about domestic, family and sexual violence

Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) refers to a pattern of behaviour that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner or family member. ​

DFV can have a significant long-lasting impact on a person’s physical and mental wellbeing. It is the leading cause of death, illness and disability for women aged under 45 and the leading cause of homelessness for women.

Types of Domestic and Family Violence

• • Physical violence means any assault on the body including but not limited to slapping, hitting, punching, pushing, choking, sleep and food deprivation, burns and use of weapons.¹

• • Sexual violence is any form of coercion or unwanted sexual activity or sexual degradation. It includes child sexual abuse, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, human trafficking, image-based abuse and reproductive coercion (e.g. controlling contraception, preventing or forcing an abortion)¹

• • Coercive control is often defined as a pattern of controlling behaviour, used by a perpetrator to establish and maintain control over another person. Perpetrators use coercive control to deprive another person of liberty, autonomy and agency²

• • Gaslighting is a common form of coercive control. It is a psychological manipulation in which an offender sows seeds of doubt and confusion. It causes the person to question their memory, thoughts and sanity.¹

• • Psychological, mental and emotional abuse intends to destroy a person’s self-esteem and results in a person feeling humiliated, unworthy, guilty and degraded. It may include constant put-downs, offensive language, threats to commit suicide if the relationship ends, telling a person they are the primary cause of the relationship problems etc.

• • Technology facilitated abuse includes using text, email or phone to abuse, monitor, humiliate or punish. It also occurs when an abuser uses technology to track or monitor your movements and messages or emails. Abusers may also threaten or distribute private or sexual photos or videos.¹

• • Financial abuse includes controlling access to finances and/or making someone account for all their spending. Examples are welfare theft (taking money from Centrelink or other agencies), preventing someone from working or studying, and dowry-related abuse. Financial abuse can also continue after a separation where an abuser with-holds child support and other payments that would allow someone to maintain a separate household.¹

• • Verbal abuse is the consistent demeaning of another. It may take the form of angry outbursts or of cold, calculating, consistent put-downs. It may even take the form of disparaging humour.

• • Isolation intends to isolate a person from their supports, including jeopardising or destroying relationships with family and friends, constantly checking up on whereabouts, moving town or house to isolate etc.

• • Stalking and harassment is when a partner or ex-partner follows or repeatedly makes contact with the person, even when it’s been made clear the relationship is over.

Key statistics on domestic and family violence

• • 1 in 4 (23% or 2.3 million) women have experienced violence from an intimate partner since the age of 15³

• • 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner since age of 15³

• • 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since age of 15³

• • One woman was killed every 11 days and one man was killed every 91 days by an intimate partner on average in 2022–23⁴

References

1. Full Stop Australia

2. Cortis and Bullen 2015; ANROWS 2021

3. ABS Personal Safety Survey 2021-22

4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Domestic Homicide

Sexual violence is highly gendered. It is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men against women, girls and boys. Sexual violence is both a reinforcer and consequence of power imbalances between individuals and groups in our society. Women, children, First Nations peoples, people with disability, migrants and refugees disproportionately experience sexual violence.

Contexts and settings

Sexual violence occurs in a wide range of contexts across the lifespan, including:

Intimate partner relationships -Hookups – Families – Share houses – Workplaces – Prisons, immigration detention, and juvenile detention centres – Online – Schools and universities – Healthcare settings – Public places – Social and hospitality spaces – Disability, aged care and other institutional settings – Sporting clubs – Faith settings

Forms of sexual violence

Sexual violence incorporates a wide range of sexual behaviours, including:

Rape and sexual assault – Child sexual abuse – Sexual harassment – Sexual exploitation – Sexual trafficking – Tech-facilitated sexual abuse – Stalking – Being forced to watch or participate in pornography – Stealthing – Indecent exposure – Sharing intimate photos/videos – Unwanted touching – Medical sexual misconduct

Key statistics on sexual violence

• 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men in 2021–22 had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.¹
• Of those victim-survivors who sought advice or support, 4 in 10 sought advice from a GP or other health professional.²
• 87% of sexual violence is never reported to the police.²
• 1 in 5 women sustained physical injuries during their most recent incident of sexual violence by a male perpetrator.²

References

1. ABS Personal Safety Survey 2021-22
2. Sexual assault in Australia. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2020

Sexual abuse can be physical, verbal or emotional in nature. It can include non-contact and contact activities and can involve a range of behaviours including but not limited to:

• Sexual acts, penetrative or non-penetrative, with a child or young person under the age of consent
• Forcing a child to strip or masturbate
• Inappropriate touching of a child, whether clothed or unclothed
• Engaging in any kind of sexual activity in front of a child, including watching pornography
• Taking, downloading, viewing or distributing sexual images of children
• Possessing images of child sexual abuse
• Encouraging a child to perform sexual acts in front of a webcam or any recording device
• Grooming a child (or their parent or carer). Grooming a child (or their parent or carer) refers to the way some offenders form relationships and build trust with children, parents, carers, teachers and other children in order to get close to a child and create the opportunity for sexual abuse. It can be difficult to identify because the behaviour itself may not be abusive or sexual. Grooming can often occur online.

Potential signs of sexual abuse in children include:

• The child is quieter or more distant than usual
• The child is clingier than usual
• Unusual or new fears, sometimes around touch, being alone, being with a particular person or in a particular place
• Difficulty concentrating or with memory, zoning out, seeming distracted or not listening
• Eating, sleeping or hygiene changes
• Regressive behaviours such as bed-wetting or soiling after being toilet trained, acting or wanting to be treated like a baby/younger child again
• Showing knowledge of sexual behaviour beyond their developmental age
• Sexual themes in artwork, stories, play etc.
• ‘Acting out’ behaviours (aggression, destructive behaviours, truanting behaviour)
• ‘Acting in’ behaviours (withdrawal from friends and family, depression)
• Problems with friends and schoolwork/attendance
• Vague symptoms of illness such as headache or tummy ache
• Self-harm (cutting, risky behaviour)
• Asking vague questions or making vague statements about topics such as secrets, unusual ‘games’, or adult behaviours

Children and young people of all cultures, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and ages may be sexually abused. Above all else, it is important to pay attention to behavioural changes in your children and take them seriously if they disclose.

Source: Bravehearts

Key statistics on child sexual abuse

• 28.5% of Australians have experienced child sexual abuse¹
• 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys have experienced child sexual abuse¹
• People who have experienced child maltreatment are 2.4 times more likely to have been admitted for mental disorder¹

References

1. The prevalence and impact of child maltreatment in Australia: Findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study: Brief Report. 2023