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Intersectionality

Delivering the reform for Victoria’s diverse communities

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Overview

We all know that people from diverse communities have fundamentally different experiences of family violence. Those differences are often shaped by social attitudes, which in turn create structural barriers and long-term disadvantage and marginalisation including from the family violence service system.

Leah van Poppel, Co-Chair, Diverse Communities an Intersectionality Working Group CEO, Women with Disabilities Victoria

Each person’s experience of family violence is different. Many Victorians face additional challenges and are at greater risk of violence, because of social structures of disadvantage that marginalise their cultural or social identity or their personal circumstances.

Adopting an intersectional approach allows us to consider the range of factors that can affect the risk, severity, frequency and diverse ways in which an individual might experience or perpetrate family violence.

For example, women with disabilities experience all kinds of violence at higher rates, at a higher severity and duration of abuse than women who do not have disabilities.

The Royal Commission into Family Violence recognised the additional barriers faced by people from diverse communities when seeking and obtaining help.

The Royal Commission called for more accessible, inclusive and non-discriminatory service provision, and an improved understanding of how family violence is experienced by people from diverse communities.

The Royal Commission identified the following diverse community groups:

Since the Royal Commission report in 2016 and the subsequent launch of the Victorian Government’s 10-year plan to end family violence, fundamental changes have been introduced. These are strengthening the system to ensure intersectionality is considered in designing and delivering the family violence system.

Everybody Matters: roadmap for a safe and inclusive family violence system

In 2019 the Victorian Government released the Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement.

The statement sets out government’s 10-year vision for achieving a more inclusive, safe, responsive and accountable family violence system for all Victorians.

The vision is to build a system founded on inclusion and equity where people are supported to be safe and free from violence; a system that is accessible to them and responsive to their unique needs.

A service system where individuals can choose where they go to receive a service and know that they will always receive the right service for their needs.

Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement

Everybody Matters recognises that a range of characteristics define both how people might experience family violence and differentiates their needs. These factors often overlap and compound the barriers to support and include:

Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement

The first Everybody Matters Inclusion and Equity Blueprint 2020-2022, due for release in late 2020, will outline the actions and initiatives that will be delivered to achieve the Everybody Matters Statement’s 10-year vision of a more inclusive, safe, responsive and accountable family violence system for all Victorians.

In this video which was released in 2019, representatives from diverse community groups explain why the Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement is so important.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mbp2RvsLCSg?autoplay=0&start=0&rel=0

Everybody Matters: Inclusion and Equity Statement

Embedding intersectionality

These are some examples of how we are applying an intersectional approach to building the new family violence system.

It is not a comprehensive list; further detail, activities and actions are reflected elsewhere on this page, and in the individual Rolling Action Plan priority areas.

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2018-2022: Respect Older People

https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Z-86cFG1LQ?autoplay=0&start=0&rel=0

Respect Older People: ‘Call it Out’ campaign

2018-2020: Safer and Stronger Communities Pilot

2020-2022: The Rainbow Door

2020-2021: Statewide Women Exiting Prison Inclusion Advisor

2020-2022: Family Violence and Disability Practice Leader initiative

People with disabilities

The family violence reform is improving responses to the needs of children and families affected by disability.

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Women with Disabilities Victoria

In partnership with Women with Disabilities Victoria the reform is supporting several initiatives to improve family violence workforce capability to better support and respond to Victorians with disabilities who are experiencing family violence.

Achievements include:

The findings have been used to:

Women with Disabilities Victoria with Domestic Violence Victoria

The 2 organisations are working together to pilot a new Statewide Disability Family Violence Inclusion Advisor position:

Domestic Violence Victoria and Centre for Excellence for Child and Family Welfare have been funded through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Workforce Development Steering Committee. The new context will mean:

Victoria is phasing out communal refuges for family violence victim survivors and building new independent units based on the contemporary ‘core and cluster’ model, giving residents greater privacy and independence while maintaining onsite support:

In December 2016 the Judicial College of Victoria published a Disability Bench Book:

People with disabilities and the Royal Commission into Family Violence

There are 10 Royal Commission recommendations specific to the needs of people with disabilities who experience family violence. Three are still in progress.

