Family violence is at epidemic levels in Australia. With 1 in 6 women and 1 in 18 men having experienced physical and/or sexual violence since age 15 – it's clear that it is a significant and longstanding societal problem.
Berry Street, and other likeminded organisations, are working tirelessly to address the issue, but the demand for services is increasing every year. In the last 12 months, we have seen a 43% increase in people - mostly women - requiring our family violence services.
Within our daily work we hear many common misconceptions about what family violence is, its impact and what needs to be done to support victim survivors.
Recently, our staff addressed some of these misconceptions and used insights from their significant experience to share five things we wish everyone knew about family violence.
Watch the video here:
1. Family violence is extremely common and happens every day across Australia
Family violence affects individuals regardless of age, socioeconomic status, race or gender – however women are almost three times as likely to experience violence by a partner than men, and men are more commonly perpetrators of violence.
Shockingly, experiences of family violence are high even in childhood for Australians, with the Australian Childhood Maltreatment Study showing 39.6% of people experienced exposure to domestic violence.
Berry Street staff have seen first-hand the increase in demand for our family violence services in recent years as the number of incidents have surged since 2019.
2. People who choose to use violence can be good at concealing their behaviours
You might assume that people who use violence are easy to identify as they would overtly display their behaviours, but most often this isn’t the case.
People who choose to use violence may conceal and reduce their behaviours in front of others to present a specific image to the world around them.
Often, they can present as likeable, charming and warm to the outside world but in private behave in violent and manipulative ways as a means of control.
Because of this, disclosing about or leaving a violent partner can become even more difficult for a victim survivor. Confiding in friends and family who also know the perpetrator can be met with denial or resistance.
3. Coercive control is a form of family violence
Coercive control is a serious form of abuse that involves using tactics of fear and intimidation to limit a person's freedom and choices over time.
This can include isolating a victim survivor from friends and family, controlling their finances, using technology for monitoring and control, causing fear or threatening to ignore or challenge custody arrangements.
Within the family services sector, coercive control is quickly becoming a recognised and understood pattern of control and abuse that leads to violence. It is also recognised as a crime in its own right by some state governments..
4. Violence between parents or caregivers does harm children
Children are deeply affected by family violence, even if they are not the direct targets of it.
Exposure to family violence is itself considered a form of violence, and the Australian Childhood Maltreatment Study listed it alongside physical, emotional and sexual abuse as a type of child maltreatment.
Witnessing violence between parents or caregivers can have a profound and lasting impact on a child’s emotional and psychological well-being. It can make children behave in unexpected or violent ways and limit their ability to engage at school, to play and to make friends.
Furthermore, children can be harmed by family violence when a parent chooses to use them as a means of controlling the other parent.
For example, a violent parent might ask a child for information about or the whereabouts of the other parent, or they might refuse to abide by custody arrangements as a means of inflicting hurt and distress.
5. Leaving an abusive relationship may not be the safest option
Leaving an abusive partner is a very difficult decision and usually involves intense planning and secrecy for a victim survivor. This is because leaving a violent partner can be the most dangerous time for the victim survivor and puts them at risk of severe violence.
Family violence is about power and control, and when a victim survivor leaves, they are “threatening” the perceived control of the person who is choosing to use violence.
In addition, victim survivors may be financially dependent on their abusive partner and as a means of control and they may have been denied opportunities to work in the past.
In turn, leaving can also put victim survivors and their children at high risk of homelessness, which is a significant safety concern.
Learn more about the work we're doing to address family violence here.
