FAMILY VIOLENCE AWARENESS

Found by Rotarian Alison Teese

More than 100 years after the first International Women’s Day, in 1911, Australian women still face serious problems. The national rates of family violence are terrifying, and gender equity in the workplace is an ongoing battle. Zoe Nikakis explores the issues.

Last year in Victoria alone, more than 61,000 incidences of family violence were reported. Professor Cathy Humphreys of the Department of Social Work researches family and domestic violence.,says there is a clear relationship between gender equity and more respectful relationships between men and women. The more unequal those relationships, the more power being held by one gender over the other, the more likely the abuse of that power.

“There have been massive strides around gender equity, but the levels of violence indicate we’re still in very problematic territory,” she says.
“We’re not going to be able to treat our way out of this social disaster.
“It’s clear when we look at the huge number of incidents of domestic and family violence that are occurring, and the number of family violence-related murders, that we need to be working on prevention fronts.”

Professor Humphreys’ team just completed an Australian Research Council (ARC)-funded project that looked at issues of intervention, issues around governance and the intervention system itself.
“Women with a disability are much more vulnerable to family and domestic violence, as are aboriginal women and particularly young women,” she says.

Our launch of awareness materials is very timely. We hope it really helps people to know what is a healthy relationship