to nurture and support them. This broad network of support also assists with the children’s development of a strong cultural identity. Engagement with sporting and other extra-curricula organisations, and commitment to education, also supports children who may experience the trauma of family violence¹³².

[ top ]

Costs to society

A 2004 study estimated that the total annual cost of violence against women by their partners was $8.1 billion¹³³. Violence against women and their children has, for far too long, carried not only an unacceptable physical and emotional cost to victims and their families, but an enormous economic cost to society.

The study focused on violence between adult partners living in intimate relationships, although the effect of that violence on children was also taken into account. This figure included costs associated with:

• pain, suffering and premature mortality;
• health costs – private and public health costs associated with treating the effects of domestic violence on the victim, perpetrator and children;
• production related costs – lost production (wages plus profit) from absenteeism, search and hiring costs, lost productivity of victim, perpetrator, management, co-worker, friends and family, lost unpaid work, retraining costs and long term costs of permanent loss of work capacity;
• consumption related costs – property replacement, bad debts, long-term costs of lost economies of scale in household;
• second generation costs – private and public sector costs of childcare, changing schools, counselling, child protection services, remedial/special education, increased future use of government services, and increased juvenile and adult crime;
• administrative and other costs – private and public sector costs of legal/forensic services, temporary accommodation, paid care (i.e. housekeeper), counselling, perpetrator programs, interpreter services and funerals;
• transfer costs – victim compensation, income support, accommodation subsidies, lost taxes, financial help to the victim from friends, family and child support.

The largest proportion of the $8.1 billion cost in 2003 was attributable to pain, suffering and premature mortality, at $3.5 billion. The cost burden of domestic violence that was borne by victims was $4 billion.

Another study of the cost of sexual assault to Australia has suggested that the likely economic cost of the 93,000 sexual assaults in 2001 would total more than $230 million¹³⁴. This is likely to be an under-estimate given it focuses on the costs of crisis responses after recent assaults only. It does not include the costs associated with adult victims recovering from childhood or past sexual assaults. A United Kingdom study has found sexual assault is the second most expensive interpersonal crime, after homicide¹³⁵.

The Access Economics study was repeated by KPMG in January 2009 to update the 2002-03 Access cost estimates and to project the costs to 2021-22. The study captured reported violence only – in other words, unreported violence is not included in either the Access Economics or the KPMG study.

In today’s figures, the KPMG study estimates 750,000 Australian women will experience and report violence in 2021-22, costing the Australian economy an estimated $15.6 billion. For every woman whose experience of violence can be prevented through the implementation of the Plan of Action, $20,766 can be saved. To place this in perspective, if the Plan of Action yielded an average reduction in violence against women and their children of just 10 per cent by 2021-22, about $1.6 billion in costs to victims/survivors, their friends and families, perpetrators, children, employers, governments and the community could be avoided.

The full KPMG report, entitled The Cost of Violence against Women and their Children is provided as a separate supporting document to the Council’s Plan of Action.

[ top ]

Economic hardship

Australian¹³⁶ and international studies¹³⁷ show that domestic and family violence affects women across all socio-economic groups. But Australian women who have lived with a violent partner are more likely than other women to experience financial difficulty¹³⁸. Domestic and family violence can include economic abuse such as imposing controls on household money, preventing the female partner from engaging in paid work, denying access to bank accounts, and providing an inadequate allowance.

Women generally are more at risk of poverty than men in Australia due to their concentration in lower wage earning occupations and in casual and part-time employment, and to their time out of the workforce when caring for family members. For those in paid employment, Australian women earn 84 cents for every dollar that men earn¹⁴⁰. Many Australian women are economically dependent on their partner. This has implications for women’s safety as economic dependence is a risk factor for domestic and family violence, limiting women’s capacity to escape violent partners. Poverty and a lack of independent income are a major cause of homelessness for victims of domestic and family violence¹⁴¹.

Women who have been victims of violence may lack confidence, have health issues and may lack skills due to interrupted education and training. Therefore, they may need support to either enter or re-enter the workforce, and to maintain their employment. Violence can also interrupt women’s lives, leaving a legacy of ongoing examinations, court appearances and/or the dislocation experienced by leaving a dangerous household. All of these interruptions make it more difficult to hold down a stable job and maintain a career path.

[ top ]

Homelessness

Across Australia, one of the many causes of homelessness among women is domestic or family violence¹⁴². One in five women seeking supported accommodation is escaping violence at home¹⁴³. Children and young people also experience homelessness as a result of sexual abuse and family violence.

The perpetrator’s violence often makes the family home uninhabitable. Women and their children can lose not only their physical home but their support network when they leave the family home and local neighbourhood in their bid to achieve safety.

Homelessness caused by domestic and family violence is different from other forms of homelessness¹⁴⁴. In many cases, the perpetrator remains in the home and many women will cycle in and out of homelessness as they return to the perpetrator and the family home, often because of financial constraints and limited crisis services^{145 146 147}.

