The Impact of Family Violence on Women and Children: A Detailed Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of family violence against women, exploring various facets of the issue. It begins by examining the vulnerability of women with disabilities to domestic violence, highlighting the influence of the social model of disability. The report then delves into the prevalence and nature of violence against women in Australia, emphasizing its gendered dimensions and impact on young women. It further addresses the effects of witnessing violence on children, including developmental, health, and social problems. The report also details the health consequences of violence, both immediate and long-lasting, and examines community attitudes towards violence, illustrating how these attitudes can perpetuate or mitigate abuse. Lastly, it outlines various responses to violence, including policies and actions taken by the Australian government and non-governmental organizations to prevent and address domestic violence, including a focus on media reporting and primary prevention strategies.

PORTFOLIO

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Women with disability and domestic and family violence....................................................1
Violence against women in Australia.....................................................................................1
Children exposed to violence against women........................................................................2
The health consequences of violence.....................................................................................2
Community attitudes towards violence .................................................................................3
Responses to violence against women...................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
The chosen topic for portfolio is 'women’ who have been subject to family violence.
Family violence is also known as domestic violence and is a form of abuse against a person
which is very common in women these days. Violence against females is gender based, which
means that the abuse is committed against girls and women specifically because they are
females. This assignment is based on women subjected to family violence which will cover
information including arguments in broader literature from various articles.
MAIN BODY
Women with disability and domestic and family violence.
Nowadays, disability is understood by utilising the social model of disability, which
states that disability is resulted from disabling environmental barriers. Santos, Oliveira and
Silveira, (2018) stated that, there are about 4.2 million people with disability in Australia in
which 52% are females. Then it was further added that, an estimation of 37.4% of women with
disability are more at risk of family violence than their peers. Moreover, Ellsberg, Arango and
Watts, (2015) described violence against individuals with disability is termed as gendered
phenomenon. Because of the combination of gender and disability based discrimination, females
with disability are vulnerable to violence. Below are some forms of violence against women with
disability are:
Physical abuse; which includes withholding of food, medicines, water or other support facilities
and misusing medication as a restraint (Violence against women in Australia. An overview of
research and approaches to primary prevention, 2017).
Sexual violence; touching inappropriately while caring for them and demanding sexual
activities.
Financial violence; include taking control over money or stealing it. Therefore, women with
disability face family violence in various settings, relationships and contexts.
Violence against women in Australia
As per the views of Jewkes, Flood and Lang, (2015) violence against women is now
considered as a global issue of significant magnitude. This problem is often invisible but
common form of abuse and an unsafe violation of human rights. It has been discovered that, two
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in every five women have faced violence since age of 15 years. Moreover, it has been discovered
that male intimate partner abuse in Australia contributes more to the disease burden for women
aged from 17 to 45 years. In contradiction to this, Newman, (2019) argued that violence against
females is prevalent but it is preventable. However, there are several aspects of women's facing
of violence that make it distinctly gendered problem & different to violence against them. Also,
it has been observed that in Australia, particularly young women are more vulnerable to sexual
assault. It has been argued by some researchers that violent male intimate partners can perceive
separation as loss of control and become more aggressive as a result (
Ghafournia, and Easteal, 2018).
Children exposed to violence against women
Females in violent relationship can have children in their care, and an important
proportion report their children having witnessed the acts of abuse being committed against
them. (Pearlman, Zierler and Verhoek-Oftedahl, (2016) stated that, children can also be the
direct target of witnessing violence. For example, if they interfere during the violence is
happening or make efforts to protect their mothers from it, then they are specifically targeted by
the perpetrator. Whether the violence is witnessed or direct, its influence on children can be pro-
founded and lasting. Further, it has been discovered that infants exposed to such violence are
more likely to have a number of development, health and social problems both at the time of
childhood and when they get older in life. While, the violence usually happens in private, it
includes members of community and influence upon relationships with which victims engage.
Dispute with adults and other kinds of authority, raised risk of becoming culprit or victims
themselves, impact children's future parenting abilities.
The health consequences of violence
As stated by () , females facing domestic violence has health consequences that can be
immediate, long-lasting and chronic. This means that the more severe the violence, the greater it
affects on women's health both mentally and physically. In addition, the non-fatal impact of
abuse can be far reaching because of the length of time that women bear violence before they
seek assistance. Below are the consequences of violence that are non-fatal:
 Contiguous physical effects involve injuries such as burns, bites, bruises etc.
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 Sexually genetic infections involve unwanted pregnancies, HIV, etc. (Dimensions,
Dynamics and Impact of Family Violence, 2010)
 Depressions, easting disorders, stress, etc., are chronic mental diseases.
