Hepburn Shire Councillor, Lesley Hewitt is a retired social worker with about 50 years experience in the community. Her work history has been around dealing with interpersonal violence which included experience in child protection services and personal development. She was awarded an Australian Violence Prevention Award for a program that she and her colleagues developed to deal with preschool children and their mothers who were victims of or had experienced family violence.
She says that establishing an accurate baseline for the incidence of interpersonal violence occurring in all its forms in our community is difficult because one of the things we know is that there’s an under-reporting of such events to authorities, such as police and family violence and child protection authorities.
She is concerned that we usually tend to think of it as adult to adult violence. Usually women are the victims and men are the perpetrators. But her experience has been that children are also impacted – they are either witnesses to the violence between their adult carers, or they themselves are abused. Intergenerational abuse and trauma, exposure to violence as a child, social and economic exclusion, financial pressures, drug and alcohol abuse and misuse and mental illness are factors that we know are associated with the likelihood of family violence.
Other actions and influences which cause or contribute to domestic violence include condoning violence against women and male control of decision-making and limiting women’s independence.
Factors which also breed domestic violence include rigid gender stereotypes, male peer-relations that are about aggression, dominance and gender inequality and other forms of oppression.
Family violence is a complex issue and there is no single cause. There are many factors that predict or “drive” higher levels of family violence in the community.
Drivers of Family Violence
There is a difference between the drivers of family violence, and factors that can increase risk.
The term “drivers” is used instead of “causes” to emphasise that the relationship is more nuanced than cause and effect.
The drivers of family violence at a societal level are complex. They include structural gender inequality and community attitudes and social norms about gender and violence more generally.
Evidence shows that a major driver of family violence in our community is gender inequality – that is, the unequal distribution of power, resources and choice based on someone’s gender identity. For example, in individual relationships this inequality plays out in the belief that a man is entitled to exercise power and control over his partner and children. It can also show up in the belief that gender diverse or non-binary people are less deserving of safety and social inclusion.
Family violence in Australia occurs in all cultures, communities and across all demographics including age, gender and socioeconomic status. However, specific groups experience unique impacts and systemic barriers due to factors such as ableism, ageism, criminal history, homophobia, racism, and other forms of discrimination.
Who is Responsible?
Because family violence is a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour, it is important to recognise that perpetrators are responsible for using family violence. Victim survivors are not at fault or to blame for experiencing violence. Perpetrators of family violence must be held accountable by systems that can intervene, reduce their use of violence and provide opportunities for them to change their behaviour. While there may be reinforcing or exacerbating factors such as the perpetrator’s own lived experience of violence, acquired brain injury or the use of drugs or alcohol, there are no excuses for using violence, abuse and controlling behaviours against another person. (The Safe+Equal website has a more extended discussion of these issues.)
This is also relevant to the perpetrator’s parenting role. A parent who perpetrates family violence against another parent or family member, who abuses and harms children or exposes them to the effects of abuse, is choosing to make family violence part of their children’s lives.
All of these can and should be the subject of a wide range of education for all ages, from formal education and training in the workplace to conversations among peers or around the kitchen table, calling out bad behaviour.
Related articles:
Domestic Violence is Real – And It’s Here
The Role and Responsibility of Police in Responding to Family Violence
This is the third of a series of Wombat Post articles on Family violence. In a future issue, we will examine how to respond to cases of inappropriate gender-based behaviour and how to get help.
If you or someone close to you is experiencing family violence, contact Safe Steps 24/7 for support on 1800 015 188 or email safesteps@safesteps.org.au. Support is also available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800 737 732.
You can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 for support. In an emergency, dial 000.
No to Violence runs a Men’s Referral Service (1300 766 491) that provides men who use violence with support to change their behaviour.
