Domestic Violence: Exploring Experiences of Abused Women in Australia

This report examines domestic violence against women in Australia, highlighting its prevalence, impacts, and barriers to seeking help. It explores the experiences of abused women through qualitative research, aiming to understand the consequences of domestic violence on their lives, the reasons they may not disclose abuse, and the support they need. The study employs an exploratory and descriptive approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews with victims recruited through purposive sampling. The analysis focuses on themes related to the impact of violence, barriers to reporting, and support needs. The report underscores the urgency of addressing domestic violence as a major health and social issue, emphasizing the need for effective prevention measures and improved support systems for abused women. Desklib provides access to this and similar assignments, offering students valuable study tools and resources.

Running head: VIOLENCE AGAINST AUTRALIAN WOMEN 1
Exploring the domestic violence among abused women in Australia
Student’s name
Date

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Introduction
The domestic violence is a major health issue in the Australian population. The family
and domestic violence occur across socioeconomic and demographic groups and in all ages
however it mainly affects the children and women. The women at high risk of experiencing
domestic violence include the young, pregnant and indigenous women. Furthermore, the women
with disabilities or those experiencing financial hardships are at most risk. This study is therefore
conducted to with the aim of highlighting various viewpoints of women experiencing domestic
violence in their abusive relationship.
Literature
The domestic violence refers to violence that takes place between two people in intimate
relationship in a domestic setting. The violence against women is on rise in Australia and has
huge economic and social impacts to both individual and the society (Mears, 2003). The
encouraging part is that the social problem can be prevented. However, in order to institute
efficient measures to prevent violence against women, there is need to understand the social
problem. There is numerous gender based violence that cause sexual, psychological and physical
harm to women. The violence against women has profound effect on their health and contribute
to deaths, illness and disabilities in women (Garcia-Moreno & Watts, 2011). It is also reported
that domestic violence against women is one of the largest contributing factor homelessness for
women around the world (Sokoloff & Dupont, 2005). The combined cost associated with
violence against women in Australia is more than $21 billion a year (Cobiac et al., 2009).
The children who see their mother experience violence are likely to be harmed.
The behavioral, social and emotional development of the child is negatively affected. The report

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by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) further indicate that women are likely to experience
more violence in previous partner compared to current partner. It has been suggested that broader
attitudes towards women need to be changed in order to address this social problem. The stigma
associated with issue prevent women from reporting to relevant authorities. ABS statistics
further indicate that women preferred reporting violence only after separation. 92% of women in
relationship were experiencing violence (Loxton, Schofield & Hussain, 2006).
The violence against women is on rise in Australia. Very few cases are reported in the
media yet the problem continues in the families thus little attention has been given to the issue by
the general public. The recent reports indicate that women have the highest violence by partner
(17%) compared to males (6%) (Loxton, Schofield & Hussain, 2006). In 2016 alone, over 1.6
million women reported domestic violence. The domestic violence is therefore a major issue that
need to be addressed in conjunction with other cases such as child abuse and rape. Though there
have been many measures put in place to combat the issue, surprisingly domestic violence
directed against women still remain high among other social problems (Hegarty, Hindmarsh &
Gilles, 2000). There are Acts put in place, however there is need to investigate loopholes in the
legal system that has resulted in failure of the Act to protect the victims. Though domestic
violence has been reported as main social problem, there is luck of studies indicating efficacy of
approaches put in place to fight violence. Furthermore, the causes and consequences of domestic
violence against women in Australian context is still under-researched.
Research questions
1. How does the domestic violence impact the life of the abused women?

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This question will help in exploring various consequences of domestic violence in
Australia that is experienced by abused women. This question will further help in assessing the
influence of culture and religion in women’s perception of abuse. The impacts of domestic
violence of women’s emotional being in relation to social, psychological and physical dimension
will be answered by this question.
2. What barriers prevent women from disclosing abuse and seeking help outside?
The domestic violence against women are largely under-reported in Australia. This
question will reveal underlying reasons why women prefer not to report abuse they have
experienced. Previous studies conducted in Africa indicated that victims hide the problem in
order to avoid shame and the belief in privacy of the family (Kim et al., 2007).
3. What are the needs of abused women in order to provide support?
This will help in identifying needs and support to be offered by social service providers
thus help in informing better serve the abused women in future.
Methodological framework
This study will adopt explorative and descriptive approach. Explorative study is believed
to be best when dealing with issued whose information is little known (Auramo, Kauremaa &
Tanskanen, 2005). This is in view that that domestic violence against women in Australia is
under-researched. The explorative approach using qualitative research methodology will
therefore suit the current study. The qualitative approach that is adopted for this research is the
use of semi-structured interview with the victims.
Methods

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Due to sensitivity of the matter, the participant will be recruited through non-probability
sampling technique where purposive sample type will be employed. This would be achieved by
approaching the organizations that work with the abused women. The ethical approval will be
obtained from the university and the government agency. After ethical approval 20 respondent
will be identified and qualitative interview conducted with respondents for 30 minutes each. The
face-t-face interviews confined to themes of study will helped in understanding experiences of
abused women. The qualitative analysis will be adopted where thematic approach will be used to
describe impact of violence on women, barriers to reporting the issue and needs and support for
helping abused women.

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References
Auramo, J., Kauremaa, J., & Tanskanen, K. (2005). Benefits of IT in supply chain management:
an explorative study of progressive companies. International Journal of Physical
Distribution & Logistics Management, 35(2), 82-100.
Cobiac, L., Vos, T., Doran, C., & Wallace, A. (2009). Cost‐effectiveness of interventions to
prevent alcohol‐related disease and injury in Australia. Addiction, 104(10), 1646-1655.
Garcia-Moreno, C., & Watts, C. (2011). Violence against women: an urgent public health
priority. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89(1), 2-2.
Hegarty, K., Hindmarsh, E. D., & Gilles, M. T. (2000). Domestic violence in Australia:
definition, prevalence and nature of presentation in clinical practice. The Medical Journal
of Australia, 173(7), 363-367.
Kim, J. C., Watts, C. H., Hargreaves, J. R., Ndhlovu, L. X., Phetla, G., Morison, L. A., ... &
Pronyk, P. (2007). Understanding the impact of a microfinance-based intervention on
women’s empowerment and the reduction of intimate partner violence in South
Africa. American journal of public health, 97(10), 1794-1802.
Loxton, D., Schofield, M., & Hussain, R. (2006). Psychological health in midlife among women
who have ever lived with a violent partner or spouse. Journal of interpersonal
violence, 21(8), 1092-1107.
Mears, J. (2003). Survival is not enough: Violence against older women in Australia. Violence
against women, 9(12), 1478-1489.

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Sokoloff, N. J., & Dupont, I. (2005). Domestic violence at the intersections of race, class, and
gender: Challenges and contributions to understanding violence against marginalized
women in diverse communities. Violence against women, 11(1), 38-64.