Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report 

• 3.1: Extent of Domestic and Family Violence Related Homelessness
• 3.2: How Domestic and Family Violence Lead to Homelessness
• 3.3: Characteristics of Women Most Likely to Become Homeless because of Domestic and Family Violence

3.1: Extent of Domestic and Family Violence Related Homelessness

Domestic and family violence is an issue that affects a significant proportion of Australian women. However, establishing the true extent of domestic and family violence is difficult. Survey data provide an insight but the level of violence recorded is contingent on numerous factors including the definition of domestic and family violence, the timeframe in which the violence occurred and is recorded (i.e. across the lifetime, over the previous 10 years, five years, one year), the method of data collection and variability in the population surveyed. Data from the most recent survey of violence by the ABS – the Personal Safety Survey, on the prevalence of partner violence against women indicates that around one in six adult women (17.0 per cent) have experienced actual or threatened physical or sexual violence perpetrated by a partner since the age of 15 (ABS 2007, p. 201; ABS 2006b). This figure does not include other forms of violence as specified in definition of domestic violence used in this report. It also does not include acts of ‘family’ violence. Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) conducted in 2002-03 indicate that over a lifetime 34 per cent of Australian women experience actual or threats of physical violence, sexual violence (including unwanted sexual touching) and psychological violence (controlling behaviour) from a current or former partner (Mouzos & Makkai 2004, p. 44). This survey found that in the five years prior to the survey around one in ten women experienced domestic violence and less than five per cent of women experienced domestic violence in the preceding 12 months (Mouzos & Makkai 2004, p. 44). Data from the Personal Safety Survey indicates similar levels of violence over these time periods – five per cent experiencing violence (physical and sexual) over the preceding five years and around one per cent in the 12 months prior to the survey (ABS 2007, p. 201).

It should be noted here that these data are considered underestimates of the true extent of domestic and family violence as survey data on family violence are not available, survey data are unlikely to include many of the high risk groups such as women in refuges and remote Indigenous communities and the variability in the actual reporting of violence both in survey data and to authorities. Most incidences of domestic or family violence are not reported to authorities (see Mouzos & Makkai 2004; also ABS 2007; Carrington with Philips 2006; Philips & Park 2006; Data Analysis Australia 2007). Data from the most recent survey of violence by the ABS – the Personal Safety Survey, suggests that rates of reporting violence among women, however, are trending upwards. For example, in the 2005 ABS Personal Safety Survey, 63 per cent of women who had experienced physical assault by a partner in the five years prior to the survey did not report the incident to police, compared to 74 per cent in the 1996 Women’s Safety Survey (ABS 2007, p. 204). For those women who experienced sexual assault by a partner in the previous five years, 81 per cent did not report it to police compared to 85 per cent in the 1996 (ABS 2007 p. 204). This trend may well be an indication that women are more willing now than before to report acts of violence against them – perhaps an indication of the success of the ‘Australia Says No to Violence’ campaign run by the Australian Government.

The most comprehensive data available is collected as part of the SAAP and only presents data on persons who present to a SAAP service. As outlined in the Green Paper – Which Way Home? (Commonwealth of Australia 2008) while census data indicate that overall men are more likely to experience homelessness (58 per cent of people in primary, secondary or tertiary homelessness at the time of Census 2001 were men), SAAP data for 2006-07 clearly shows women are more likely to use SAAP services because they are less likely to experience primary homelessness (sleeping rough) and seek crisis accommodation as in many instances they are accompanied by children (AIHW 2008).

Domestic and family violence is overwhelmingly the major reason women seek assistance. For women with children, domestic and family violence was the reason in 55 per cent of support periods while an additional 7.7 per cent of support periods were sought for relationship and family breakdown. For unaccompanied women aged 25 years and over domestic and family violence was the most cited reason (in 36.9 per cent of support periods), with relationship and family breakdown accounting for 4.5 per cent of support cases. For women aged under 25 relationship and family breakdown was the most cited reason (21.0 per cent); domestic and family violence was the second most cited reason (16.2 per cent of periods) (AIHW 2008, p. 37).  

While these data provide an insight into the relevance of domestic and family violence to the level of homelessness in Australia they provide little understanding of the numbers of people involved. In 2005 the AIHW produced a special bulletin on female SAAP clients escaping domestic and family violence based on 2003-04 data (AIHW: Marcolin 2005). This bulletin provides a clearer insight into the number of individuals affected. The publication provides considerable detail on the characteristics of the women.

