The prevalence and impact of family violence

Bree Klerck, the inaugural CEO of the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance, is interviewed by Namidja McKenzie, Chief People Officer at the Department of Health, for our Family Violence Prevention Month Series. 

In their conversation, Namidja and Bree spoke about the behaviours that constitute family violence, its prevalence and impact in the Tasmanian community, and what we can each do to prevent it. We also spoke about the role and vision of the newly formed Alliance. 

If you would like to become a member of the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance, visit TFSVA.org.au/membership for more information. 

Sources: 

Over 95,000 women in Tasmania have experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. That is 43% of the women in Tasmania. -  Our Watch Data Snapshot: Primary Prevention of violence against women in Tasmania 

95% of people who have experienced physical or sexual violence name a man as the perpetrator of at least one incident of violence, and around 4 in 5 family and domestic violence offenders are men - Department of Social Services. 

Support: 

If this episode has raised any concerns for you, you can call 1800 RESPECT, that’s 1800 737 732, to talk to a counsellor from the national sexual assault and domestic violence hotline. 

Alternatively, you could call Tasmania’s Family Violence Counselling and Support Service on 1800 608 122. 

If you have concerns about your safety or that of someone else, please contact police or call 000 for emergency help.     

Transcript

Dorian Broomhall:

This episode contains reference to acts of family and sexual violence. If you have experienced violence or sexual assault, and need immediate or ongoing help, contact 1-800-RESPECT. That's 1-800-737-732 to talk to a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Hotline. If you have concerns about your safety or that of someone else, please contact police or call 00 for emergency help.

Molly Hanson:

This episode was recorded on the land of the Palawa people. We acknowledge and pay respect to all Tasmanian Aboriginal people and to their deep history of storytelling. We also acknowledge the disproportionate rates of violence faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Namidja McKenzie:

Hi. My name is Namidja McKenzie, and I'm the Chief People Officer at the Department of Health here in lutruwita, Tasmania. This podcast is the first in a series aimed at increasing awareness of family and sexual violence. Over 95,000 women in Tasmania have experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. That is 43% of the women in Tasmania. This Family Violence Prevention Month, it's important we all face this problem and each consider how we can contribute to creating a Tasmania free from family violence. Through the series, we'll look at the scale of the problem. We'll learn how to recognise the signs of family violence, how we can respond to family violence, and how we can prevent it from occurring in the first place.

We'll speak with experts from the Family Violence Counselling and Support Service at the Department of Health, Safe At Home at the Department of Justice, Australia's Peak Prevention Body, Our Watch, and today, I'll be sitting down with Bree Klerck, the inaugural CEO of the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance. Bree has previously held leadership roles within Tasmanian member-based peak bodies and has now taken on the alliance's vision that Lutruwita, Tasmania is a place that is free from family and sexual violence, where all people experience safety, dignity, and agency. In our conversation, we spoke about the behaviours that constitute family violence, its prevalence, and impact in our community, and what we can each do to prevent it. Let's begin. How do we define family violence?

Bree Klerck:

That's a good question. I think it's understood differently in different parts of the country, so different states and territories will have different definitions within their legislation, but in Tassie, we have a focus on family violence being explicitly around intimate partner violence, but I think what's important and what's shared across the states and territories and nationally is that it's more than just physical violence. It can be emotional and economic abuse. It can also be intimidation tactics, like stalking, and also around technology facilitated abuse as well. A recent survey by the E-Safety Commissioner noted that nearly 72% of young people have experienced technology facilitated abuse, so it's something that we really need to start focusing on and considering in the context of family violence as well. Importantly, what's underpinning a lot of that is coercive control, and the patterns of abuse and violence that occurs in a coercive control context and how that relates to family violence itself as well.

Namidja McKenzie:

And can you just give a little more about what is coercive control?

Bree Klerck:

Yeah, absolutely. I guess it's defined more as a pattern of abuse and violence over time, and it really impacts on the person's capacity to maintain their independence and level of freedom as well. Examples of coercive control can be around controlling a person's finances. It can also be around emotional abuse and controlling the ways that they think and feel about themselves, and then also controlling potentially how they dress and who they see, and it's all about maintaining that control and coercion so that the person doesn't have their own independence and freedom to think and be themselves.

Namidja McKenzie:

And how prevalent is family and sexual violence in the Tasmanian community?

Bree Klerck:

It is quite prevalent, unfortunately. We know, in the northwest of the state, we have high prevalences of reported family violence, but the personal safety survey data suggests that 43% of Tasmanian women have experienced some form of family or sexual violence since the age of 15. We also know that men are usually the perpetrators of the family violence as well, so it is quite prevalent in our state. We also know that 60% of reported incidents also involve children, so we do need to have a look at how we're addressing family violence in Tasmania, and really getting down into the nitty-gritty of the data as well to understand where the hotspots are and what's driving it in particular.

Namidja McKenzie:

Yeah, and how do those figures compare to other states in Australia?