Sexual assault is also directly aligned with homelessness. It is the primary reason that young women become homeless initially, and homelessness, in turn, increases their vulnerability to further sexual assault – on the street, in hostels, refuges and squats, and through links with drug use and prostitution¹⁴⁸.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are more likely to become homeless after a sexual assault in their homes. They leave their homes and stay with extended family members, contributing to overcrowding and placing themselves and their children at risk of further victimisation.

Meanwhile, those who have perpetrated the violence remain in the comfort of the family home while the victim/survivor and her children have to cope with homelessness and the loss of access to their social and work/school environments. A more just approach is the 'safe at home’ model that seeks to have the perpetrator of the violence removed from the home in circumstances where it is safe, appropriate and desirable for the woman and her children¹⁴⁹.This preserves the autonomy and social support networks of victims; reduces the financial, social and health impacts; and ensures that perpetrators experience consequences for their violent actions.

While no state or territory has legislation for stand-alone ‘exclusion’, ‘sole occupancy’ or ‘ouster’ orders¹⁵⁰, all jurisdictions’ civil domestic and family violence laws provide for such a condition on a protection order. These orders enable the court to prohibit a perpetrator of domestic violence from remaining in, or approaching, a premise, requiring him to find alternative accommodation. Such orders override any legal or equitable interest the perpetrator may have in the property¹⁵¹. For example, in Queensland, this legislative provision has been in place for 20 years. Since the mid-1990s, it has been supported by an inter-relationship with the Residential Tenancies Act 1994 to enable relevant changes to tenancy agreements at the time an ouster order is made.

However, these legislative provisions are rarely used due to concerns about the impact on the man¹⁵². Not only is enabling women and their children to stay in their own home after violence a more just outcome, it may also enable women and children to relocate to a more secure situation within a timeframe that suits their needs, rather than having to relocate at a time of crisis, resulting in one or more short-term, disruptive moves in and out of temporary accommodation. Multiple short-term accommodation moves can have a devastating effect on economic, physical, social and emotional well-being. This adds to the cost of domestic and family violence carried by the victim of violence and the broader Australian community.

Removing the perpetrator often incurs costs related to upgrading house security, safety planning, financial and legal advice, and liaison with police and other services to ensure the family home environment is safe. These costs are borne primarily by women and their children. Addressing such costs would go some way to creating more sustainable options for women to be safe in their own home.

The Council acknowledges that this approach is not the only solution and will not help all women experiencing domestic and family violence. Given it is relatively new, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the safe-at-home model in supporting women’s safety, health and wellbeing; improving stability for victims and their family; and increasing perpetrator accountability; will be helpful for all Australian jurisdictions. In the meantime, different approaches are needed to respond to the range of risks, needs and circumstances of all women who face homelessness due to violence.

[ top ]

2.7 Preventing violence against women and their children – what works?

The unacceptability and injustice of violence against women and their children has been widely acknowledged. A range of approaches have been developed and tested to understand and reduce violence.

Some examine the issue of violence against women in terms of gender, justice, public health, human rights, victimology and/or intersectional perspectives. History and experience confirms that no single approach and examination will be effective in stopping violence against women. However, the ecological model proposed by the World Health Organisation (Figure 1) is useful. It highlights the need for multi-level approaches to understanding the main contexts for violence against women and their children.

Figure 1: The ecological model for understanding violence.

Source: World Health Organisation. World report on violence and health. WHO: Geneva, 2002.

In tackling the issue of violence against women and their children, contemporary thinking suggests that, unless society addresses the issue on all these levels (individual, relationship, community and societal), it will make little difference to the number of women whose lives are affected by men’s violence¹⁵⁴.

Many of the risk and protective factors associated with this violence operate at these four levels. An integrated, coordinated and collaborative approach between, and across, governments, communities and individuals is necessary to address these contributors to, and determinants of, violence.

Prevention methodologies can be grouped as:

• primary prevention – activities that work to prevent violence before it occurs by: reducing individual and family risk factors and bolstering protective factors; promoting attitudes and behaviour that support respectful relationships and gender equality; and altering environments to make them safer for women^{155 156 157};
• secondary prevention (sometimes also referred to as early intervention) – activities that target the early signs of violence and seek to change the attitudes, behaviours and skills of individuals and groups who are already at risk of being violent;
• tertiary intervention – activities that provide support, counselling and advocacy for victims, and that impose criminal justice responses, including programs for offenders after violence has occurred that seek to break the cycle of abuse and promote recovery and rehabilitation.

With primary prevention an emerging area of practice, organisations are undertaking rigorous evaluations of primary prevention approaches. To facilitate this work, the international and national evidence base on the effectiveness of services, programs and other initiatives in preventing violence against women and their children needs to be expanded¹⁵⁸.

