Domestic and family violence is a pattern of abusive behaviour that involves one person seeking to control and dominate another person. Domestic and family violence is not always physical \u2013 it can involve a range of different forms of abuse (see below) (The National Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Counselling Service, 2021; Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria, 2021a, 2021). Domestic and family violence is not the same as conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFamily violence refers to a diverse range of abusive and controlling behaviours, physical and non-physical, that make a victim feel fearful, intimidated and often helpless. These behaviours establish and maintain a debilitating imbalance of power relations that violates victims, subverting their autonomy and constraining their lives\u201d<\/em> (Attorney-General\u2019s Department, 2013).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Domestic and family violence can occur in a range of different relationships including relationships between family members and \u2018family-like\u2019 relationships, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article we distinguish between family violence and domestic violence in the following way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Family violence<\/em> is as an umbrella term that incorporates any type of violence that occurs between family members, including violence between current and former intimate partners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Domestic violence<\/em> is a subset of violence that refers specifically to violence between current and former intimate partners. It is also referred to as \u2018intimate partner violence\u2019 (Mission Australia, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The term \u2018family violence\u2019 is used in recognition of the fact that violence can be perpetrated by and against any member of the family, including parents, grandparents, adult children and siblings. Furthermore, the Women and Children\u2019s Family Violence Counselling and Support Programs (Grealy et al, 2008) states that: \u201cthe term \u2018family violence\u2019 is more culturally relevant to Indigenous communities in which close kinship relationships extend far beyond the nuclear (domestic) family model\u201d<\/em> (p. 11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The term \u2018domestic violence\u2019 also recognizes that violence can be perpetrated by non-family members, such as carers of people with disability, in the home environment (Grealy et al, 2008).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Domestic and family violence is common in Australia and, indeed, across the world (Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre, 2021). Globally, more than 640 million women aged 15 and over have experienced intimate partner violence (UN Women, 2021). The most recent statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021) indicate the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who experience domestic and family violence are often referred to as \u2018victims.\u2019 However, advocates see this term as disempowering; many people prefer the term \u201csurvivor of domestic and family violence\u201d rather than \u201cvictim of domestic and family violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A common term used within specialist domestic and family violence services is \u2018victim-survivor.\u2019 We also use the term \u2018victim-survivor\u2019 in this article. The term respects people\u2019s choice to identify as either a \u2018victim\u2019 or a \u2018survivor\u2019 (or both) and also acknowledges that domestic and family violence is a process that involves victimization and survival (Domestic Violence NSW, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the statistics above indicate, domestic and family violence is a gendered issue. This means that within intimate partner relationships and family contexts, violence is mainly perpetrated by men against women and children. Domestic and family violence has an unequal impact upon women, and it is the most prevalent form of violence experienced by women in Australia (Toivonen & Backhouse, 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n In countries such as Australia, domestic and family violence was \u2013 up until recently \u2013 widely viewed as a private issue to be kept within the family. Many people in Australia believed that husbands had a right to \u2018reprimand\u2019 or \u2018punish\u2019 their wives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Piper and Stevenson (2019) argue that a range of mainstream Australian values have made it difficult to address the causes of domestic and family violence in Australia. These include the idea that men need to be \u201cphysically and mentally tough\u201d \u2013 and the valorisation of the \u201chyper-masculine man.\u201d These ideas and values normalise male aggression. Male aggression has also been viewed as something that women are responsible for managing (Piper & Stevenson, 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Women\u2019s Liberation movement played a key role in bringing attention to and raising awareness of domestic and family violence (Piper & Stevenson, 2019). During the 1960s and 1970s, women\u2019s groups began to set up refuges for women seeking to escape violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goldsworthy and Raj (2014) state that since the recognition of the concept of domestic and family violence in the 1980s, \u201cthe concept of domestic violence and its associated harms has evolved into a complex criminal justice issue\u201d in Australia. Although it began by simply recognising physical violence within married relationships, domestic violence legislation now recognises different types of domestic and family violence within a range of different types of relationships, as well as the far-reaching and diverse harms of domestic and family violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Domestic and family violence in Australia is now widely recognised as a significant social problem with serious and harmful effects. Governments at the Commonwealth, state and territory level have implemented legislative and non-legislative measures to respond to domestic and family violence (Attorney General\u2019s Department, 2021). Issues relating to domestic and family violence are acknowledged in the Family Law Act (1975) and the Commonwealth and states\/territories share responsibility for laws in place to address domestic and family violence (Higgins & Kaspiew, 2011; Parliament of Victoria, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n A cornerstone of Commonwealth and state and territory governments\u2019 response to domestic and family violence is the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (2010-2022) (The National Plan), which was endorsed by Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2011. The 12-year plan, due to end in 2022, has been delivered through four three-year action plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the general public in Australia there is also much greater public acknowledgement of the existence and harmful impacts of domestic and family violence than there once was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhilst Family Violence is still happening behind closed doors, the conversations aren\u2019t. We are now having deep, confronting conversations, the ones we really need to have. In the home, workplace, and amongst our political parties.\u201d <\/em>\u2013 Rosie Batty, 2015 Australian of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greater attention to domestic and family violence in print and broadcast media, especially in relation to high profile cases of domestic and family violence, continue to draw attention to the existence and reality of domestic and family violence in Australia (Sutherland et al, 2016). Prominent victim-survivor advocates such as Rosie Batty have played a key role in shifting the discourse surrounding domestic and family violence in Australia (Hawley et al, 2017).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community attitudes towards domestic and family violence are also changing. The latest National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) survey indicates that Australians are less likely to hold attitudes that support violence towards women when compared to 2013 and 2009. Knowledge about domestic and family violence also improved between 2013 and 2017. However, there are also some concerning trends. For example, the latest NCAS survey (published in 2017) indicated that four in ten Australians mistrust women\u2019s reports of sexual violence (Minter et al, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The increased focus on domestic and family violence will hopefully lead more victim-survivors to seek out support. Therefore, it is important that counsellors are aware of the many different complexities involved in this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor’s Note: <\/strong>AIPC soon be releasing an Upskill Micro-Credential<\/a> on Recognising and Responding to Domestic and Family Violence<\/em>. AIPC also offers the Graduate Diploma of Relationship Counselling<\/a> which contains three units about making safety plans, counselling those affected by domestic and family violence, as well as managing responses to domestic and family responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Domestic and family violence is a pattern of abusive behaviour that involves one person seeking to control and dominate another person. It is not the same as conflict. In this article, we explore some definitions, common terms and statistics around this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,63,70],"tags":[92,89,96,31],"class_list":["post-4929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-counselling-theory","category-relationship-families","category-trauma-disaster","tag-domestic-violence","tag-families","tag-relationships","tag-trauma"],"yoast_head":"\nA word about language<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Victim or survivor? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Domestic and family violence in Australia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n