Domestic and Family Violence in Australia

Question: Define domestic and family violence and outline what government policies and funding arrangements are prioritised in Australia on the issue. Do you agree with what is prioritised? Give reasons for your answer. Answer: Do you know what domestic violence entails? Have you subjected or been subjected to domestic violence unknowingly? Domestic violence is interpersonal violence occurring in domestic settings and family relationships commonly used to refer to violence by a man to his wife or sexual partner (Alexander 2002). However, in a broader perspective, it also refers to violence between same sex sexual partners, women against men and among members of a family. The terms Domestic and family violence are used interchangeably referring to different forms such a coercion, physical, emotional or other forms of abuse (Alexander 2002). In this paper, focus is tuned to family and domestic violence in Australia emphasizing on the government policy on the same. In reference to Bagshaw (2000), women form a significant fraction of domestic violence victims as per the Australian police data, which focuses but not restricted to physical and sexual violence. Its not easy to tell how many Australians face domestic and family violence as studies indicate that only 14% cases are reported. Fear of revenge or embarrassment hinder the victims from reporting as well as the belief that the authorities might not help. Data from the Australian population survey indicate that women generally have a higher probability of being abused than men. In 2010 for instance, according to Flood (2006)69.2% of domestic violence victims were women and only 30.8% of them were men. Unfortunately, Children, infants and adolescents are always secondary victims of domestic violence due to the psychological and emotional effects to their development. Domestic and family violence can take various forms discussed below. Physical abuse is where the perpetrator directly assaults the body of the victim. It can be by beating them or their children, locking them out, destroying property and any other action that results to physical harm. Sexual abuse is any form of coerced sexual activity or sexual degradation. Sexual abuse can result to pain, unwanted pregnancies and transmission of sexual transmitted infections. In verbal abuse, the perpetrator verbally attacks the victim affecting their capacity in terms of parenting, body image and intelligence. Its aim is to make the victim lose their feeling of worth. Emotional abuse is seen where the victim is made to take the blame for issues happening in the relationship of family. The victim continuously compares the victim with others to brim down their self-esteem and withdraws from them. On social abuse, the victim is restricted from going out to meet people or taken to non-familiar places. Spiritual abuse denies the victim freedom to attend ceremonies, observe the religious beliefs or worse still the victim uses traditions as an excuse for violence. Treatment of women like objects and not human is an example of such a tradition that excuses violence. When the perpetrator takes control of all finances leaving the victim with little to take care of their needs, this is economic abuse. Regardless of whichever form the violence takes, death, illness and homelessness are the immediate impacts of domestic violence. Surprisingly, domestic violence is the number one cause of homicide in Australia with about 39% of all cases between 2010 and 2012 happening in domestic relationships (Marcus2007). The above impacts and statistics on domestic violence have compelled the government into coming up with relevant policies on the same. Law enforcement, victim support and preventive programs are the basis for these policies. In Australia, every jurisdiction has several laws and programs acting to and preventing domestic and family violence. Each jurisdiction funds its programs though government funded programs are there as well. The Australian government introduced a national council in May 2008 with an aim of reducing women and children violence. The national council identified necessity for collaboration between the government and its states in establishing an integrated approach to domestic violence. The council identified challenges such as lack of finances, lack of primary prevention, existence of gaps between policies intention and implementation in the prevention of domestic violence. In response to challenges identified by the national council, the government agreed to invest $42 million to address these draw backs (Marcus 2007). A telephone and an online counselling service was established for the sake of those at risk or have experiences violence. In addition, the concept of respectful relationships was established in schools. In 2009 the council of Australian government adopted the national plan to reduce violence against women and children. The national plans implementation was through four action plans for three years with the first one being building a strong foundation. The anticipated outcomes for this action plan were; respectful relationships, strong indigenous communities, violence free communities and just responses to perpetrators. For the success of these outcomes, the government granted $ 44 million. In 2011 the government increased commitment by expanding primary care projects, establishing a national register for violence orders and granting funds for fighting alcohol and drugs in aboriginal communities. The other initiative taken by the government to stop domestic violence is engagement of men and boys in the campaign. Pease (2008) argues that even if men are the most common perpetrators of domestic violence, using them as tools to fight it is an essential factor. the white ribbon campaign is a male led public action to fight mens violence against women. Focus of men as tools of prevention is a significant shift since men for a long time have been perpetrators. The white ribbon foundation argues that because its a minority of men who discriminate