Box 3.1 indicates that in 2003-04 over 67,000 individuals, including 34,700 children, sought refuge through SAAP services to escape domestic and family violence. While these are significant figures in their own right, alarmingly, some 50 per cent of women who approached a SAAP agency in 2005-06 were turned away because of lack of capacity within the sector to meet demands (AIHW 2007a).⁵ Most of these women approached SAAP services because of the inadequacy (number and suitability) of their accommodation. The consultations with SAAP funded domestic and family violence organisations as part of this project revealed that turn away rates in the sector remain at around 50 per cent, or higher in some areas of the country, i.e. in regional and remote areas.

These data provide a point in time snapshot of the incidence of domestic and family violence. The availability of specifically requested SAAP data to Weeks and Oberin (2004) allowed them to ascertain trends over time. The data for the period 1996-2002, indicated:

• over this period the number of women accessing SAAP services increased;
• all age groups are affected but the age group most likely to seek assistance from SAAP were women aged 25-44 years;
• there was a 26.2 per cent increase in women aged 25-44 years seeking SAAP assistance and a 50 per cent increase for women aged 45-64 years (p. 96); and
• analysis by cultural background indicated upward trends over the study period for both Indigenous women (increase of 46.8 per cent from 4,700 persons to 6,900) and women from CALD backgrounds (an increase of 90 per cent from 3,000 persons to 5,700 persons).

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Box 3.1:     General characteristics of female SAAP clients escaping domestic and family violence 2003-04

Source: AIHW: Marcolin 2005

Consultations with peak bodies and service providers indicate that these trends have been ongoing since 2002. More up-to-date analysis of the most recent SAAP data is necessary to gain a better understanding of new and emerging trends among different client groups. This should be undertaken as a matter of urgency.   

The data above records approaches by women to SAAP services yet there are many other means by which women seek refuge from domestic and family violence without being recorded in the SAAP statistics. Many women, in fact survey data would suggest the majority of women, seek help from family or friends or from professional services like doctors or counsellors. For example 81 per cent of women in the Personal Safety Survey (ABS 2007 p. 204) who experienced physical assault by a partner during the five years prior to the survey had told other people like family and friends. Thirty-six per cent had sought professional help from a doctor, counsellor, minister or priest. Extrapolation of the 2005 Personal Safety Survey to the total Australian population (Table 3.1) indicates that the proportion of women seeking help from a crisis service is lower than the figures quoted above for women seeking informal help and varies depending on the type of violence experienced.

It is difficult to quantify the total number of women and children who experience domestic and family violence related homelessness each year. Data Analysis Australia’s application of the findings of the 2005 Personal Safety Survey to the total Australian population indicates violence by a current or former partner affected significant numbers of women each year. For example, 73,152 women had experienced physical assault in the twelve months prior to the survey, 24,855 had been threatened or been the subject of attempted physical assault, while 27,646 had experienced sexual assault and 5,071 had been threatened sexually by a current or former partner (DAA 2007, p. 22). The recent ABS Crime and Safety Survey (2006) indicates that the incidence of violence against women by a partner, ex-partner or family member in a twelve month period is also considerable. The survey, conducted during April and July 2005 found that in the twelve months prior to the survey some 110,200 women indicated they had experienced violence or abuse (ABS 2006a). 

Table 3.1:

Percentage of women who experienced violence (by Type) in the twelve months prior to the Personal Safety Survey by a current or previous partner who accessed a crisis service after the latest incidence of violence

Source: Calculated from DAA 2007

Notes:
a. data from DAA 2007 Table 35 (p. 62) ‘crisis help’
b. data from DAA 2007 Table 10 (p. 22) ‘current partner’ and ‘previous partner’

These figures only highlight the extent of violence against women from partners. This is only one aspect of the violence against women issue. The number of women victimised as a child or the number of children currently affected either personally or as a witness is also considerable. Findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) indicate 29 per cent of the women surveyed experienced physical and or sexual violence before the age of 16. For one in five of these women the perpetrator had been a parent (Mouzos & Makkai 2004, p. 4).