Bree Klerck:

So, in Tassie, some of those figures from that personal safety survey suggests that we have some of the highest rates of family violence, so particularly in cohabitating partner violence and also in stalking and emotional and economic abuse as well, so certainly some areas that we really need to consider and look at how we're addressing family violence in our state. A recent survey that we just recently undertook included surveying 50 victim survivors, and in that survey, it was reported that up to 58% of those respondents didn't actually report their family violence experiences to police, so I think we really need to have a think about even those data and those statistics, particularly the police data. It's perhaps even double what we're actually seeing.

Namidja McKenzie:

Given the proportion of disproportion of women who experience family violence compared to men, how do you balance the conversation with recognising it is clearly a gendered issue, with also recognising that some men also experience family violence?

Bree Klerck:

Absolutely, and I think it's really important to honour that and understand it more. I think it does come back down to that data and who is experiencing family violence. It's women and it's men, but what's the other drivers, the risk factors, and the implications associated with that? So, are we seeing more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and men experiencing family violence, people with disability, and then also LGBTIQA+ communities as well? That's where we see quite a high number of men experiencing family violence, so I think it's really going back to that really nuanced data too, to understand it, not just as women and men, but also the factors also underlying that. They come back to those elements of power and control, and to areas where people are potentially more likely to experience those factors, so whether that's sexism or racism, homophobia, transphobia, that all plays into it as well, so I think we do need to do a little bit more work around the data.

But certainly, in recognising that men do experience family violence, we do need to consider that, but we also need to weigh that up against the gendered nature of the violence as well, and recognising that men are often the perpetrators of violence, so then it's looking at what the evidence is out there around why that is. It's not necessarily looking at it from an individual perspective, but what's driving that? Certainly, research entities like ANROs and Our Watch are considering what those drivers are around gender-based violence. It really is coming down to those elements of, I guess, condoning the behaviour in the first place, of those rigid understandings of male and female roles, those traditional roles, and that impact that that plays then on violence as well. So, I think it's more about looking at it from a system level rather than an individual male level. Then, certainly looking at how men and women can work towards preventing violence in the first place and the role that men play in calling it out within their own groups, friendship groups, and what role that they can play as well.

Namidja McKenzie:

So, just tell me a bit more about the Tasmanian Sexual and Family Violence Alliance.

Bree Klerck:

Yeah, absolutely. It's been in the making for a number of years, so nearly about three to four years now. It came about from one of the actions within the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Action Plan, so that was to establish a peak body for the sector. Since then, we've had a number of community-based family and sexual violence organisations that report together under TASCOS as a steering committee to start developing the Peak Body, so we're now established, officially launched in November last year as the Peak Body for Family and Sexual Violence, which is very exciting, very new, but what we're focused on is really those three key streams of family violence, sexual violence, and then also child sexual abuse and child maltreatment as a separate focus area as well, because we know that children and young people are particularly impacted in that area, so we want to make sure that we have a real distinct focus on that.

We also work and focus across the continuum of prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery, so we really want to make it a whole of society approach to ending family and sexual violence, and also improving outcomes for victim survivors as well. I think, as the peak body, we know that we can't possibly do this all on our own. It's not one individual, it's not one government department or one community service that can make change on their own and make a difference, but collectively together, we can make that change. Our membership is quite broad for that reason, and I think it's a really nice opportunity for Department of Health employees or anyone that's Tasmanian to be involved in the Alliance, so we do have individual membership categories, so people can sign up, get involved, and learn a bit more about family and sexual violence. Then, also, they can support and contribute to some of our policy advice, and also we're hoping later on we'll be looking at more opportunities to do training and workforce development and capacity building in that space too.

Namidja McKenzie:

Establishing the alliance, your vision, and what you want to achieve, how did you involve people with lived experience of family and sexual violence in that process?

Bree Klerck:

Yeah. That was a really important piece of the work, and I think it's central to the alliance, and I think it's central to how we improve systems and services overall, is that focus on incorporating lived experience into what we do. So during our process, we did have a victim survivor groups involved within the planning stages. In that early steering committee stage, there were certainly a number of victim survivors that were on that group as well. Then, we also, now that we're an independent organisation, our board also has a priority to ensure that victim survivors are included within the board itself of the organisation. Then, we also have individual member category for victim survivors themselves, so they can be part of the organisation, and there's a free option to join as a member as well, so they can be involved in all the work that we're doing and the policy advice that we're providing to government and research to the sector as well.

Namidja McKenzie:

So, how are you working directly with the Tasmanian government?

Bree Klerck:

We're working in a number of different areas and different agencies as well, so certainly DPAC being our sort of lead funding agency. We've been working quite closely with their policy team there, and particularly around the national plan and also the Tasmanian Action Plan as well. Then, we're also working quite closely with Department of Justice, Safe At Home, and the Family Violence Units and Tasmania Police as well, and hoping to expand that into DCF and DRH as well, because we know that family violence happens across all agencies, whole society, so we really want to start to make sure that we're building up that knowledge and understanding across the sector.

Namidja McKenzie:

Yeah. So Bree, how can Tasmanian State Service, or in fact anyone in the general community, get involved in the alliance?

