Violence among Indigenous Women in Australia

This policy for advocacy is about violence among the indigenous women of Australia. It will focus on the impact of the problem among indigenous women as well as the community as a whole. Domestic violence is a major problem among the indigenous people and it affects people’s physical, social and emotional well-being. The report will discuss initiatives towards reduction of violence among indigenous women as well as recommendations for the same.

Violence among indigenous women in Australia 1
VIOLENCE AMONG INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA
By,
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Violence among indigenous women in Australia 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This policy for advocacy is about violence among the indigenous women of Australia. It will
focus on the impact of the problem among indigenous women as well as the community as a
whole. Domestic violence is a major problem among the indigenous people and it affects
people’s physical, social and emotional well-being. Alcohol and other drug abuse among the
indigenous people greatly contributes to violence among the indigenous people. The report will
discuss initiatives towards reduction of violence among indigenous women as well as
recommendations for the same. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s
Alliance is advocating for this issue by providing some great interventions towards reducing the
menace.
ORGANIZATION
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance (NATSIWA) was
established in 2009 with an aim to empower indigenous women to have a strong and effective
voice in domestic and international policy advocacy process. It was established to advocate for
the rights of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. NATISWA’s core values involves
ensuring that long lasting changes for the well-being of indigenous individuals are established. It
focusses on identifying solutions for problems affecting indigenous women. This has been
targeted through cultural preservation, health education and coalition building (Dudgeon, 2017).
OBJECTIVES OF NATSIWA
The main objectives of the organization are as follows:

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To ensure gender equality within the country and advocate for inclusion of indigenous women in
governmental, social, economic and political arenas. This encourages women leadership and
participation.
To encourage participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander women in policy making
processes that impacts them
To protect and defend the rights of all aboriginal and Torres Strait islander women. This includes
protection from violence and exploitation.
To ensure increased cultural understanding and preservation
To recognize the different needs of communities
To ensure universal access to health care, housing and education
To create and develop strong and efficient coalitions with major stakeholders so as to achieve the
stipulated goals
VALUES OF NATSIWA
The organization main focus is to improve the quality of life among the aboriginal and Torres
Strait islander women. It is dedicated to consulting nationally these women and ensuring policy
implementation by enabling women to voice out issues surrounding and affecting them. Matters
such as primary health care delivery to remote areas, gender equality and women empowerment
form core values of the organization and its dedication to impacting change (Didi et al, 2016).
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women Alliance’s vision is to protect the
health, human rights and freedoms that form a significant part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander women. This has been done by increasing participation of women in health care.

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BACKGROUND
VIOLENCE AMONG INDIGENOUS WOMEN
Violence among women of any age is an area of concern that needs to be addressed by all means.
According to Jongbloed et al 2017, indigenous women tend to be more prone to violence and this
has affected them negatively as time goes by. Most subjects of violence end up suffering for a
longtime since they do not speak up about their situation (Chmielowska and Fuhr, 2017). The
impact of domestic and other forms of violence can be severe and lead to negative consequences
hence there is need to address the issue.
Some of the consequences include physical injury, social and emotional effects. Violence among
women tends to affect more of indigenous Australian women as compared to the non-indigenous
people. The violence is highly associated with drug and substance abuse among the indigenous
people as compared to the non-indigenous population (Spangaro et al, 2016). Violence among
indigenous women is considered to be as a result of community and family factors rather than
individual factor hence affects a huge part of the population.
PREVALENCE RATE
The rate of violence among Aboriginal women is significantly higher than the rest of the
population in Australia. Of the various forms of violence, family and domestic violence tend to
be the main contributors of violence among these women (McNamara et al, 2019). It is difficult
to accurately measure the incidence and prevalence rate of violence among indigenous women as
most cases go unreported. According to a report conducted in 2015 by the National Health
Service, indigenous women are 30-40 times likely to suffer from violence compared to non-
indigenous women.

