Action Plans against Domestic Violence

This article discusses the issue of domestic violence in Australia and presents an action plan to mitigate it. It covers the causes of domestic violence, assessment in Australia, previous policies, and a comprehensive action plan. The article emphasizes the need for awareness campaigns, prevention programs, and the use of technology to address this social issue. The suggested changes aim to provide modern solutions to modern problems. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of collective efforts from the government and non-governmental institutions to reduce domestic violence.

Action Plans against Domestic Violence
1

2

Contents:
1. Inroduction ............................................................................................... 3
2. Domestic Violence and its Causes ........................................................... 3- 4
3. Assesment in Australia: ........................................................................... 4- 5
4. Previous Policies ...................................................................................... 5
5. Action Plan ............................................................................................... 6
6. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 6
7. Bibliography/ References ......................................................................... 7
3

Introduction: Aggressive behaviour within the four walls of one’s home, especially on their
spouse, is called domestic violence. It is wrong both on moral and legal grounds. “In Australia,
Domestic Violence is defined by Family Law Act, 1975 as ‘violent, threatening or other
behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person's family, or causes the
family member to be fearful’. The Act refers to acts of violence that occur between people who
have, or have had, an intimate relationship in domestic settings. Domestic violence includes
violence between partners of both sexes, including same-sex relationships. However, the term
can be altered by each state's legislation and can broaden the spectrum of domestic violence,
such as in Victoria, where family-like relationships and witnessing any type of violence in the
family is defined as a family violence.”
This project aims at putting forward an action plan to mitigate the problem of domestic violence
in Australia along with focusing on how to make such plan work in reality.
Domestic Violence and its Causes:
“Domestic violence occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically
or psychologically dominate or harm the other. According to the Commonwealth s Office for
Women (OFW), domestic violence can be exhibited in many forms, including physical violence,
sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation or threats of violence.
Domestic violence occurs in all geographic areas of Australia and in all socioeconomic and
cultural groups, although domestic violence is a more significant problem for certain groups,
such as regional and rural Australia and Indigenous communities.”
“The drivers of men’s violence against women include:
 gender norms
 accepting and sometimes approving of men’s violence against women
 men controlling decision-making
 limits to women’s independence in public and private life
 interactions between men that are aggressive and disrespectful towards women.
Other contributors to men’s violence against women
There are also a number of reinforcing factors that, while not a direct cause of men’s violence
against women, increase its likelihood and severity:
 discrimination
 experience of and exposure to violence
 alcohol and substance use
 some cultural and religious practices
 lack of knowledge of Australian laws
 loss of traditional family and community support systems.
4

Only some men use violence against women. Most men think that violence against women is
never acceptable.”
Men are also victims of violence but the number is very rare. They are also victims of other men.
Assesment in Australia:
“As most incidences of domestic violence often go unreported, it is difficult to measure the true
extent of the problem. According to a study conducted in 1998 by Carlos Carcach from the
Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), Reporting Crime to the Police, most assaults against
women where the victim knows the offender go unreported. The 2005 Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS) Personal Safety Survey, estimates that 36 per cent of women who experienced
physical assault by a male perpetrator reported it to the police in 2005 compared to 19 per cent in
1996, and that 19 per cent of women who experienced sexual assault reported it to the police in
2005 compared to 15 per cent in 1996. The best indicators available to date about the levels of
violence against women in Australia are from the 1996 ABS publication Wpmen’s Safety Survey
and the more recent ABS Personal Safety Survey 2005 that surveyed both men and women. The
surveys asked women about their experiences of violence and found that:
 5.8 per cent of women had experienced violence in the 12 month period preceding the
survey in 2005 compared with 7.1 per cent in 1996
 4.7 per cent of these women had experienced physical violence (this includes physical
assault and threat of physical assault) in 2005 compared with 5.9 per cent in 1996, and
1.6 per cent had experienced sexual violence (this includes sexual assault and threat of
sexual assault) compared to 1.5 per cent in 1996
 Of the women who experienced sexual violence during the 12 months prior to the 2005
survey 21 per cent had experienced sexual assault by a previous partner in the most
recent incident, and 39 per cent by a family member or friend
 The 2005 survey also showed that of those women who were physically assaulted in the
12 months prior to the survey, 38 per cent were physically assaulted by their male current
or previous partner. Of the women who had experienced violence by a current partner, 10
per cent had a violence order issued against their current partner and of those women who
had violence orders issued, 20 per cent reported that violence still occurred.
There have also been studies of the relationship between domestic violence and homicides.
In Homicide Between Intimate Partners in Australia, 1998, Carach and James from the
Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) found that domestic violence plays a significant role in
the lead up to lethal violence, accounting for 27 per cent of all homicides in Australia between
1989 and 1996. Another study by the AIC in 2002, Homicides Resulting from Domestic
Altercations, found that the majority of female homicide victims were killed during domestic
altercations. In a follow up AIC study, Family Homicide in Australia, Jenny Mouzos and
Catherine Rushforth analysed the victim-offender relationships for almost 4500 homicides that
occurred in Australia over a 13 year period from 1989 to 2002. The study found that:
 on average there were 129 family homicides each year, 77 related to domestic disputes
5