Recently it has been found by Australia's National Organisation for Women's Safety, some
strong evidences of exploited females have a huge risk of depression, homicide and pregnancy
termination. Further, Santos, Oliveira and Silveira, (2018) added that the gender specific
dynamic of perpetration and victimisation, it must be focused that for the far smaller number of
females in the country who kill their male intimate pertness, their actions more likely to have
occurred in response to existing serious and sustained violence being directed at them by their
partners.
Community attitudes towards violence
As per the views of García-Moreno, Zimmerman and Watts, (2015) there has been an
increased attention in investigation and policy on the community behaviour & belief associated
to violence against women. A role is played by community as a whole i.e. of perpetuating abuse
against females, through its beliefs and responses to violence. For instance, community belief
can give a culture for support for abuse by justifying it, reducing the problem or shifting the
responsibility for violent attitude from culprit to victims. There has been successive waves in
Australia's community attitude investigation. Based on various studies, the outcomes are more
concerning in relation to equality in the private sector (Women With Disability and Domestic and
Family Violence: A guide For Policy and Practice, 2015).
Responses to violence against women.
Ellsberg, Arango and Watts, (2015)J demonstrated that, from last few decades there has
been growing focus on violence against females as human rights, health, social policy and justice
issue. Therefore, crucial actions has been taken in Australia at the community and non-
governmental level for various years to raise awareness of abuse against women. Various
policies such as; National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children 2010-2022,
which consists of 6 action areas to assist females and protect them from abuse.
The media reporting of violence against female incidents and problems has been
identified as a key impact on community responses to the issue. Jewkes, Flood and Lang, (2015)
argued that, a number of initiatives have been taken to create better practices in media reporting.
Further, it was added that primary prevention is distinct from other prevention tactics in that it
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aims to stop abuse before it begins. This form of prevention performs across communities,
organisations and society as a whole to address this problem. As family violence is termed as a
complex problem, hence, it needs to be addressed across the entire spectrum of the society.
It is also suggested by Oliveira and Silveira, (2018), that domestic and family violence
and refugee should be alert of and apply an intersectional understanding of domestic & family
violence policies. This should be made sure that for many females, gender is not the only
impulsive which impact the experience of domestic and family abuse (Taking the first step:
Workplace responses to domestic and family violence, 2017).
CONCLUSION
The overall report on women who have been subject to family violence concluded that,
females are most likely to be victimised by men and their family members who are known to
them. Male intimate partner violence in Australia contribute more to a disease burden foe women
aged from 18 to 44 years. Further, it also described the influence of family violence on children
and women's health. Moreover, it included the attitude of community towards domestic violence
and how their attitude can provide support to victims. Lastly, the report states some policies and
actions taken by Australian government to prevent women from domestic violence.
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REFERENCES
Violence against women in Australia. An overview of research and approaches to primary
prevention. 2017.
[PDF]. Available on: <https://www.aihw.gov.au/...be47.../aihw-australias-welfare-2017-
chapter2-7.pdf.aspx>
Ghafournia, N., and Easteal, P., 2018. Are Immigrant Women Visible in Australian
Domestic Violence Reports that Potentially
Influence Policy? The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney 2006. 7 (32). pp. 1-12.
Dimensions, Dynamics and Impact of Family Violence. 2010. [PDF]. Available on:
<https://www.avertfamilyviolence.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2013/06/
Dimensions_Dynamics_and_Impact_of_Family_Violence_Paper_for_web_4-2-14.pdf>
Women With Disability and Domestic and Family Violence: A guide For Policy and Practice.
2015. [PDF]. Available on: <http://dvnsw.org.au/pwd_doc1.pdf>
Taking the first step: Workplace responses to domestic and family violence. 2017. [PDF].
Available on:
<https://unwomen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Taking_the_First_Step_UNWNCA
_Report.pdf>
dos Santos, W. J., de Oliveira, P. P. and da Silveira, E. A. A., 2018. Domestic violence against
women perpetrated by intimate partner: Professionals’ social representations in primary
health care. Revista de Pesquisa: Cuidado é fundamental online. 10(3). pp.770-777.
Ellsberg, M., Arango, D. J. and Watts, C., 2015. Prevention of violence against women and girls:
what does the evidence say?. The Lancet. 385(9977). pp.1555-1566.
Jewkes, R., Flood, M. and Lang, J., 2015. From work with men and boys to changes of social
norms and reduction of inequities in gender relations: a conceptual shift in prevention of
violence against women and girls. The Lancet. 385(9977). pp.1580-1589.
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Newman, M., 2019. Violence Against Women: Group Treatment Mental Health Strategies in the
Integral Women's Centers in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, 2017.
Pearlman, D. N., Zierler, S. and Verhoek-Oftedahl, W., 2016. Neighborhood environment, racial
position, and risk of police-reported domestic violence: a contextual analysis. Public
health reports.
García-Moreno, C., Zimmerman, C. and Watts, C., 2015. Addressing violence against women: a
call to action. The Lancet. 385(9978). pp.1685-1695.
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