Promising primary prevention approaches that appear to be working internationally include¹⁵⁹:

• public information and awareness campaigns to break the silence that surrounds sexual assault and domestic and family violence; to inform and influence attitudes and social norms that allow violence; and to build political will to address the problem;
• early childhood and family-based approaches to developing children’s problem-solving, emotional management and social skills; reducing children’s exposure to violence and other adverse effects of family violence; and building parental capacity to care for their children;
• school-based approaches that equip children and young people with the ability to identify inappropriate sexual or violent behaviour; build their protective behaviour skills; and shape their expectations and capacity to build and sustain respectful relationships;
• changes to media regulations that reduce the level of violence displayed;
• interventions to reduce and regulate alcohol and substance misuse and harm, including the regulation of alcohol pricing and taxation.

In addition, promising secondary or early intervention activities include¹⁶⁰:

• the mobilisation of communities to act against violence;
• structural and policy approaches that strengthen gender equality, improve criminal justice system responses and engage men and boys to reduce violent behaviour.

Accordingly, the approach articulated in the Council’s Plan of Action incorporates the areas of action that show promising results and includes:

• an acknowledgement that all forms of violence against women and their children is wrong and intolerable as violence is a fundamental violation of human rights;
• a focus on prevention activities that change community attitudes and build individual and community resilience;
• a focus on collaboration and coordination across agencies involved in the prevention of, and response to, violence against women and their children;
• an emphasis on ensuring just responses to sexual assault, domestic and family violence.

[ top ]

