Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria

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DVRCV's Aims, Philosophy and Principles.

Purpose of this Document

The document defines relationship violence and its characteristics and outlines DVRCV’s understanding of its causes (1). It also makes recommendations about the principles on which relationship violence should be addressed.

DVRCV’s Aim

DVRCV aims to prevent violence in intimate and family relationships and promote non-violent and respectful behaviour.

DVRCV’s Goals

DVRCV works to achieve this aim through strategies which:

improve the quality of services to victims of violence
inform and support those affected by this violence
inform public policy and research
raise community awareness and promote community responsibility for violence prevention.

DVRCV’s Understanding of Relationship Violence

Relationship violence takes different forms

Relationship violence is common in Australia. It is a pattern of abusive behaviour through which a person seeks to control and dominate another person. Relationship violence does not take the form of a single incident. It is ongoing behaviour that gradually undermines the victim’s confidence and ability to leave the violent person. The severity and frequency of violence often escalate over time.

This violence takes many forms, none of which is mutually exclusive. While physical violence may be the most visible form, others such as sexual, emotional, social, spiritual and economic abuse can be equally harmful.(2)

Relationship violence is common in Australia. It is complex, and different from other forms of interpersonal violence. Relationship violence occurs in the context of various relationships, including those which are familial, intimate and/or between people and those who care for them. It also occurs in friendships.

When relationship violence occurs between adults in heterosexual relationships, research shows that men are most likely to be the perpetrators and women the victims. When the violence occurs against children in families, research shows that parents and step-parents are most likely to be the perpetrators. Children and young people also experience violence when they live with and/or witness violence between other family members.

Relationship violence is a denial of human rights and it causes significant harm

Being violent to another human being is a denial of that person’s human rights, which governments have a responsibility to protect under international law. In addition, in Australia some forms of abuse—such as physical and sexual violence and the threat of such violence—are criminal offences. Relationship violence causes significant and long-term harm to its victims and is costly to the community.(3)

Relationship violence is complicated and multi-layered

Violence is embedded in our society, where it is shaped and supported by historically-specific social contexts.

Using violence is a choice which reveals a lack of respect for another person, and a desire to control them. Violence is not the inevitable result of anger, provocation, psychological limitations, bad childhoods, illness, stress, life crises, or substance abuse. People are responsible for their use of violence, and need to take responsibility for changing their behaviour.

Violence can arise from, and is supported by, inequalities in power and privilege . Such inequalities include those relating to gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual preference, ability and age. Those who have greater privilege may have an exaggerated sense of entitlement to coerce, control or maintain power over those with less privilege.

Where gender inequalities are concerned these include widespread social, financial and political discrimination against women. Violence and the threat of violence is an expression of this inequality. Women are also often unequal in family relationships, in many of which men are assumed to have an entitlement to dominance and sex. This assumption promotes a normative kind of masculinity based on competitiveness and aggression, which is harmful to women and children in families. It also denies alternative forms of masculinity.

Where racial inequalities are concerned , according to the Victorian Indigenous Family Violence Taskforce the causes of high levels of violence in indigenous families stem from the high levels of distress communities have experienced through ‘the history and impacts of white settlement and the structural violence of race relations since them’(4). Relevant factors include being dispossessed of land and traditional culture, the breakdown of community kinship systems and law, entrenched poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, child removal policies, inherited grief and trauma, and the loss of traditional male and female role models.

While relationship violence occurs across all social groups, socio-economic inequalities are also linked to the experience of violence, and the ability to access resources to recover from it. Economic policies also impact upon people’s lives in a way that relates to, but does not excuse the use of violence.

Where age inequalities are concerned children and young people are particularly vulnerable to abuse in families. This is due to their dependence on family members, and to the way that society views children as being, for example, the property of their parents, or prone to ‘make up’ stories of abuse.

However, some forms of relationship violence are not well explained by reference to theories of gendered social power. Violence also occurs in lesbian relationships, and some women in heterosexual relationships are violent towards their male partners. In addition, many people who have social privilege over others do not abuse this through violence. Individual choices, experiences and motivations must also form part of any explanation for relationship violence.

Social and economic factors also influence people’s ability to escape abusive relationships. Perpetrators of abuse often use this to their advantage. For example, a woman with a disability may be reliant on the abuser for care, which can make leaving the relationship extremely difficult. Members of Aboriginal or non-English speaking communities, for example, may be afraid to contact police about the abuse because of the risk of discrimination based ontheir culture, race or language. These broader social issues of discrimination and marginalisation have to be addressed if we are to prevent abuse.

