NOTEPAD
How can we intervene to stop men using violence?
ANROWS Notepad | 27 February 2020
What more can we do?
This week, people across our country have been shocked by the public and extreme cruelty in the familicide of Hannah Clarke and her children. This particular case has galvanised the Australian public, including the Australian Parliament, underscoring the urgency of ending domestic violence.
Almost every week in Australia, a woman dies at the hands of her partner or ex-partner. We must continue our resolve to ensure all women and their children are safe from men’s violence.
We have a strong evidence-base about the risk factors that foreshadow escalating domestic violence. However, the assessment of future risk is typically conducted with women, who are then given a risk-management plan to keep themselves and their children safe.
While we must continue our work in primary prevention and in strengthening systems responses to women in danger, emerging evidence also suggests the need to increasingly invest in strategies that focus on perpetrators stopping their violence. Following the work of the Safe and Together Institute, this shift in focus is often referred to as “pivoting to the perpetrator”.
ANROWS NATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE
Pivoting to the perpetrator
ANROWS will be discussing this issue in detail at our National Research Conference in April.
These are urgent and important conversations, and we urge practitioners, policy-makers and researchers to join us to discuss effective approaches and identify Australia’s way forward through this crisis.
Panel sessions
Drawing on findings from our perpetrator interventions stream and other key pieces of research, three panel sessions will discuss different approaches to engaging men and preventing violence:
“Families in focus” will discuss the effectiveness of two innovative intervention programs: The Keeping Safe Together program, which piloted a whole-of-family intensive support program to help families end and recover from the experience of DFV; and Jannawi Family Service, which offers therapeutic child protection services for vulnerable children, families and communities in South Western Sydney. This panel will feature practitioner and Senior Lecturer Dr Susan Heward-Belle from Sydney University, and Professor Cathy Humphreys, Professor of Social Work at the University of Melbourne.
“Walking with Dads” will analyse an innovative program that partners with mothers and children to intervene with dads who use violence to harm their families. Panellists, including Steve Lock, a Domestic Violence Practice Leader from Child Safety Queensland, will explore evidence-based child protection policy and practice reform, through a model (based on the Safe and Together™ Model) that has influenced practice, outcomes and systems change.
“Follow my lead”, from the NPY Women’s Council’s Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project team, is an innovative, strengths-based initiative led by Anangu (Aboriginal) men to prevent family violence. The project team includes respected senior and younger Anangu men and non-Aboriginal health professionals who learn from each other about trauma and healing, and identify ways to increase Anangu wellbeing to prevent family violence.
Plenaries
There will also be opportunities at the Conference to discuss the implementation and efficacy of these programs in plenary sessions:
“What Works?” will be led by Keynote Speaker Professor C. Nadine Wathen (Western University, Canada). She will be joined by Australian knowledge translation experts in discussing what works, and how we know it is working.
“Primary prevention is key” will focus on masculinities and engaging men in primary prevention, as well as applying evidence-based principles and strategies in this work.
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UPCOMING WEBINAR
Strengthening antenatal screening for domestic violence
On 11 March ANROWS will host a webinar on How can we enhance routine screening?: Strengthening identification and response to domestic violence in the antenatal care setting.
Drawing on indicative findings of upcoming ANROWS research (the SUSTAIN study), the expert panel of health practitioners and researchers will discuss:
- how practitioners experience routine DV screening
- how they have improved identification and response practices
- key recommendations of The REAL Transformation Model
- how the model can be implemented.
The panel will also be answering your questions in a live Q&A session.
This webinar is designed for:
- those who work with women who experience domestic and family violence and access pregnancy care or other health services
- multidisciplinary practitioners and policymakers working in pregnancy care and other health services, and domestic and family violence services.
The panel will include Professor Kelsey Hegarty (University of Melbourne), Anne Ingram (Western Health, Victoria) and Adele Sheridan-Magro (St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney) and will be facilitated by Dr Laura Tarzia (University of Melbourne).
