Domestic, family and sexual violence: prevention, response and healing
All people deserve to live free from the threat or experience of domestic, family, and sexual violence, and other forms of abuse.
Barriers to justice
Domestic, family, and sexual violence is largely gender-based and overwhelmingly used by men against women. It is also disproportionately perpetrated against gender-diverse people. Gender-based violence happens in places other than family and domestic settings, including workplaces, public spaces, and education and care institutions. Workplace sexual harassment is a widespread form of sexual violence.
Economic insecurity can trap people in cycles of violence. Unfair and expensive renting systems, long public housing wait lists, low rates of social security, unaffordable childcare, and the gendered pay gap all contribute to trapping women and children in violent homes.
Lily has experienced extensive family and domestic violence, including economic abuse. With help from a community legal centre, she was able to access an Escaping Violence Payment (EVP) of $5,000, which she received in vouchers and a cash card uploaded to her apple wallet. Like all EVP payments, the options are received via email and can only be used with a tech device. Lily was separated from her ex-partner and living in her own accommodation. He found Lily, broke into her home, seriously assaulted her and stole her phone before fleeing. Using Lily’s phone, he transferred all EVP value to himself. This financially devastated Lily as this was the only money she had to pay for necessities.
Some groups of women experience higher rates of gender-based violence than others, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women from migrant and refugee backgrounds, women with disabilities, transgender women, and women living in regional and remote areas. These women often also face more barriers to seeking safety, justice and healing following violence.
Mai came to Australia about 10 years ago on a spousal visa and was told she had to immediately start working at her then-husband John’s business. She worked 10-12 hours per week for free. About five years ago, Mai got Australian citizenship and asked if she could get another job and earn money – John refused but agreed to begin paying her $90 per week. When Mai wanted a phone, he docked money from her $90 weekly allowance to pay for it. About four years ago, Mai secretly opened a bank account. When John found out, he was very angry.
Mai sought help from a community legal centre for family law parenting matters when John threw her out of the home and refused to let her see her 6-year-old son. All finances and assets are in John’s name, and he has never shared information on finances with her. She does not know if she has any superannuation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who experience gender-based violence are often misidentified by police as perpetrators, especially where the person abusing them is a white man. This can lead to criminal charges, a higher risk of imprisonment, and further violence and trauma.
Legal systems often view children impacted by domestic and family violence as secondary victims. When systems focus only on mothers, children’s experiences and needs as victims-survivors can be sidelined.
Jamie is a 15-year-old who reached out to a community legal centre for help with various legal issues after recently leaving home. They had been living with their father with no contact with their mother and disclosed that they had been abused by their father, who controlled their bank account and wages and monitored their movements and devices. More recently there had been serious threats of physical harm and being kicked out. Jamie had tried to seek help from their school and a national helpline but had been told that “conflict with parents is normal at this age”.
Before Jamie had left the home, Jamie’s father had shoved Jamie into a wall, and they shoved him back. Jamie’s father called the police, who came and asked the father what happened. He lied and said that Jamie had initiated the incident. The police didn’t speak to Jamie alone and didn’t offer any support services to them.
The police made an AVO application against Jamie. They have not returned home and are having trouble accessing services that require parental involvement. Child protection authorities won’t help Jamie due to their age and the assessment that Jamie voluntarily left home.
Older people experience high rates of abuse and neglect from caregivers and family members. Response frameworks often do not account for the needs and preferences of victims-survivors of elder abuse, particularly if the person does not want to cut ties or pursue a punitive response. There are few alternative approaches available for these victims-survivors to seek safety and healing.
Dorothy provided a large sum of money to her son Jacob and his wife to buy a home for the three of them to live in. Dorothy’s name was not included on the certificate of title. In return, Jacob agreed to provide care to Dorothy as she ages, with things like doing her shopping, taking her to medical appointments, and helping her with other daily activities. Less than a year after the arrangement started, Jacob stopped providing any care and started asking Dorothy to pay for things like bills and food for the household. When Dorothy was reluctant to pay because she was on a fixed (low) income, Jacob told her that if she didn’t contribute, she’d have to move out and that she couldn’t have the money back that she’d contributed to the house because it was a gift. The only recourse available for Dorothy was to file an application in the Supreme Court seeking to recover her contribution to the house – a process that often takes several years and is complex.
Too few people who use violence are held accountable for their actions – through the criminal and civil legal systems, and across society more broadly.
People who use violence can too easily weaponise legal systems to continue their abuse. Non-payment of child support, dragging out family law proceedings or seeking outcomes that leave women and children facing poverty, homelessness, or ongoing physical, emotional, and financial violence are common forms of systems abuse.
Angela and Bethany separated when their three children were very young, and now the children primarily live with Angela. For years, they had an informal child support arrangement, under which Angela was receiving less than she would have under a formal assessment. Angela was too scared to pursue a higher amount because of her experience of emotional and financial abuse which continues post-separation.
Several years ago, Bethany stopped paying the agreed amount, so Angela sought a child support assessment. Bethany refused to pay the assessed amount and is thousands of dollars in arrears. Angela and her children haven’t received any child support payment for two years, leaving them struggling to make ends meet. Bethany has demanded that Angela pay for extra medical and schooling costs for the children, but Angela can’t afford to because of the unpaid child support.
Bethany has threatened to commence legal proceedings in family court to seek greater custody of the children if Angela pursues child support, even though this isn’t what the children want. Bethany uses the child protection system to make false reports when she disagrees with Angela’s decisions about the children’s care and threatens to make further reports if Angela doesn’t comply with her demands.
Many victims-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence don’t feel safe reporting violence to the police or engaging with the criminal legal system. However, there are few funded alternative, trauma-informed approaches to respond to violence.
For people who have used violence and want to change their behaviours, there are very few options for support. Those that do exist are expensive. Communities are generally not skilled or supported to hold accountable or help rehabilitate people who behave in harmful ways. Without a genuine focus on changing the behaviours of those who use violence, people will continue to be victimised.
Redress and compensation for victims-survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of physical and sexual abuse are often inadequate and not trauma informed. Frontline services that help people escape and recover are chronically under-funded. This includes legal assistance providers as well as other frontline services like shelters.
Our vision for justice — domestic, family and sexual violence: prevention, response and healing
Governments prioritise evidence-based, systems-wide approaches to violence prevention. Communities are supported to promote safe and healthy relationships, and to recognise and address behaviours that are violent or enable violence.
People who experience gender-based violence or child abuse can access the legal, social and economic supports they need to be safe, pursue accountability and recover. This includes legal and casework support, safe housing, immediate and adequate financial support, physical and mental healthcare, and redress and compensation.
Older people and people with disabilities are safe and treated with dignity in their homes and institutional care settings. Those who experience violence or abuse from family members or caregivers can seek accountability and healing in the ways that are meaningful for them.
Governments and legal systems recognise children impacted by domestic and family violence as primary victims-survivors. Their voices and experiences are listened to and respected.
The legal system and its institutions are comprehensively reformed to reduce their retraumatising impact on victims-survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of physical and sexual abuse. Victim-survivors are protected from ongoing systems abuse and treated with respect and dignity at all stages of civil and criminal law proceedings.
Victim-survivors do not have to speak to the police or engage with the criminal legal system before they can access services, safety, or alternative forms of accountability and justice. Victim-survivors who want to can access restorative and transformative forms of justice.
People who show early signs of violence, or who have used violence, receive targeted evidence-based services to take responsibility for the harms they have caused and to change their behaviours.
All community legal centres that work in domestic, family and sexual violence prevention and response are adequately funded to ensure victim-survivors can access timely, free, culturally safe, and trauma-informed legal help.