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sexual Assault in Australia: a Statistical Overview. ABS cat. no. 4523.0, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2004.
2. S Harned, ‘Understanding Women’s Labeling of Unwanted Sexual Experiences with Dating Partners’, Violence Against Women, vol. 11 no. 3, March 2005, pp. 374-41; Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre, What's in a Name? Definitions and Domestic Violence, Discussion Paper 1, DVIRC, Melbourne, 1998.
3. In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, family violence includes sexual assault. Queensland Government, Queensland Government Responses to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Task Force on Violence: The First Step, Queensland Government, Queensland, 2000.
4. Department for Planning and Community Development, Family Violence Risk Assessment and Risk Management Framework, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007.
5. Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban and Regional Research, Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report, Report prepared for the Office for Women, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 2008.
6. P Memmott, R Stacy, C Chambers & C Keys, Violence in Indigenous Communities, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, Canberra, 2001.
7. Ibid.
8. S Chan, Domestic Violence in Gay and Lesbian Relationships, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse Topic Paper, Sydney, 2005.
9. Issues concerning the reliability of data on violence against women are acknowledged in key articles including W DeKeseredy & M Schwartz, Measuring the Extent of Woman Abuse in Intimate Heterosexual Relationships: A Critique of the Conflict Tactics Scales (http://new.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_ctscrit.pdf), VAWnet, Harrisburg, 1998, viewed November 2008; H Johnson, The International Violence Against Women Survey: challenges and issues in developing an international comparative research project, Proceedings of Evaluation in Crime and Justice: Trends and Methods Conference, Canberra, March 2003 (www.aic.gov.au/conferences/evaluation/), viewed November 2008 ; Australian Bureau of Statistics, Information Paper: Measuring Crime Victimisation, Australia: the Impact of Different Collection Methodologies, ABS cat. no. 4522.0.55.001, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2002, viewed November 2008
10. J Mouzos & T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series, no.56, Canberra, 2004.
11. A Neame & M Heenan, What lies behind the hidden figure of sexual assault? Issues of prevalence and disclosure (www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/briefing/acssa_briefing1.pdf), Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, Briefing no.1, September 2003, viewed November 2008.
12. D Lievore, Non-reporting and Hidden Recording of Sexual Assault: An International Literature Review (http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/reports/2003-06-review.pdf), Australian Institute of Criminology, Report for the Commonwealth Office for the Status of Women, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 2003, viewed November 2008.
13. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, ABS Cat. No. 4906.0. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. 2005.
14. L Heise, ‘Violence against women: an international, ecological framework’ Violence Against Women, vol. 4, pp. 6 – 90, 2003. See also S Rees & B Pease, Refugee Settlement, Safety and Wellbeing: Exploring Domestic and Family Violence in Refugee Communities - Paper Four of the Violence Against Women Community Attitudes Project, Immigrant Women’s Domestic Violence Service Incorporated and VicHealth, Melbourne, 2006.
15. K Rudd, ‘Respecting Women and Leading Men’ Proceedings of the White Ribbon Foundation White Tie Dinner, Prime Minister of Australia, 17 September 2008, viewed November 2008.
16. In the past 18 months, for example, the following significant reports have been released: F Al-Yaman, M Van Doeland & M Wallis , Family Violence Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, AIHW cat. no. FHW 17, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, 2006; R Wild & P Anderson, Ampe Akelyerneman Meke Mekarle: Little Children are Sacred – Report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, Northern Territory Government, Darwin, 2007; New South Wales Attorney General’s Department, Breaking the Silence: Creating the Future. Addressing Child Sexual Assault in Aboriginal Communities in New South Wales, Report of the New South Wales Aboriginal Child Sexual Assault Taskforce, New South Wales Government, Sydney, 2007; and Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Ending family violence and abuse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: Key Issues, An overview paper of research and findings by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2001-2006, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2006.
17. J Mouzos & T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series, no.56, Canberra, 2004.
18. D Lievore,Non-reporting and Hidden Recording of Sexual Assault: An International Literature Review (http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/reports/2003-06-review.pdf), Australian Institute of Criminology, Report for the Commonwealth Office for the Status of Women, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 2003, viewed November 2008.
19. H Blagg, D Ray, R Murphy & E Macarthy, Crisis Intervention in Aboriginal Family Violence: Strategies and Models for Western Australia, Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, Canberra, 2000.
20. Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Policy and Development. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Taskforce on Violence Report, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2000, p. ix.
21. Ibid p. x.
22. Australian data on this is limited. It is reported in S Murray & A Powell, ‘Sexual assault and adults with a disability: enabling recognition, disclosure and a just response’ ACSSA Issues 9, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Canberra, 2008; that 25 per cent of Victorian women who reported sexual assault to the police had a disability. 15 per cent had an intellectual disability, and 5.9 per cent had a physical disability. A Canadian study found that in a representative sample of women, women with disability had 40 per cent greater odds of experiencing domestic violence than women without a disability (see D Brownridge, 'Partner violence against women with disability', Violence Against Women, vol. 12, no. 9, 2006, pp. 805-822).
23. Women with Disabilities Australia, ‘Forgotten Sisters: a global review of violence against women with disability’ Resource Manual on Violence Against Women with Disabilities, Women With Disabilities Australia, Hobart, 2007.