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ANROWS National Research Conference
28–30 April 2020 | Hilton Adelaide
Announcing side workshops
The day before the Conference begins (Monday 27 April) there will be additional opportunities to learn with other speakers and delegates. We’re pleased to open registrations for two complementary side workshops:
Prioritising safety: Hands-on strategies for trauma- and violence-informed care
Trauma- and violence-informed care is an approach that seeks to make care encounters as safe as possible for people who have experienced trauma. In this workshop, led by conference keynote speaker C. Nadine Wathen, participants will explore practical resources, tools and strategies to strengthen their individual and organisational practice.
Systemic, organisational and individual factors can contribute to the risk of burnout and/or vicarious trauma for researchers and project workers in the family violence sector. Led by Phoenix Australia, the Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, this workshop will guide participants through practical strategies aimed at preventing vicarious trauma and managing the day-to-day impact of engaging with survivors of family violence, their stories, or being exposed to other traumatic content.
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Panel on CALD women experiencing domestic and family violence
Next month ANROWS CEO Dr Heather Nancarrow will be part of a panel of experts discussing domestic and family violence in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
Migrants and refugees experience additional layers of complexity when faced with domestic and family violence. “Unpacking the invisible”, part of the Settlement Services International (SSI) Speaker Series, will examine why some of Australia’s most vulnerable domestic violence survivors continue to fall through the gaps. The discussion will be held in Sydney on 26 March.
REGISTER HERE
Vale Moira Carmody
It is with sadness that we acknowledge the death of Professor Moira Carmody.
Moira was known and loved by many for her unreserved commitment to ending violence against women, particularly sexual abuse. She had a founding role in the work of ANROWS as one of the members of the National Council that wrote Time for Action, the blueprint for The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010 – 2022.
Sex and ethics: Young people and ethical sex is an example of her profound and valued contribution to primary prevention.
Opportunities
ANROWS is hiring
ANROWS is seeking a Research Officer (Research Program) to assist in the implementation of ANROWS’s Research Program and the Research Management System.
This may include a range of research, project management, contract management, knowledge translation and exchange, and administrative tasks across all streams of the Research Program.
This is a full-time position (37.5 hours per week) reporting to the Director, Research Program at the ANROWS national office in Sydney. Applications for the position close at midnight on Sunday 8 March 2020.
Contribute to Respect Victoria’s research priorities
Respect Victoria is developing a Victoria-focussed research agenda. They want to hear from primary prevention of family violence and violence against women practitioners, academics, researchers and Government staff working in the Victorian context to help guide Respect Victoria’s research priorities. Fill out the survey and find out more on their website.
The survey takes approximately 20 minutes and will close on Wednesday 4 March 2020 at 6 pm.
New research and resources
Donovan, C., & Barnes, R. (2020). Queering Narratives of Domestic Violence and Abuse: Victims and/or Perpetrators? (1st ed.). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Phillips, B., & McGuinness, C. (2020). Data snapshot: Police reported adolescent family violence in Victoria. Melbourne: Crime Statistics Agency.
Price-Robertson, R., Kirkwood, D., Dean, A., Hall, T., Paterson, N., & Broadley, K. (2020). Working together to keep children and families safe: Strategies for developing collaborative competence. Melbourne: AIFS.
Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (2nd ed.). New York: Zed Books.
Backes, B. L., Fedina, L., & Holmes, J. L. (2020). The Criminal Justice System Response to Intimate Partner Stalking: a Systematic Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Journal of Family Violence. Advance online publication.
Day, A. S., & Gill, A. K. (2020). Applying intersectionality to partnerships between women’s organizations and the criminal justice system in relation to domestic violence. The British Journal of Criminology. Advance online publication.
Eades, A., Hackett, M. L., Liu, H., Brown, A., Coffin, J., & Cass, A. (2020). Qualitative study of psychosocial factors impacting on Aboriginal women’s management of chronic disease. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1).
Noble-Carr, D., Moore, T., & McArthur, M. (2020). Children’s experiences and needs in relation to domestic and family violence: Findings from a meta-synthesis. Child & Family Social Work, 25(1), 182–191.
Puccetti, M., Greville, H., Robinson, M., White, D., Papertalk, L., & Thompson, S. C. (2019). Exploring readiness for change: Knowledge and attitudes towards family violence among community members and service providers engaged in primary prevention in regional Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(21). Article.
Ragavan, M. I., Query, L. A., Bair-Merritt, M., Dowd, D., Miller, E., & Randell, K. A. (in press). Expert perspectives on intimate partner violence power and control in pediatric healthcare settings. Academic Pediatrics.