and mistreat women and girls, its the role of the majority of men to come up with a culture against this act. Using men to stop domestic violence is facilitated by a number of reasons. Men shape their attitude and behavior from their male peers. (Pease 2008) explains that it is easy for a man to adopt what he hears from a fellow man than from anybody else. In many cases all male groups have the ability to organize a platform for men to talk and organize initiatives. Also, male educators pose as examples to other male counterparts in exercising nonviolent masculine practices as well as demonstrating respect for women. Men are taken by other men as more credible in giving advice and directions on issues affecting them as well as the fact that they are in a better position to express responsibility against actions of violence towards women. Educating children and young people on violence prevention is another approach taken by Australian government (Weissman 2007). Children and young people are influenced by violence in their families as well as attitudes and norms that support violence. Exposure is visible in the lives of these young people. Weissman (2007) states that early interventions involving education on respectful relationships is important in preventing violence, since they will have lasting benefits on their future relationships. Using this framework, the Australian government has come up with guidelines emphasizing on the importance of a unified structure that is relevant, culturally sensitive and comprehensive. In addition the government funds education on respectful relationships whose primary focus is to raise a generation that will treat their partners with respect. As part of domestic violence prevention, the government is working with the Australian curriculum assessment and reporting authority, (ACARA) to include education on respectful relationships in the Australian curriculum. This will be important in instilling values necessary for students to be part of nonviolent relationships, eventually doing away with domestic violence. As part of protection of the victim, safe at home programs have been designed as part of the integrated approach. The assumption that the perpetrator should be held responsible for their actions and transferred from their home leaving the victims to stay. When women are left in their homes, they are in a better position to maintain social networks, education and stability for their children all important in their recovery. The government funds national alliances that unite women into their fight of domestic violence. AWAVA, Australian Women against Violence Alliance is one of such alliances that works to create a good environment for women to share information, point out issues and their solutions and take care and prevent future violence. AWAVAS role is to ensure both women and children lead a peaceful life free of violence or abuse as it acknowledges women power and gender equality. The Australian women against violence Alliance, AWAVA, appreciates the governments efforts towards doing away with domestic violence. The commitment of the government is evident by the release of the national plan eliminate women and children violence. This is a promising step since its the first time that the government came up with a national framework to deal with domestic violence. There are however some limitations that hinder the implementation of the national plan, making the government efforts unsuccessful. Ms Rashida Manjoo the United Nations rapporteur advocates for the use of human rights while dealing with domestic violence so as to address the issue effectively. He argues that using the human rights approach will be necessary for Australia in meeting its international obligations. The legislative body has a committee which ensures that the domestic issues are well dealt with from the grassroots. It also ensures that the agencies dealing with domestic violence are well integrated so as to cope with the emerging issues appropriately. Evidence based is an approach advocated by this body to ensure the issues are dealt with in a just manner. The government has also come up with a national scheme that ensures the cases of domestic violence are responded to regardless of the victims residence. With the explained information it is clear that the government has played a key role in preventing and reducing domestic violence in Australia. The community is aware of their rights as there are many policies and schemes which ensure domestic violence is eradicated. The national plan is faced by various challenges including poor communication, mainly between the government and the civil society (Laing 2000). The other challenge is that the national plan is unable to implement and consult about its initiatives on time. Submission of reports, quick response to the arising issues and effective risk assessment is barely done on time. In addition, the national plan lacks enough resources to respond to the increasing needs, which affects its effectiveness in protecting victims of violence. Also, the increase in community awareness has led to an increase in reported case since people have become aware of their rights, eventually resulting to more pressure on the national plan (Laing 2000). All these challenges together hinder total effectiveness in the government policies to reduce domestic violence. In conclusion, domestic violence in Australia is a big challenge to the general wellbeing of the victims. The Australian governments efforts to fight domestic violence is commendable though challenges still exist in their implementation. Public awareness has really improved the situation as people are aware of their rights and those of others and can report to the authorities when they are victimized. Formation of alliances, schemes and using the human rights approach have been in the frontline in cubing this evil. References Alexander, R., 2002. Domestic violence in Australia: The legal response. Federation Press. Angus, C. and Wales, N.S., 2015. 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