HSH725 Report: Domestic Violence in Australia, Analysis and Findings

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of domestic violence in Australia, examining its multifaceted impacts and potential solutions. The introduction outlines the report's purpose, focusing on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of domestic violence across various demographics. The discussion section explores the rationale for reviewing the literature, highlighting the significance of the issue. Five peer-reviewed articles are analyzed, covering topics such as the economic impact of domestic violence on Australia, the experiences of Indigenous women, the impact on children, the link between pregnancy and abuse, and violence against homosexuals. The report concludes with recommendations for preventive measures, emphasizing awareness, support, and reporting mechanisms to combat domestic violence. The report underscores the need for a multifaceted approach to address this critical issue, offering insights into the complexities of domestic violence and advocating for comprehensive interventions.

Running head: A REPORT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN AUSTRALIA
Report on Domestic Violence in Australia
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Rationale for Review..............................................................................................................3
Article 1: Domestic Violence against Women and how it affects the Country’s Economy. .4
Article 2: How Indigenous Women cope with their Abusive Partners..................................4
Article 3: Children as victims of Domestic Abuse.................................................................5
Article 4: Link between Pregnancy and Domestic Abuse.....................................................5
Article 5: Domestic Violence against Homosexuals..............................................................6
Conclusion and Recommendations............................................................................................6
Reference....................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Domestic Violence is a global phenomenon that indicates a continuous pattern of
behaviour in which an individual controls another one’s activities through domination,
threatening and fear. The association between the two individuals is usually close and
intimate, for example, partners or close family members. The primary aim of the perpetrator
is to instil fear in minds of the ones they abuse and to inflict physical and emotional pain in
them. Domestic Violence can be of criminal as well as non-criminal nature. It perpetuates in
many forms like verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, social, economic and spiritual
abuse. The stigma of Domestic Violence aggravates when it remains unattended or is ignored
with the excuse of being a private family matter (Woodlock 2017). Consequentially, it takes
the form of a long term behaviour and cause serious disruption in the mental health of the
victims.
Discussion
Rationale for Review
Domestic Violence against an individual, irrespective of their gender and age, not
only cause damage to their own mental and physical well-being but also attribute to an
everlasting damage in other Family relationships and coerces workplace dynamics.
Statistics regarding the prevalence of violence and abuse have exhibited that it is women and
children who are mostly at the receiving end of assaults. This have even increased
homelessness among women and children. As stated by (White Ribbon, 2018), 33% of
women in Australia have been victimized by a close relation or friend; each year, an average
of one woman loses her life to domestic violence, one out of every four children have been
found in a vulnerable abusive situation. The rationale of this review is to uncover the various

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context in which domestic violence takes place and to highlight the possible measures by
which it can be prevented.
Article 1: Domestic Violence against Women and how it affects the Country’s
Economy
Domestic violence is a widespread notoriety in Australia that even affects the
country’s economy accounting for almost $21.7 billion in a year (Berns 2017). The basic
issue with preventing the problem lies with the fact that is often treated as a private affair by
both the perpetrator and the victim. Hence most cases of domestic abuse often go unreported.
Evidence suggest that domestic violence has a strong and positive correlation with the
abuser’s drinking habit. In most incidents of Intimate Partner Physical Violence, especially
among the Indigenous community, it was observed that an individual’s aggressive nature and
low self-control were associated with his over-consumption of alcohol. As mentioned before,
domestic violence against women and children have let to poor economic growth for the
country because such circumstances act as barriers in their path of advancement and equal
involvement in the society.
Article 2: How Indigenous Women cope with their Abusive Partners
The Indigenous community of Australia comprise of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. As facts collected from the Australian Institute of Health and Australian
Bureau of Statistics indicate, the census of domestic violence against indigenous women is
comparatively higher than the general population in Australia. Social stressors, overcrowding
due to poor housing facilities and low rate of employment serve as the precipitating factors
for this unfavourable situation (Fisher 2013). Every year, one out of 7 indigenous women
were found to be hospitalised due to domestic violence by a cohabiting partner. There are