The work of Data Analysis Australia (DAA) suggests (based on the results of the ABS Personal Safety Survey in 2005) 779,520 women were physically abused before the age of 15 and 956,602 were sexually abused by this age. For the vast majority of these women this abuse was committed by a family member. Being abused as a child makes women much more susceptible to violence later in life. The IVAWS found women who experienced violence in childhood were 1.5 times more likely to experience violence as an adult (Mouzos & Makkai 2004, p. 4). DAA found women who experienced violence at a young age were twice as likely to be a victim of partner violence in adulthood compared to the adult female population as a whole (DAA 2007, p. 40). In addition to being the subject of abuse children are often witness to domestic violence and this can have a significant bearing on their present and future wellbeing (DAA 2007). According to DAA’s work they estimate approximately 50,000 children witnessed violence by the current partner of a women who experienced domestic violence and over 400,000 children were exposed to the violence perpetrated by a previous partner (DAA 2007, p. 41 & 89). This has a ‘negative impact on children’s development and increased rates of violence in later life is one more reason to provide prevention and intervention services to reduce domestic violence’ (DAA 2007, p. 40; see also UNICEF’s recent publication on the Impact of Domestic Violence in the Home – part of the global Stop Violence in the Home Campaign (UNICEF 2008)). 

Clearly incidences of domestic and family violence within the community are considerably higher than official statistics indicate and it is only when the threat becomes too much or other chosen options are no longer available (for example staying with friends) that these women and children come to the attention of service providers. Unfortunately some women do not recognise the seriousness of the threat and they and/or their children become victims of domestic homicide.

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3.2: How Domestic and Family Violence Lead to Homelessness

Many commentators have described the relationship between domestic and family violence and homelessness (Chung et al 2000; Patton 2003; also Weeks & Oberin 2004). Johnson, Gronda and Coutts (2008) in their book On the Outside: Pathways In and Out of Homelessness, identify domestic violence as one of five ‘typical’ pathways into homelessness in Australia at the current time (see pp. 23-33). That is, along with a mental health pathway, a substance abuse pathway, a youth pathway (first experience of homelessness when aged under 18), and a housing crisis pathway. MacKenzie and Chamberlain (2003) also discuss domestic violence as a key factor in homelessness pathways; a significant factor in what they term the ‘family breakdown’ pathway; a major adult homelessness pathway (see pp. 38-45).

There is no one pathway into homelessness for all women affected by domestic and family violence. However, we do know from the research on domestic and family violence and homelessness that it is concern for safety that leads most women (and their children) into homelessness. Women experiencing domestic and family violence generally reach what is known as a crisis point or tipping point in their lives – a point where they fear for their own safety or that of their children and which necessitates them leaving their home for safer accommodation. For some women this point is reached quickly and follows one (major) incident of violence. For others it may take years for them to make the decision to flee the violence and leave home, and this decision may follow changes in the frequency of violence against them or escalation in the intensity of abuse. It may also follow re-direction of violence to their children, or sexual abuse (or repeated sexual abuse) against themself or a child (see Johnson, Gronda & Coutts 2008; Laing 2000).

Most women who become homeless because of domestic violence are by Chamberlain and MacKenzie’s definition (Box 1.2) in the secondary category of homelessness. They are not homeless in the ‘roofless’ sense, as most have a house (or home), but this house/home has gradually or immediately become unsafe for them and/or their children. Women in this situation are what Nunan (1999) termed the ‘housed homeless’ (p. 38) or, as Wardhaugh (1999, p. 92) offers, ‘homeless at home’. Chung et al (2000, pp. 16-18) discuss this issue at length in their seminal report Home Safe Home. They comment that for many women affected by domestic and family violence, the exposure to violence, and the duration of the exposure to violence, has broader impacts than just safety. ‘Violence against women in the home denies them [women and children] their security and safety and destroys foundations of their identity’ (Chung et al 2000, p. 18). The violence also often affects women’s sense of belonging, control and self-worth, affecting their self-confidence and self-esteem. For many women violence and abuse also results in isolation and reduced social inclusion and social connectedness – to friends, family and community. This limits participation in the labour force, or the women are prevented from working by their partners, affecting their ability to generate independent financial resources and to afford to leave their partner and live an independent life.