24. M Pitts, A Smith, A Mitchell, and S Patel,. ‘Private Lives: A report A report on the health and wellbeing of GLBTI Australians.' Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria and the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society. Monograph Series no. 57, March 2006.
25. M Dimopoulos & H Assafiri ‘Pathologising NESB women and the construction of the ‘cultural defence’. Point of contact: Responding to children and domestic violence.’ Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2004.
26. J Stubbs, ‘Violence Against Women: the Challenge of Diversity for Law, Policy and Practice.’ Second National Outlook Symposium: Violence Crime, Property Crime and Public Policy, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 1997.
27. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, ABS Cat. No. 4906.0. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2005.
28. J. C Campbell, M Garza, A Carlson Gielen, P O’Campo, J Kub, J Dienemann, ,A.S Jones & and E Jafar,‘Intimate partner violence and abuse among active duty military women’ Violence Against Women, vol. 9, no. 9, 2003, pp. 1072-1092.
29. D Parkinson, Rape By A Partner, A Research Report, Women’s Health Goulburn North East, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Canberra, 2008; M Heenan, Just Keeping the Peace, A Reluctance to Respond to Male Partner Sexual Violence, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, Issues Paper 1, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2004.
30. A Quadara, Responding to Young People Disclosing Sexual Assault, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Canberra, 2008.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Victorian Law Reform Commission, Sexual Offences Interim Report, Victorian Law Reform Commission, Melbourne, 2003.
34. B Cook, F David and A Grant, ‘Sexual Violence in Australia,’ Research and Public Policy Series, no. 36, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 2001, pp.43-44.
35. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, ABS Cat. No. 4906.0. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2005.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. M Davis & J Mouzos, ‘Homicide in Australia: 2005-06,’ National Homicide Monitoring Program annual report, Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series no.77, 2007, pp.23-4, viewed November 2008.
39. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, ABS Cat. No. 4906.0. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. 2005.
40. D Boldy, M Webb, B Horner, M Davey & B Kingsley2002, Elder Abuse in Western Australia Report of a Survey Conducted for the Department for Community Development - Seniors' Interests, Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia, 2002.
41. Crime Research Centre and Donovan Research, Young people and domestic violence: national research on young people’s attitudes to and experiences of domestic violence, Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra. Cited in D Indermaur, ‘Young Australians and domestic violence’ Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice no. 195, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 2001.
42. J Edleson ‘The overlap between child maltreatment and woman battering’ Violence Against Women, vol. 5, no.2, 1999, pp. 134-154.
43. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, ABS Cat. No. 4906.0. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2005.
44. Ibid.
45. Australian Government Office for Women, Women in Australia 2007, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 2007, viewed November 2008, <http://www.ofw.facsia.gov.au/women_in_australia/women_in_australia_2007/default.htm>.
46. H. Johnson, ‘Drugs and Crime: a study of incarcerated female offenders’, Australian Institute of Criminology: Research and Public Policy Series, no. 63, Canberra, 2004.
47. J Farrell & S Cerise, Fair’s fair: A snapshot of violence and abuse in Sydney LGBT relationships 2006, AIDS Council of NSW, Sydney, 2006.
48. A Quadara, ‘Considering ‘elder abuse’ and sexual assault,’ ACSSA Aware 15, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2007.
49. The Nation’s Plan of Action also puts in place strategies to improve the quality of data on the extent of the problem so that the responses are more focused and effective.
50. Attorney-General the Hon Robert McClelland MP & former Minister for the Status of Women the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, 2008, Australia comes in from the cold on women’s rights, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 24 November 2008, viewed November 2008, media.
51. United Nations, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, United Nations, New York, 2003, viewed November 2008. See also Division for the Advancement of women Department of economic and Social Affairs (www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/reports.htm) for further details on the work of the United Nations General Assembly on violence against women.
52. UNICEF, Convention on the Rights of the Child (www.unicef.org/crc/), United Nations, New York, n.d., viewed November 2008.
53. United Nations, Convention on the Rights of People with a Disability 2007 – Article 1, viewed 30 January 2009, viewed 30 January 2009.
54. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Conference on Human Rights, United Nations, New York, 1996, viewed November 2008.
55. United Nations - Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Fourth World Conference on Women - Beijing Platform for Action, United Nations, New York, 1997, viewed November 2008.
56. United Nations, End Poverty 2015 – Millenium Development Goals (www.un.org/millenniumgoals/), United Nations, New York, 2001, viewed February 2009.
57. United Nations General Secretary's Campaign, Framework for Action, Program of the United Nations Activities and Expected Outcomes, 2008-2015, and Communications Plan, United Nations, New York, 2008. Available from.
58. It most recently acceded to the CEDAW Optional Protocol on the 24th November 2008, and the optional protocol entered into force three months later.
59. Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, Leader of the Oppositon, Commonwealth of Australia, , House of Representatives, Official Hansard, No 17, 25 November 2008 p11215.
60. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, ABS Cat. No. 4906.0. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2005.
61. C Coumarelos & J Allen, Predicting Violence Against Women: The 1996 Women’s Safety Survey, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research and Women’s Services Network Incorporated, Sydney, 1998, p. 9.
62. J Mouzos & T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series, no.56, Canberra, 2004.
63. J Coid, A Petruckevitch, G Feder, W Chung, J Richardson & S Moorey, ‘Relation between childhood sexual and physical abuse and risk of revictimisation in women: a cross-sectional survey’, The Lancet, no. 9280, vol. 358, 2001, pp. 450-454.