Recommendations Title
170 Adopt a consistent and comprehensive approach to data collection on people with disabilities
173 All disability services workers complete certified training in identifying family violence
176 Remove barriers to crisis supported accommodation for women and children with disabilities

Culturally and linguistically diverse people

People from migrant and refugee communities experiencing family violence face additional barriers that make it particularly difficult to identify their needs and for them to get appropriate, timely and culturally safe support.

Residency status

Social isolation

Social isolation can be an issue:

Actions since 2016 to support Victorians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds include:

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InTouch is a specialist support organisation for migrants and refugees:

Prevention and early intervention

The 2020/2021 State Budget has provided $9.7 million over 4 years to support programs that strengthen the capacity of multicultural, faith and ethno-specific organisations to prevent family violence at its earliest stages.

Multicultural communities and the Royal Commission into Family Violence

Of the 227 recommendations from the Royal Commission, seven are specific to people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Three recommendations are still in progress:

Recommendations Title
158 Specific funding for family violence interpreters and develop court guidelines for booking interpreters in family violence matters
163 Develop training packages for faith leaders and communities
165 Faith leaders and communities examine how they respond to family violence

LGBTIQ+ people

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people also experience violence in their relationships or from family members.

During consultation for the Rolling Action Plan we heard from several LGBTIQ+ victim survivors of family violence about their experience. They told us that the family violence system needs to continue to address barriers to the identification of family violence, accessibility of services and the need for individualised responses.

A 2014 report by the University of New South Wales, “Calling it what it really is”, found that:

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Rainbow Door is a free specialist LGBTIQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Gender Diverse, Intersex, Queer, Asexual, BrotherBoys, SisterGirls) helpline. It provides:

The Victorian Government requires all funded family violence services to achieve Rainbow Tick accreditation. The Rainbow Tick is a quality framework that helps organisations show that they are safe, inclusive and affirming services and employers for the LGBTIQ+ community.

Family Safety Victoria have funded 26 service providers, including six Aboriginal services, to undertake accreditation. To date seven services have received accreditation.

A guide to primary prevention of family violence experienced by LGBTIQ+ communities was launched in June 2020.

The Pride in Prevention Evidence Guide was produced by the LGBTIQ Family Violence Prevention Project 2019-2021, led by Rainbow Health Victoria and funded by the Office for Women in the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Pride in Prevention summarises the available evidence on the drivers of family violence experienced by LGBTIQ+ communities and provides recommendations for priority interventions.

Pride in Prevention Guide

Family Safety Victoria has funded two LGBTIQ+ family violence positions:

LGBTIQ+ Family Violence Capacity Building Initiative (Mid 2020-Mid 2022):

LGBTIQ+ and the Royal Commission into Family Violence

Of the 227 recommendations from the Royal Commission, four relate to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities. Three recommendations are still in progress:

Recommendations Title
166 The Victorian LGBTI Taskforce provide advice on research priorities, effective prevention strategies and standards
167 All funded family violence services achieve Rainbow Tick accreditation
168 Provide funding and other resources to support LGBTI services and communities

Older Victorians

Elder abuse is any act which causes harm to an older person and is carried out by someone they know and trust, usually a family member. The abuse may be physical, social, financial, psychological and/or sexual and can include mistreatment and neglect.

The Royal Commission into Family Violence also highlighted elder abuse as family violence, recognising the unique dynamics between the older person and a family member, and that it can include intimate-partner violence or intergenerational family violence (such as an adult child).

Elder abuse is a significant, complex and sensitive community issue. Available evidence suggests that the causes of elder abuse may be gender inequality and ageism.

Evidence about the prevalence of elder abuse is limited in Victoria, although international research suggests up to 14 per cent of older people experience elder abuse in a given year.

Progress since 2016

Reform actions relating to older people and family violence include:

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Delivery to 2023

The next phase of the Integrated Model of Care evaluation is underway. It will capture the client experience and inform future policy work and sustainable reforms.

We will develop an Elder Abuse Statement across the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, and Family Safety Victoria. The statement will:

Summary of activities to 2023

Family violence reform Rolling Action Plan 2020-2023 - Intersectionality Activity Summary PDF 29.76 KB (opens in a new window)

Updated 28 April 2021

Family violence reform Rolling Action Plan 2020-2023 Activity Summarypdf341.63 KB

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