ANROWS Horizons, Issue 1, January 2018

This is an ANROWS research report led by Professor Harry Blagg of the University of Western Australia. Foregrounding the perspective of Aboriginal people who work within the family violence space or have had experience of family violence, this report is based on qualitative research in three sites in Australia: Fitzroy Crossing (Western Australia), Darwin (Northern Territory), and Cherbourg (Queensland). It supports the creation of a network of place-based Indigenous family violence strategies owned and managed by Indigenous people and linked to initiatives around alcohol reduction, inter-generational trauma, social and emotional wellbeing, and alternatives to custody. These initiatives may be constructed differently depending on context, but would ensure that responses to family violence reflect the needs of local women.

Key findings:

Violence against Indigenous women takes place at the intersection of a range of different forms of oppression, of which gender remains one. Emerging themes include:

Mainstream agencies and Indigenous women hold different notions of what consists an “integrated response”.
Non-Indigenous practice focuses on an integrated criminal justice response that is designed to make the system more efficient and bring perpetrators to account.
Indigenous organisations look at “integration” in terms of a holistic response that focuses on prevention and integration with cultural health and healing families. (From the website). A summary key finding and future directions (Compass) report (#5736) and the initial state of knowledge (Landscape) report (#4774) are also available, or follow the link to the project webpage. Although this report focuses on addressing family violence in remote Australian Aboriginal communities, it may be of interest to those working with other indigenous communities. Record 5735