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associated risks of family abuse such as unwanted and premature pregnancies, babies with
low immunity and birth-weight, unsafe abortions, and HIV. Long term effects included
premature ageing, lack of self-confidence arising from prolonged trauma and chronic stress.
Abused women in this community also exhibited fear of living their partners for the sake of
their children’s safety and their own financial security. Often she is under severe stress of
threat of retaliation from her perpetrator (Herman 2015).
Article 3: Children as victims of Domestic Abuse
The impact of domestic abuse is not limited to the co-habitating partners. In nine out
of ten cases, their children are the direct sufferers of such violence. The foundations of values
like trust and respect usually occurs at a young age. If children witness uncivilized and
violent behaviour, verbal abuse and disrespect on part of one parent towards another, it
deeply gets ingrained into their mind and there is a high probability of them repeating similar
incidents in their adulthood (García-Moreno 2015). They fail to learn appropriate coping
mechanisms, are usually mal-adjusted in their social and personal needs and develop low
resiliency in conflicting environment. High animosity among parents leading to divorce and
the subsequent post separation parenting arrangements are not always willingly accepted by
the children and these may implant anti-social attributes in their behaviour. Apart from this
fact, it has also been observed that children who were victims of physical and verbal abuse
themselves have three times more chances of getting victimised by their partner in their
adulthood.
Article 4: Link between Pregnancy and Domestic Abuse
A survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Women’s Safety
produced data according to which around 36% women reported of being victims to Family
Abuse during the course of their pregnancy (Othman, Goddard and Piterman 2014). Pregnant
women who separated from their partners owing to violence were more vulnerable of facing

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abuse from their ex-spouse than those who were married. These facts and figures provide
reflection of the lethal nature of divorce or separation itself that intensifies with the woman
getting consensually or non-consensually pregnant. Trauma and distress during pregnancy,
due to Domestic Violence, often lead to cardiovascular and psychosocial disorders in the
child later in their lives.
Article 5: Domestic Violence against Homosexuals
Reports of violence by Intimate partners are common among heterosexual women
who are in heteronormative liaison with heterosexual men. However, individuals of the
LGBTQ community experience similar kind of distress from their partners which often go
unrecorded due to lack of awareness in the society (O’Brien et al. 2013). The members of this
community face primary hindrance about the recognition and acceptance of their preference.
In addition to this problem, the administrative authority fail to acknowledge policies for their
protection from their abusive partners. The voice of Feminism has offered some amount of
assistance to curb the patriarchal structure of the society and notions of inequality that ignores
the gravity associated with this issue (Renzetti and Miley 2014).
Conclusion and Recommendations
To conclude the above review of literature on the impact of domestic abuse in various
communities across Australia, it can be stated that Women and Children are the primary
victims of this behavioural distortion. However, in certain cases, especially those of LGBTQ,
even men were found at the receiving end of Abuse. Women are hindered access to the outer
world by their dominating abusive partners which in turn creates barrier in their financial
autonomy and overall development. Children tend to suffer more under shared parental care
in light of their parent’s Divorce.

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Few recommendations that could be suggested as preventive measures against
domestic abuse would be:
 Being alert about any direct or indirect sign of abuse from one’s partner.
 Keeping children away in educational facilities in case of frequent occurrence of
domestic violence.
 Have courage and conviction to report against such violence.

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Reference
Fisher, C., 2013. Changed and changing gender and family roles and domestic violence in
African refugee background communities post-settlement in Perth, Australia. Violence
Against Women, 19(7), pp.833-847.
Berns, N.S., 2017. Framing the victim: Domestic violence, media, and social problems.
Routledge.
Woodlock, D., 2017. The abuse of technology in domestic violence and stalking. Violence
against women, 23(5), pp.584-602.
Othman, S., Goddard, C. and Piterman, L., 2014. Victims’ barriers to discussing domestic
violence in clinical consultations: A qualitative enquiry. Journal of interpersonal violence,
29(8), pp.1497-1513.
White Ribbon. (2018). Prevent Men's Violence Against Women | White Ribbon Australia.
[online] Available at: http://www.whiteribbon.org.au/ [Accessed 10 Aug. 2018].
García-Moreno, C., Zimmerman, C., Morris-Gehring, A., Heise, L., Amin, A., Abrahams, N.,
Montoya, O., Bhate-Deosthali, P., Kilonzo, N. and Watts, C., 2015. Addressing violence
against women: a call to action. The Lancet, 385(9978), pp.1685-1695.
O’Brien, K.L., Cohen, L., Pooley, J.A. and Taylor, M.F., 2013. Lifting the domestic violence
cloak of silence: Resilient Australian women’s reflected memories of their childhood
experiences of witnessing domestic violence. Journal of Family Violence, 28(1), pp.95-108.
Renzetti, C.M. and Miley, C.H., 2014. Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships.
Routledge.

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Herman, J.L., 2015. Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence--from domestic abuse
to political terror. Hachette UK.