Salter, M., Robinson, K., Ullman, J., Denson, N., Ovenden, G., Noonan, K., . . . Huppatz, K. (2020). Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Men’s Attitudes and Understandings of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Article.
Satyen, L., Toumbourou, J. W., Heerde, J., Supol, M., & Ranganathan, A. (2020). The Royal Commission into Family Violence: Trends in the Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence and Help-Seeking Behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Article.
Segrave, M., Hedwards, B., & Tyas, D. (2020). Family Violence and Exploitation: Examining the Contours of Violence and Exploitation. In J. Winterdyk & J. Jones (Eds.), The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking (pp. 437–450). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Wilkins, N. J., Zhang, X., Mack, K. A., Clapperton, A. J., Macpherson, A., Sleet, D., . . . McClure, R. (2019). Societal determinants of violent death: The extent to which social, economic, and structural characteristics explain differences in violence across Australia, Canada, and the United States. SSM—Population Health, 8. Article. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100431
Yates, S. (2020). Gender, context and constraint: Framing family violence in Victoria. Women’s Studies International Forum, 78. Article. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.102321
Workplace responses to DFV: Workplace Kit
Sightlines Professional Services, & Domestic Violence Service Management. (2020). Insights Paper: Experiences and perceptions of workplace responses to domestic and family violence.
Sightlines Professional Services, & Domestic Violence Service Management. (2018). Follow my lead.
Sightlines Professional Services, & Domestic Violence Service Management. (2019). My Safety Kit.
Listen
Detective stood down from Brisbane murder suicide investigation – ABC
Twelve years since Kevin Rudd’s apology, has anything changed? – ABC
Read
‘They wouldn’t let me call anybody’: women in mental health wards need better protection from sexual assault – The Conversation
Why do men kill their families? Here’s what the research says – The Conversation
More funding promised to men’s behaviour change programs, but we’re still not sure they work – The Conversation
‘Urgent’ response needed to help complex callers to 1800RESPECT – SMH
Victoria has passed historic Gender Equality Act – Women’s Agenda
WA Police officer charged with murder over Joyce Clarke shooting death in Geraldton – ABC
A new bushfire crisis is emerging as experts brace for an imminent surge in domestic violence – ABC
Woman prosecutes former partner who doused her with petrol in case Queensland police refused – The Guardian
Signing away their voice: How non-disclosure agreements silence Australian women – ABC
Calls for national register of confidential settlements of underpayment and sexual harassment cases – Brisbane Times
Weinstein conviction a partial victory for #MeToo, but must not overshadow work still to be done – The Conversation
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer and the saddest defence of sexual assault I’ve ever read – SMH
‘Rough sex’ as a defence for murder is grotesque victim-blaming – The Guardian
Conferences & events
Events & Training
Sydney, 4 March: Women’s Legal Service NSW Seminar Series 2020: Eggshell Skull, presented by Bri Lee, Author (International Women’s Day special event)
Canberra, 3 March 2020: The 2020 Pamela Denoon Lecture by Antoinette Braybrook: ‘Making First Nations women safe and strong’
Melbourne, 13 March 2020: Adolescent Violence in the Home Symposium
Sydney, 26 March 2020: Settlement Services International Speaker Series – Unpacking the Invisible: Culturally and linguistically diverse women in domestic and family violence
Conferences
Melbourne, 1 April 2020: PreventX 2020
Adelaide, 28-30 April 2020: ANROWS National Research Conference: Evidence in Action
Brisbane, 13–14 May 2020: Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Prevention Forum (QIFVP)
Siem Reap, Cambodia, 26–29 May 2020: 10th Asia-Pacific conference on reproductive and sexual health and rights
Melbourne, 10-12 June 2020: AIFS 2020 Conference: What is a good life for families? And how do we get there?
Sweden, 30 June – 2 July, 2020: 23rd Conference of the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International
Canberra, 10-11 August 2020: National Homelessness Conference 2020
Sydney, 21-22 October 2020: Evidence and Implementation Summit 2020
Canberra, 3–4 November 2020: Intersectionality: Challenges for Critical Feminist Research, Practice and Policy
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