In the consultations undertaken for this project, many domestic service providers pointed to the fact that domestic violence related homelessness is different from other forms of homelessness. This is because many women in abusive and controlling relationships return to the perpetrator of the violence against them, cycling in and out of homelessness and crisis accommodation as they try to rebuild their relationship with their partner – generally for the benefit of their children. Many women have, or reach, multiple tipping points. Cycling in and out of homelessness is normal for many women affected by domestic violence – part of the cycle of domestic and family violence. DAA’s (2007, p. 35) extrapolation of the Personal Safety Survey 2005 to the wider Australian population found that 59,402 women who had experienced violence by a current partner indicated that they had been separated from their partner and returned to the relationship. Half (50 per cent) of those women had been separated once, the remainder had separated twice (20 per cent), three times (14 per cent) or more than three times (15 per cent). Reasons given for returning to a violent partner included: that the partner had promised to stop the violence, for the sake of their children, having no money or financial resources, having nowhere else to go, and fear of the partner. Where there is a history of partner violence, separation heightens the risk of escalation and the chance of serious assault and homicide (Humphreys 2007).

MacKenzie and Chamberlain (2003) represent the typical family breakdown pathway diagrammatically and the movement ‘in and out’ of homelessness, with domestic violence being a dominant feature of this pathway (see Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1:   A diagrammatic pathway to homelessness from family breakdown

Source: MacKenzie and Chamberlain 2003, p. 40

The next section of this report discusses the characteristics of women who are most likely to become homeless because of their experience of domestic and family violence. These factors are also important in terms of why and how domestic and family violence leads to homelessness. Women’s lack of independent financial resources and poverty, for example, are critical determinants in women escaping violence ending up homeless.

It should also be mentioned here that the level of domestic violence related homelessness (and homelessness generally) could well increase in future years. This could particularly be the case if the financial pressures on households continue to intensify because of the increasing unaffordability of housing and the rising cost of living generally, creating tension within family units and, in some cases, translating into violence within a household (or more frequent or intense violence).

Financial stress related domestic violence and homelessness is already a very real issue in the US – where many low and medium income families have lost their homes because of the subprime mortgage crisis (see Erlenbusch et al 2008; Lynam 2007). A number of publications and organisations in the US, including the National Coalition for the Homeless point to increasing levels of domestic violence associated with higher levels of unemployment and mortgage stress – culminating in an increase in homelessness (see Armour 2008; Bienick 2007).

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3.3: Characteristics of Women Most Likely to Become Homeless because of Domestic and Family Violence

Just as there is no one pathway into homelessness for women (and children) affected by domestic and family violence, there is also no ‘typical’ woman who becomes homeless because of domestic and family violence. Domestic and family violence can and does affect women of all ages, cultural, social and economic backgrounds, and women living in all sorts of relationships. And, just as Australia’s female population is an increasingly diverse population (see Tually, Beer & Faulkner 2007), the backgrounds and needs of women affected by domestic and family violence related homelessness is also diverse. That said, there are a number of common characteristics shared by many women in this situation.

First, while in recent surveys (DAA 2007; Mouzos & Makkai 2004) income per se has been found not to be a correlate of victimisation, the availability of an income shapes the accommodation options available to women and their children – and ultimately their susceptibility to homelessness. Poverty and a lack of an independent income for women affected by domestic and family violence is a major cause of homelessness. Women do not become homeless if they can afford not to (ADVCH 2008). WESNET research with a large number of domestic violence service providers identified poverty as a main issue for women in 32 per cent of cases (Weeks & Oberin 2004, p. 98).

In 2003-04, 5.7 per cent of women affected by domestic and family violence in closed SAAP support periods presented with no income at all, with a further 0.6 per cent awaiting a government benefit/pension and 82.8 on some form of government benefit/pension. One of the many important roles performed by domestic violence service providers in Australia is to establish financial resources (through employment or government support) so that women in this situation can begin to rebuild their lives independently of their former partner if that is what they choose. In 2003-04 a lower proportion of women escaping domestic and family violence left closed SAAP support periods with no incomes (3.6 per cent after versus 5.7 before) and a higher proportion were on a government benefit or pension after their support period ended (86.3 per cent) (AIHW: Marcolin 2005, Table A9).