Relationship violence requires a social and political response

In a society in which social and economic resources and power are unevenly distributed, working to eliminate relationship violence involves social change and political action that will promote respectful relationships. Political action for social change should be informed by the experiences of survivors of violence.

In the policies and practices of institutions, including government, violence can be implicitly accepted. Working to reduce violence will also be resisted by those who benefit from it.

Eliminating relationship violence requires a strong criminal justice response to the violence. However it also requires a range of interventions that may differ from traditional approaches to crime and prosecution. For example, where domestic violence is concerned, it can be difficult for its victims to leave the relationship or charge the offender, as such interventions have the potential to cause an escalation in the violence. In addition, victims of violence often remain connected to the abuser, through children and other family members. For these reasons, a single response to the violence, such as arrest, the laying of criminal charges, or leaving the perpetrator, will not necessarily end the violence or intimidation. Victims of violence have the right to use the legal system in ways which they consider will best improve their safety.

Principles of Practice

Prevention

All adults and children have the right to live free from violence. Violence is a violation of human rights.
Both government and community have a responsibility to communicate that violence is unacceptable and, in some forms, illegal, and to work to prevent it.
Community education programs which address gender inequality are important strategies in addressing relationship violence.
Financial independence and access to adequate housing and childcare enhances women’s capacities to leave a violent partner and to rebuild their lives. Increasing women’s access to crisis support and legal remedies is a significant means of preventing violence.
School education programs for boys and girls are essential in challenging traditional stereotypes about masculinity and femininity, teaching young people about respectful relationships, and that violence is unacceptable.

Intervention

A co-ordinated response to violence, across legal, health, child protection, welfare and other services, is the most effective response.
Responses to violence must recognise that people have different experiences and needs due to their gender, race, class, age, cultural background, sexuality, and/or disability and other individual factors.
The primary focus of intervention should be the safety of victims, rather than on either fixing or ending the family relationship.
Victims should be supported no matter how they choose to respond to the violence (including if they decide to leave a relationship or stay, if they want to pursue legal charges or not).
Victims should be supported to remain in their own homes. They should not be made homeless through family violence. Victims should also have access to safe emergency housing if they need to escape a violent partner.
Those who perpetrate violence are responsible for their behaviour and must be held accountable for it.
Those who perpetrate violence are able to change their behaviour. The conditions which assist change include being held accountable for one’s actions, education and legal sanctions.
Support groups and ongoing counselling are vital services in assisting victims to recover from the long-term trauma of violence

The Law

Many forms of violence are crimes. The criminal justice system must take the protection of victims seriously.
Wherever possible, the legal system and services should listen to and respect the opinions of victims of violence (including child victims) regarding what will best meet their needs. However action may sometimes need to be taken to protect the immediate safety of victims, regardless of their wishes.
In holding an offender legally accountable for violence, victims should not be put at risk of harm. The first priority of legal intervention should be to protect the victim (and children) from further harm.

Children and Young People

Children and young people should be protected both from direct violence and from witnessing violence. When one parent is violent towards another, that person is also harming their child/ren.
Children and young people should be seen as clients in their own right. They should be provided with an independent advocate to ensure their views are heard.
Children who have been abused by a parent, or who have witnessed abuse by a parent, should not be compelled to spend time with that parent, for example through custody and guardianship arrangements. There should be a presumption of no-contact unless the parent is able to demonstrate that they are able to provide the child with a safe environment. This should be balanced with the wishes of the child/ren to see that parent.
Non-offending parents should be supported to protect their children from violence, and should not be held responsible for the violence.

Footnotes:

(1) There are many terms in use to refer to violence and abuse in intimate or family relationships, including family violence, domestic violence, child abuse and so on. For simplicity, we will use the umbrella term ‘relationship violence’ in this document.

(2) Examples of these forms of abuse include isolating a victim from family and friends, controlling their access to money, diminishing their self-esteem, preventing them from practising their religious beliefs, intimidating them, and threatening or abusing them.

(3) Short-term effects include injuries, loss of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, living in a state of constant fear, loss of employment or income, social isolation, depression and other mental health issues. Long term effects include homelessness and disability.

(4) Victorian Indigenous Family Violence Taskforce Final Report , Department of Victorian Communities, Melbourne, 2003, p.11.