64. D. J Higgins & M. P McCabe, ‘Multiple forms of child abuse and neglect: Adult retrospective reports’ Aggression and Violent Behaviour, A Review Journal, vol. 6, 2001, pp. 547-578. D.J Higgins & M.P McCabe, ‘Relationships between different types of maltreatment during childhood and adjustment in adulthood’ Child Maltreatment, vol. 5, 2000a, pp. 261-272, and D.J Higgins & M.P McCabe, ‘Multi-type maltreatment and the long-term adjustment of adults’ Child Abuse Review, vol. 9, 2000b, pp. 6-18.
65. Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban and Regional Research, Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report, Report prepared for the Office for Women, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 2008, p.28.
66. A Taft, Violence against women in pregnancy and after childbirth: Current knowledge and issues in health care responses, Centre for the Study of Mothers’ and Children’s Health, La Trobe University. Issues Paper 6, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, Sydney, 2002.
67. A 2004 study which interviewed 399 women accessing pregnancy services at the Royal Women’s Hospital found that 27 per cent of these women had experienced physical and psychological violence and abuse in their current relationship or from the partner they had recently left due to his violence. D Walsh & W Weeks ‘What a smile can hide – a report on the study of violence against women during pregnancy’, Family Matters, The Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, 2004.
68. World Health Organisation, 2007, Primary Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence: Background Paper for WHO Expert Meeting, World Health Organisation, Geneva, 2007.
69. VicHealth, Preventing violence before it occurs: A framework and background paper to guide the primary prevention of violence against women in Victoria, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008, <http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/assets/contentFiles/framework%20web.pdf>.
70. H Johnson ‘The role of alcohol in male partners’ assaults on wives’ Journal of Drug Issues, vol. 30, no.4, 2000, pp. 725-740.
71. A Morrison, M Ellsberg & S Bott, ‘Addressing gender based violence: A critical review of interventions’ The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 22, no.1, 2007, pp. 25-51.
72. Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Inteyerrkwe Statement: Aboriginal Male Health Summit, Northern Territory, 3 July 2008, viewed November 2008.
73. Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria, True Story: Anj’s story (http://www.dvirc.org.au/Disability/Anj.htm), Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria, Melbourne, 2008, viewed February 2009.
74. World Health Organisation, WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence, WHO, Geneva, 2005, viewed November 2008.
75. J Mouzos & T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series, no.56, Canberra, 2004.
76. VicHealth, Two steps forward one step back: Community Attitudes towards women, Department of Human Services, Melbourne, 2007, p.17, viewed November 2008 <http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/assets/contentFiles/CAS_TwoSteps_FINAL.pdf>.
77. Ibid.
78. S Dyson & M Flood, Building Cultures of Respect and Non-Violence: a review of the literature concerning adult learning and violence prevention programs with men, Prepared for VicHealth and Australian Football League, LaTrobe University, Bundoora, 2008. Viewed January 2009.
79. Inner South Community Health Services, It all Starts at Home: Male Adolescent Violence to Mothers - a Research Report., Monash University, Caulfield, 2008, viewed November 2008.
80. It should be noted that children that do not grow up in violent households may also develop attitudes supporting of violence and it is not inevitable that those who do grow up with violence will become violent.
81. R Nicholas, The role of alcohol in family violence, Australasian Centre for Policing Research, Melbourne, 2005, p.2.
82. Ibid.
83. K Leonard, ‘Domestic violence and alcohol: What is known and what do we need to know to encourage environmental interventions?’ Journal of Substance Use, Vol 6, Issue 4, 2001, pp 235-47.
84. J Mouzos & T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series, no.56, Canberra, 2004.
85. H Nancarrow, S Lockie & S Sharma, Intimate partner abuse of women in the Bowen Basin and Mackay region of Central Queensland (Unpublished: under review for Australian Institute of Criminology Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 2008).
86. Data Analysis Australia, Analysis of the 2005 Personal Safety Survey, Project: FACSIA/7, FACSIA, Canberra, 2007.
87. M Davis & J Mouzos, ‘Homicide in Australia: 2005-06,’ National Homicide Monitoring Program annual report, Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series no.77, 2007, pp.23-4, viewed November 2008.
88. R Hogg & K Carrington, Policing the Rural Crisis, Federation Press, Sydney, 2006.
89. Women Services Network, 2000, Domestic violence in regional Australia: a Literature Review, A Report for the Commonwealth Department of Transport and Regional Services, Canberra, 2000, viewed November 2008.
90. NSW Bureau of Crime and Statistics, Figures For Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, NSW Attorney-Generals Office, Sydney, 2007, viewed November 2008.
91. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2002, ABS cat. no.4714.0, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2004.
92. Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Family violence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2006, viewed November 2008.
93. M Davis & J Mouzos, ‘Homicide in Australia: 2005-06,’ National Homicide Monitoring Program annual report, Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series no.77, 2007, pp.23-4, viewed November 2008.
94. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Rural, regional and remote health: a guide to remoteness classifications Rural Health Series, no.4, Canberra, 2004, viewed November 2008.
95. Women’s Health Australia The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health: Partner Violence and the Health of Australian Women, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 2005, viewed November 2008.
96. VicHealth, Preventing violence before it occurs: A framework and background paper to guide the primary prevention of violence against women in Victoria, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
97. L Bouloukos, ‘Listening to Emerging Voices: Addressing Collective Needs,’ The report of the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland Ltd New and Emerging Communities Advocacy Project, Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland Ltd, Brisbane, 2002.