 that killings between partners/spouses accounted for 60 per cent of all family homicides
in Australia, with women accounting for 75 per cent of the victims, and men comprising
the majority of the killers
 that a quarter of the intimate homicides occurred after the partners had separated or
divorced.”
“A survey of domestic violence data in Australia revealed that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men have
experienced at least one incident of violence from a current or former partner since the age of 15.
On average between 2010 and 2012, every 10 days a female died as a result of family violence,
with a total of 75 over the period, whilst in 2015, Females accounted for almost two thirds (65%)
of all victims of FDV–related Homicide in Australia in 2015 (103 victims). Between 2014 and
2016 there were 264,028 domestic violence incidents reported and recorded. However,
Australian Bureau of Statistics's released data revealed that 80% of women and 95% of men who
had experienced violence from a current partner never contacted the police. The most common
reason for not reporting was cited as fear of revenge or further violence from the current
partner. Between 2014 and 2015, 2,800 women and 560 men were hospitalised after being
assaulted by a spouse or partner. A paper published in Melbourne in 2016, revealed that from
121,251 domestic violence incidents recorded over a 2 year period, more than 21% involved
alcohol by either or both parties. A critical report by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
in 2018 revealed that 1 in 6 (approximately 1.5 million) women and 1 in 9 (approximately
992,000) men were physically and/or sexually abused before the age of 15. The same report
revealed that 72,000 women, 34,000 children and 9,000 men employed homelessness services in
2016–17 due to domestic violence.”
As per the situational needs, an active action plan to mitigate such a social issue is important.
Previous Policies: “The Commonwealth's role in addressing domestic violence commenced
formally with the National Agenda for Women consultations in 1986. Following this in 1987 the
Office of the Status of Women (OSW) commenced a three year public education campaign,
along with a national survey to gauge community attitudes to violence against women. A follow
up survey, Community Attitudes to Violence, was conducted in 1995. The role of the
Commonwealth has grown over time, through the implementation of the 1992 National Strategy
on Violence against Women. The Commonwealth's Partnerships against Domestic Violence
(PADV) initiative, launched at the National Domestic Violence Summit in November 1997, was
the main Commonwealth program aimed at addressing the issue of domestic violence until it was
replaced by the Women s Safety Agenda in July 2005. In the 2005 Budget the Australian
Government announced that the Partnerships against Domestic Violence initiative had come to
an end to be replaced by the Women s Safety Agenda program at a cost of $75.7 million over
four years.” Other than these, there have been many awarness campaigns, prevention
programmes have taken place. Though, better measures through more research can be taken
6

Action Plan: “The Commonwealth has a role in leading the standard approaches to policy and
legislative reform in the states and territories. It also sponsors interagency, as well as interstate
and territory cooperation in the development and implementation of best practice models for
addressing and preventing domestic violence. The states, not the Commonwealth, have the law
enforcement responsibilities in relation to policing and prosecuting instances of domestic
violence. Each state jurisdiction has its own laws and policies for responding to domestic
violence. According to the Women’s Safety Agenda website, the initiative addresses four broad
themes: prevention, health, justice and services. Together they aim to decrease the impacts of
domestic violence and sexual assault upon the community by building on the achievements of
the Partnerships against Domestic Violence initiative and the National Initiative to Combat
Sexual Assault, increasing attention on preventing violence and early intervention and support
for those affected by violence.”
In the prevention part, more campaigns and awarness programmes are needed. It includes special
classes in schools for the children to be aware about what should and should not be done in the
future. Moreover, what should they do if any they witness any act of domestic violence.
The health and justice part is well built already in this concerned policy. But there are many
women who don’t step forward to get justice on the first place. With online awareness through
social media platforms, they are needed to be given more courage to speak up.
In the service part, a mobile application can be launched for emergency cases. It shall be
programmed in a way so that, with one click the person in emergency help can contact someone
for immidiate help. It shall include a call as well as a text option, sent to friends or family as well
as to the police.
This change in the policy aims at “Modern solutions to modern problems.” In this era of
technology, the technology should be used as its apex benefit. Launching such a social help app
might come with an evolutionary change.
Conclusion: The problem of domestic violence, hence, can be reduced with the help of both the
Government and the Non-governmental institutions. The awarness programmes can be organized
by both the sectors. However, the app shall be launched by the Government’s initiatives.
Everyone has a right to life and this right does not mean mere living the life. It includes a healthy
life both physically and mentally. Therefore, the issue of doemstic violence should be mitigated
as much as possible also, as soon as possible. The suggested changes in the existing policy, the
pathways of the action plan can be very effective if adopted. Together as a nation, it can be done
like the other problems such as, alcohol consumption has been reduced in the past years in
Australia.
7

Bibliography/ References:
Dr Kerry Carrington, Janet Phillips, Parliament of Australia, About Parliament,
Domestic Violence in Australia- an overview of the issues:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/
Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/Domviolence
(accessed on 13 May, 2019).
Eliza Laschon, The Facts Behind The Statistics, Last Retrived: 27 March, 2019:
https://www.ourwatch.org.au/understanding-violence/facts-and-figures (accessed
on 13 May, 2019)
Our watch, Facts and Figures, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-23/the-faces-
behind-the-domestic-violence-statistics/10888614 (accessed on 13 May, 2019)
White Ribbon Australia, Prevent Men’s Violence Against Women, Causes of
violence against Women: https://www.whiteribbon.org.au/understand-
domestic-violence/what-is-violence-against-women/causes-domestic-
violence/ (accessed on 13 May, 2019).
Wikipedia, Domestic Violence in Australia, Last retrived: 22 April, 2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence_in_Australia (accessed
on 13 May, 2019).
8