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According to Negin, 2015, this can be easily attributed to failure of adequate education, drug
abuse and lack of cultural observation. A 2009 national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people survey revealed that about a quarter of all indigenous people had experienced physical
violence over the past 12 months. According to statistics and surveys conducted, the prevalence
rates for violence among indigenous women varied from state to state. In Walgett town in
Australia for example where half of the population is indigenous, the rate of domestic violence
was recorded to be 2339 per 100,000 people. In Moore town where the population consists of
more non-indigenous people as compared to indigenous by about 75%, the rate was 1738 per
100,000 people.
RISK FACTORS INFLUENCING VIOLENCE
There are a wide range of factors that have influenced an increase in violence among indigenous
women as compared to non-indigenous women. Both domestic and family violence have drawn a
lot of attention among the indigenous population over the past few years. The rates of domestic
and family violence are higher in remote indigenous communities and the tendency to report
cases of violence in these places tend to be lower due to a wide number of barriers (Marchetti
and Daly, 2017). The main contributors associated with violence among indigenous women can
be classified into two groups. There are past and modern contributors of this problem among the
indigenous people.
The past factors mainly revolve about the impact of past happenings and events within the
society and include factors such as the impact of colonization among the indigenous people,
ongoing trauma of displacement of indigenous people from their native lands and kinship groups
and separation of children from their families. The modern contributors can be identified as low

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levels of education, high rates of unemployment and poverty among the indigenous people and
increased substance misuse among the indigenous people (Wilson et al, 2017).
Violence among indigenous women has recently been associated with increased alcohol abuse
among indigenous people. Firestone, Tyndall and Fischer, 2015 explain that there is a higher rate
of alcohol abuse among the indigenous people as opposed to the non-indigenous people. The
abuse of alcohol is highly linked to men as opposed to women. Alcohol abuse influences poor
judgement and this may bring about conflict among families. A drunk husband might for
example inflict harm to his wife in the course of an argument.
URGENCY OF THE ISSUE
Violence of indigenous women is a matter of urgency in the country as it has its consequences to
the well-being of victims as well as the economy. Indigenous women tend to fall victims of
victimization due to low levels of education, poverty and drug misuse among the indigenous
people. Violence among indigenous women has accounted for a high physical assaults and
hospitalization of women within the country (Markham, Doran and Young, 2016). The
government has not effectively been able to curb and reduce the rate of violence among the
women due to poor strategies and lack of adequate representation of indigenous women in the
government.
Little attention to the violence cases by the government is a matter of concern as the victims of
violence do not receive any form of justice. There has been an increase in the number of violence
cases as the years go by hence it is a matter of urgency that needs to be looked into. Many
indigenous women fall victims of violence by their drunkard husbands and therefore drug abuse
among the indigenous people is a matter that needs keen observation and implementation of

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strategies to curb the problem. Violence can negatively impact the victim either emotionally,
socially, economically and physically hence it’s a matter of urgency (Richards, 2015). Violence
among indigenous women is a matter of urgency since women form an important part of the
society. The effects of violence which include physical impairment and emotional breakdown
can affect individual performances and eventually affect progress within the society. This is
because every individual within the community has a role to play. Whenever these roles are
affected by violence as in the case of indigenous women, the overall performance becomes
ineffective.
AIMS OF THE POLICY
Policy of advocacy have many objectives instituted to help minimize the harm and effect caused
by violence facing the focusing group. The main aim of the policy of advocacy is to ensure that
indigenous women voice out their problems as far as violence is concerned as well as to help
curb the negative effects and outcomes associated with violence (Castro, Savage and Kaufman,
2015). The objectives of the policy of advocacy include enhancing awareness of the
consequences of violence and encouraging women who are victims to talk about the issue.
Another aim of the policy is to ensure long-term changes and interventions to reduce violence.
The third aim is to introduce culturally sensitive interventions. The fourth aim is to introduce
behavioral interventions aimed at minimizing drug abuse related violence and the last one is to
estimate the strengths of intervention programmes to curb domestic and family violence.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to ensure that effective interventions and strategies are adapted to improve the health of
indigenous women and protect them from violence, there is need to enhance policies that