98. D Bagshaw, D Chung, M Couch, S Lilburn & B Wadham, Reshaping responses to domestic violence: Final Report, University of South Australia, Adelaide, 2000.
99. H Nancarrow, ‘Domestic Violence Provisions Are No ‘Loophole’’ Queensland Centre for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Newsletter, vol. 1, no. 4, 2003, pp. 2–3, viewed November 2008.
100. C Cunneen & J Stubbs ‘Cultural Criminology and the Engagement with Race, Gender and Post-Colonial Identities’ J Ferrell, K Hayward, W Morrison, M Presdee, [Eds] Cultural Criminology Unleashed, Glasshouse Press, London, 2004, pp. 97-108 ; M Marginson, Increasing Access for Filipina Survivors of Domestic Violence Conference Paper, Not the Same Proceedings of Conference on a strategy for domestic violence and sexual assault for non-English speaking background women, Melbourne, 22–23 March 1996; Office of the Status of Women and Phoenix Projects, Attitudes to Domestic and Family Violence in the Diverse Australian Community: Cultural Perspectives, Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, Canberra, 2000.
101. Partnerships Against Domestic Violence (PADV), Attitudes to Domestic Violence in the Diverse Australian Community: A cultural perspective, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2002.
102. M Hanson, The Right to be Safe from Domestic Violence: Immigrant and Refugee Women in Rural Victoria, Immigrant Women’s Domestic Violence Service, Melbourne, 2006, viewed November 2008.
103. Immigrant Women’s Domestic Violence Service, The Right to be Safe from Domestic Violence: Immigrant and Refugee Women in Rural Victoria, Victoria, May 2006.
104. VicHealth, Preventing violence before it occurs: A framework and background paper to guide the primary prevention of violence against women in Victoria, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
105. Department for Victorian Communities, Victorian Indigenous family violence taskforce – final report, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2003, p.6; Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Taskforce on Violence Report, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2000.
106. A range of supporting studies are cited in VicHealth, Preventing violence before it occurs: A framework and background papr to guide the primary prevention of violence against women in Victoria, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008, <http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/assets/contentFiles/framework%20web.pdf>.
107. K Day, Strangers in the night: Women’s fear of sexual assault on urban college campuses, Journal of Architectural Planning and Research, vol. 16, no. 4, 1999, pp. 289–312, cited in Z Morrison, A Quadara & C Boyd ‘Ripple Effects of Sexual Assault’ ACSSA Issues paper 7, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
108. Z Morrison, A Quadara & C Boyd ‘Ripple Effects of Sexual Assault’ ACSSA Issues paper 7, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
109. Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, ‘Good practice around Australia,’ ACSSA Newsletter, Issue 7, Melbourne, June 2005.
110. J Corcoran, ‘Treatment Outcome research with the non-offending parents of sexually abused children: a critical review,’ Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, vol. 13, no.2, 2004, pp 59-84.
111. P.E Mullen & J Fleming, ‘Long term effects of child sexual abuse.’ Issues in Child Abuse Prevention, no. 9, Autumn 1998.
112. AusAID Office of Development Effectiveness, Violence against women in Melanesia and East Timor: Building on Global and regional promising approaches, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2008.
113. Women’s Health Australia, The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health: Partner Violence and the Health of Australian Women, the University of Newcastle Australia and the University of Queensland, Newcastle, 2005.
114. Z Morrison, A Quadara & C Boyd ‘Ripple Effects of Sexual Assault’ ACSSA Issues paper 7, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
115. R Hunter, cited in L Blazejowska, Family violence – seeking real integration between the courts, the police and the legal community, Proceedings of the National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference, Sydney 14-15 November 2008.
116. Ibid.
117. Ibid.
118. Ibid.
119. VicHealth, The health costs of violence: Measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence. A summary of findings, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Carlton South, 2004.
120. Women’s Health Australia, The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health: Partner Violence and the Health of Australian Women, The University of Newcastle Australia and the University of Queensland, Newcastle, 2005.
121. VicHealth, The health costs of violence: Measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence. A summary of findings, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Carlton South, 2004.
122. Women’s Health Australia, The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health: Partner Violence and the Health of Australian Women, the University of Newcastle Australia and the University of Queensland, Newcastle, 2005.
123. J Dearden & W Jones, ‘Homicide in Australia: 2006-07', National Homicide Monitoring Program Annual Report, Monitoring reporting series, no.1, Australia Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 2008.
124. M Davis & J Mouzos, ‘Homicide in Australia: 2005-06,’ National Homicide Monitoring Program annual report, Australian Institute of Criminology, Research and Public Policy Series no.77, 2007, pp.23-4, viewed November 2008.
125. B Perry in M Murburg (ed.), ‘Catecholamine function in post-traumatic stress disorder: Emerging concepts,’ American Psychiatric Press, Washington, 1994. Cited in Domestic Violence Victoria, Melbourne, 2006, viewed November 2008.
126. F Buchanan, ‘Domestic violence and young children’, Every Child, vol. 11, no.1, 2005, pp. 9-11; J.L Edleson, , ‘Children’s witnessing of adult domestic violence’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 14, no. 8, 1999, pp. 839-870; A Gewirtz & J.L Edleson, ‘Young Children’s Exposure to Adult Domestic Violence: towards a developmental risk and resilience framework for research and intervention,’ Early Childhood, Domestic Violence, and Poverty: helping young children and their families paper series, Paper 6, University of Iowa, Iowa, 2004; P Jaffe, M Sudermann & R Geffner, ‘Emerging issues for children exposed to domestic violence’, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, vol. 31, 2000, pp. 1-7.
127. R Rossman ‘Longer term effects of children’s exposure to domestic violence,’ in SA Graham-Bergmann & JL Edleson (eds.), Domestic Violence in the Lives of Children: the future of research, intervention, social policy, American Psychological Association, Washington, 2001, pp. 35-65.