Second, women presenting to SAAP services for assistance because of domestic and family violence are overwhelmingly aged in their mid 20s to early 40s. Data profiling SAAP clients escaping domestic violence in 2003-04 recorded that almost two-thirds (62.5 per cent) were aged between 25 and 44 (AIHW: Marcolin 2005, Table A1). ABS statistics on the characteristics of women experiencing partner violence – derived from the 2005 Personal Safety Survey – confirms this trend, showing that in the twelve months prior to being interviewed for the Survey, women aged 25-34 reported the highest rate of partner violence (see also discussion above). This is consistent with the rising age of women having their first baby and the increased risk of violence during pregnancy or after the birth of the first child (DAA 2007). Women aged 55 years and over were between four and five times less likely to have reported partner violence than those aged 25-34. Of course, these figures are only indications of partner violence and not all women admit to partner violence in such surveys, or generally, because of feelings of shame and embarrassment and/or because they do not want to relive such trauma, they feel that nothing can be done about it or they can deal with it themself (DAA 2007, section 5; Mouzos & Makkai 2004, chapter 6). Even so these findings are consistent across surveys (see Personal Safety Survey 2005 (ABS 2006), DAA 2007; Women’s Safety Survey 1996 (ABS 1996); and the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (Mouzos & Makkai 2004)).

Third, as discussed above we know from ABS statistics and other surveys that women who suffer childhood abuse, including those sexually abused as children, are overrepresented among women experiencing partner violence (see ABS 2007, p. 202). This is supported in the findings of the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (Mouzos & Makkai 2004, pp. 89).

Given these general trends in terms of violence, it seems logical to also assume that women who experienced childhood abuse are overrepresented among users of SAAP services. Statistics on this issue are not available for SAAP service users. 

Some commentators suggest that a primary reason that women who suffered sexual abuse as a child also suffer domestic and family violence as an adult, is because survivors of sexual abuse often don’t develop conventional functional understandings of relationships and therefore do not understand ‘good’ and healthy relationships, have impaired self esteem and see early warning signs in the form of dysfunctional behaviours as normal (Kralik, D. [RDNS Research Unit, RDNS SA] 2008, pers. comm., 17 July).

Fourth, we know from SAAP data, and data on the health and wellbeing of Australia’s Indigenous population, that a significant number of women in domestic and family violence related homelessness are Indigenous women. In 2003-04, one in four female clients seeking SAAP assistance because of domestic and family violence was Indigenous. As with non-Indigenous Australians, domestic and family violence was the main reason people attended SAAP services and in 2005-06. Thirty-one per cent of Indigenous Australians reported domestic and family violence as the main reason for seeking SAAP assistance, compared with 21 per cent for non-Indigenous Australians (ABS & AIHW 2008).

The overrepresentation of Indigenous women among users of SAAP domestic violence services is a well documented and discussed trend. Domestic and family violence is a particular issue for Indigenous Australians, reflecting the extensiveness and impact of family violence in Indigenous communities (ABS & AIHW 2008; AIHW 2006; Cooper & Morris 2005; Gordon, Hallahan & Henry 2002; ATSISJC 2006). As discussed in the most recent edition of The Health and Welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (2008)

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Such violence has a significant impact on Indigenous children. 

While Indigenous women (and accompanying children) are overrepresented among users of SAAP domestic violence services, they generally stay in crisis accommodation for much shorter periods of time than do other cultural groups and non-Indigenous women. For many Indigenous women SAAP services are used for time out or respite or as a means of avoiding known peaks in family violence (for discussion see Cooper & Morris 2005; Keys Young 1998b).    

We also know from SAAP data – as indicated earlier (see Box 3.1) – that more than half of women in domestic violence related homelessness present to SAAP services with children. Children are the voiceless and hidden victims of domestic violence in Australia. Given that witnessing domestic violence is known to not only have major psychological impacts on children, as well as causing some children to develop behavioural and other problems, including perpetrating violence themselves, ensuring that the support needs of children are met is of crucial importance (Weeks & Oberin 2004, p. 98).

Losing children to the welfare system is a major concern for many women affected by domestic and family violence (Laing 2000, p. 17). It is also a common threat used by perpetrators to make their partners stay with them. The exposure of children to ongoing violence by the perpetrator is a significant threat concerning many women (and children) affected by domestic and family violence (Moloney 2007).

Finally, it needs to be mentioned here that the population of women who are homeless because of domestic and family violence is increasingly becoming a population with complex and multiple needs, i.e. due to drug and alcohol issues, mental health issues, disability et cetera. Many service providers interviewed for this research vehemently emphasised this point, and their concerns that this is placing increasing pressure on the resources they have to assist women generally, as women with multiple and complex needs require more intensive support and often specialised accommodation. This is generally much more costly to provide.

5. This is the most recent data available on unmet need for women at the time of writing this report.