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minimize the risks and contributors of violence. The government involvement in protection of its
citizen’s rights is of importance and needs to be incorporated in order to achieve long term
changes (Baldry, Carlton and Cunneen, 2015). Since indigenous women are often the victims of
violence, there is need to come up with and promote strategies that are effective in the long run.
This involves making sure that problems facing indigenous women are well combated with
adequate urgency (Parker, Kilroy and Hirst, 2018). There are several ways in which violence
among indigenous women can be reduced by targeting the predisposing factors as well as
establishing strategies that have a long-term effect. The following are some of the
recommendations that can help reduce violence among indigenous women in Australia:
PUBLIC AWARENESS AND EDUCATION
Most of the aboriginal and Torres Strait islander women are victimized without speaking up and
do not have adequate knowledge of their rights. In order to curb the menace of violence, there is
need to promote public awareness of women rights and encourage them to speak up and report
cases of victimization to the police. Low levels of education forms part of the predisposing
factors for violence among indigenous women (Roh et al, 2016). Increasing education
programmes that target the women can help them overcome victimization as they will be able to
recognize their rights and monitor their health. There are severe health consequences associated
with violence.
Physical assault can jeopardize the health of a victim and knowledge on how to perform first
aids and seek health care services can help minimize harm. Family and domestic violence form
the primary forms of violence that affect indigenous women (Kerr, Whyte and Strang, 2017).
Instituting family counselling centers and encouraging people to seek counselling services can
help minimize violence. This is an effective strategy as it encourages reconciliation of partners

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and family members thereby encouraging peace among members thus preventing violence.
Adequate health education can also help minimize the effects of assault and violence. This can
be done by encouraging a health seeking behavior and increasing the number of health facilities
among the indigenous people (Tyson, Kirkwood and Mckenzie, 2017).
SUBSTANCE ABUSE REDUCTION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Alcohol and tobacco abuse is more common among the indigenous people of Australia as
compared to the non-indigenous people. Alcohol and substance abuse form part of the main
causes of violence among the indigenous women (Stubbs and Wangmann, 2017). The WHO
statistics prove that over 20% of indigenous Australians consume alcohol above normal levels.
This drug abuse can negatively affect the behavior of individuals as it has significant mental
effects. This has significantly led to a rise in all forms of violence among the indigenous people.
Men tend to abuse drugs more than women among the indigenous people. The women therefore
fall the main victims of violence triggered by this abuse hence there is need for strategies
targeting reduction of the abuse in order to minimize violence.
The women who face violence from their husbands due to substance abuse tend to not talk about
the issue with fear of breaking the family apart (Ramamoorthi et al, 2015). There is therefore
need for increased awareness among indigenous women to talk about their problems in order to
provide solutions for the violence. Strategies that can help reduce alcohol abuse related violence
include alcohol screening and brief intervention. It is an effective strategy to prevent and alcohol
abuse and addiction. The alcohol screening tests involve engaging people in a series of questions
to determine whether they abuse alcohol or have alcohol use disorder. It is an effective way of
determining alcohol dependency among the population and increasing counselling centers. In
order for this policy to be effectively adapted among the indigenous Australians, there is need to

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ensure effective training of health care workers (Wendt, 2016). Health care delivery points
should also be increased among the indigenous people in order to improve health outcomes
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
This is an important strategy that can help minimize violence among indigenous women. It
involves encouraging all members of the community to stand against violence and promote
peace (Gibson-Helm et al, 2016). This strategy can be well incorporated by engaging community
leaders to promote equality and respectful relationships between men and women. Every
individual within the society has a role to play in order to prevent and stop violence among
women. Successful anti-violence strategies require the involvement of all people including the
government, community leaders and community members (Benzaken et al 2017). Increasing
public awareness against violence can be effective in preventing violence among indigenous
women. Encouraging men within the community to take a leading role in discouraging violence
against women can significantly help reduce the problem and the harm that results from
violence.

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