128. B Perry, ‘Incubated in Terror: Neurodevelopmental Factors in the ‘Cycle of Violence’’ In J. Osofsky (ed.) Children, Youth and Violence: The Search for Solutions, Guilford Press, New York, 1997, pp. 124-148.
129. B Zuckerman, M Augustyn. B McAlister Groves, S Parker, ‘Silent Victims Revisited: The Special Case of Domestic Violence’ Pediatrics, vol. 96, no. 3, September 1995, pp. 511-513.
130. F Buchanan, Mother and Infant Attachment Theory and Domestic Violence : Crossing the Divide, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, Sydney, 2008, viewed November 2008.
131. K Pendell, Z Rathus & A Lynch, ‘An Unacceptable Risk: A report on child contact arrangements where there is violence in the family,’ Women’s Legal Service, Brisbane, November 2000, p.42.
132. Victorian Department of Human Services, Every Child, Every Chance: Specialist Practice Guide – Cumulative Harm, State Government of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
133. Access Economics Pty Ltd, The cost of domestic violence to the Australian economy: Part I, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2004.
134. Z Morrison, A Quadara & C Boyd ‘Ripple Effects of Sexual Assault’ ACSSA Issues paper 7, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
135. R Dubourg, J Hamed & J Thorns, The economic and social costs of crime against individuals and households 2003/04 Home Office Online Report 30/05, Research, Development and Statistics Directorate Home Office, London, 2005, viewed November 2008.
136. Women’s Health Australia, The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health: Partner Violence and the Health of Australian Women, the University of Newcastle Australia and the University of Queensland, Newcastle, 2005.
137. A Morrison, M Ellsberg & S Bott, ‘Addressing gender based violence: A critical review of interventions’ The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 22, no.1, 2007, pp. 25-51.
138. Women’s Health Australia, The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health: Partner Violence and the Health of Australian Women, The University of Newcastle Australia and the University of Queensland, Newcastle, 2005.
139. J Irwin, F Waugh & M Wilkinson, Domestic violence and Child Protection – A research report, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2002.
140. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings, ABS cat. no. 6302.0, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2008.
141. In 2003-04, the majority (82 per cent) of women affected by domestic and family violence in Supported Assisted Accommodation Program accommodation were on some form of government benefit or pension; while one in 20 presented with no income at all. See Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban and Regional Research, Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report, Report prepared for the Office for Women, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 2008.
142. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Homeless people in SAAP: SAAP National Data Collection annual report 2006-07’ SAAP NDCA report series 12, cat. no. HOU 185, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2008, p.31, viewed November 2008.
143. Ibid.
144. G Marcus & R Braaf, Domestic and Family Violence Studies, Surveys and Statistics: Pointers to Policy and Practice Stakeholder Paper 1, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, Sydney, 2007.
145. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, ABS Cat. No. 4906.0. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. 2005.
146. Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban and Regional Research, Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report, Report prepared for the Office for Women, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 2008, p.16.
147. Ibid.
148. A Neame & M Heenan, What lies behind the hidden figure of sexual assault? Issues of prevalence and disclosure, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, Briefing no.1, September 2003, viewed November 2008.
149. D Chung, R Kennedy, B O’Brien & S Wendt, Home Safe Home: the link between domestic and family violence and women’s homelessness, Report prepared for WESNET, Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, and Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2000; Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre, Family Violence and Homelessness: Removing the perpetrator from the home, Domestic Violence Resource Centre, Victoria, 2002; Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, Improving Women’s Safety, Office for Women, Canberra, 2004; R Edwards, Staying Home Leaving Violence: Promoting choices for women leaving abusive partners. Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse, Sydney, 2004.
150. See discussion in Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban and Regional Research, Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report, Report prepared for the Office for Women, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 2008.
151. R Field & B Carpenter, ‘Domestic violence and homeless children: are ouster orders the answer?’ ON LINE opinion, 2003, viewed November 2008,.
152. R Field, B Carpenter & S Currie ‘Issues in the Making of Ouster Orders Under the Domestic Violence (Family Protection) Act, 1989 (Qld)’ in J Dewar and S Parker (eds.) Family Law: Processes, Practices and Pressures - A selection of papers from the International Society of Family Law's 10th World Conference, Hart Publishing, UK, 2003.
153. D Chung, R Kennedy, B O’Brien & S Wendt, Home Safe Home: the link between domestic and family violence and women’s homelessness, Report prepared for WESNET, Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, and Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2000.
154. VicHealth, Preventing violence before it occurs: A framework and background paper to guide the primary prevention of violence against women in Victoria, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
155. VicHealth, A public health model for the prevention of violence against women, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2005, viewed November 2008.
156. R Jewkes ‘Intimate partner violence: causes and prevention,’ The Lancet, vol. 359 , no. 9315 , 2002, pp.1423 – 1429.
157. A Morrison, M Ellsberg & S Bott, ‘Addressing gender based violence: A critical review of interventions’ The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 22, no.1, 2007, pp. 25-51.
158. VicHealth,Preventing violence before it occurs: A framework and background paper to guide the primary prevention of violence against women in Victoria, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 2007, viewed November 2008.
159. A Harvey, C Garcia-Moreno & A Butchart, Primary prevention of intimate-partner violence and sexual violence: Background paper for WHO expert meeting May 2–3, World Health Organisation, Geneva, 2007.
160. Ibid.

Previous: 1. Executive Summary Next: 3. Background