Bree Klerck:

So, we do have our individual membership categories, so really anyone, if you're a police officer, a lawyer, a health practitioner, anyone within state service, or if you're a victim survivor yourself, you can join up to the alliance and become a member, and really, what that does is give you an opportunity to engage with us directly. We often have consultations to help us inform policy advice to government and also opportunities to learn more from researchers as well through our speaker series. Then, we're hopeful, going forward, that we'll have opportunities to then really engage in training and workforce development opportunities as well, so I would encourage everyone that is really interested in making a difference and improving outcomes for victim survivors and ending violence to join up to the alliance and be part of our membership base. I think that would be great.

Namidja McKenzie:

And looking at family violence, you've said obviously that it cuts across the society. What impact does it have, maybe particularly for children as well?

Bree Klerck:

Yeah, absolutely. I think with children, as I said before, I think reported incidents, 60% of children are present in those cases, and so I think the impact on children is quite significant. Being a child or a young person, that capacity, to be able to make their own decisions and have that freedom of choice to move out or leave, that's not there for them, so I think it's really important that we have a distinct focus on children and young people and the impacts that family violence potentially has on them. Certainly, the national plan and our state Family and Sexual Violence Action Plan recognise children as victim survivors in their own rights, so they're not just witnesses or observers. They're actually experiencing that violence as well, so I think we really need to make sure that we've got the services in place to ensure that we're getting in early and supporting those children to understand what's going on and also working with the families to make sure that we're addressing it early.

Namidja McKenzie:

And in terms of the impact on society, more broadly, or other social determinants, if someone has experienced family violence, what does that also do too?

Bree Klerck:

Yeah. It's certainly linked to physical health and certainly mental health as well, and then, as a byproduct of that, it's the trauma, so how does somebody manage that trauma in many different ways that people manage trauma? That could also lead to alcohol and other drug dependency, and then also potentially implications with cost of justice system as well, so I think there's a huge impact across society, and some of the work that was done, I think it was probably about 10 years ago now through KPMG, around the economic impacts of family violence, I think it was about $26 billion that's attributed to family violence across the nation, so if we were to address it, then we'd be relieving a lot of those systems that are quite expensive, particularly around the mental health, physical health, ARD, justice system. All of those would be reduced, so I think it's really important to look at how we're focusing on prevention and early intervention.

Namidja McKenzie:

Yeah. So significant kind of root cause of number of other social challenges.

Bree Klerck:

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Which is unfortunate, because it's not just the economic costs. It's the cost to the individuals themselves and their livelihoods over time as well.

Namidja McKenzie:

And what can we do to prevent family violence? What do you see as some of the preventative mechanisms?

Bree Klerck:

Yeah. I think there is a lot of work happening in this space. I think it's also quite ad hoc, so I think what we need to do is have, first and foremost, a prevention strategy, so we're kind of looking at it from a more coordinated and consistently resourced approach, but in terms of some of those preventative strategies, Our Watch certainly does a lot of work and focus in that area, particularly around the gendered drivers of violence. And so, some of those are around looking at gender equality and making sure that we're really making a difference in that space, looking at community attitudes and social norms, so we really want to make sure that we're eliminating any of those thoughts around misogyny and sexism as well. That requires a real kind of community-led response, because we know that this is happening in communities, in sporting clubs, in faith communities.

It's happening everywhere, so really, what we want to see is more community leaders coming out and being empowered to feel comfortable and safe enough to have those conversations within their own community groups and really raise awareness that way. Some of the work that the Alliance is doing, and during the month of May, will be working closely with a number of community groups to really get an understanding of what they need to feel like they could run their own event or initiative, and what kind of key messages and tools that they could acquire to be able to do that. Through those conversations, we'll start to develop a campaign toolkit, so we're hoping that by November, when we've got the 16 days of activism, that will have something that any community group can pick up, that it feels Tasmanian, that it doesn't feel too academic or too confusing, that's something that they can really utilise, spread the word, raise awareness and understanding within their communities, and hopefully shift some of those attitudes as well.

Namidja McKenzie:

Yeah. It really has to be ground up and simple tools.

Bree Klerck:

That's it. We've got all the evidence, so we know what works, but it is very academic, and so we're hoping, by doing this work, it will kind of bring the ground, meet in the middle somewhere eventually. Yeah, yeah.

Namidja McKenzie:

Yeah. If you were to say one or two key actions that an individual can take to help address the root cause or to help prevent family and sexual violence, what would you say?

Bree Klerck:

I think there's a number of different things that people can do, and it obviously depends on your comfort levels and safety as well, but certainly incidences where there's potentially sexism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, being an ally and calling it out or addressing it is really important. I think also for Tas State Service, having a look at your policies, procedures, services systems, and considering how they can potentially be improved if you're in a role that can do that, so that it is more welcoming and more of an opportunity for victim survivors to engage as well, so I think there's a number of different little opportunities there. Then, certainly, if you're seeing family violence playing out with a friend or a family member, having a brief, little conversation in a safe way can make a real difference.

Namidja McKenzie:

So Bree, you've been in your role for a few months now. What makes you optimistic, gives you hope for the future?

Bree Klerck:

Yeah. I think what I've seen is real integration and a real commitment across everybody that I've spoken to, that they really want to genuinely see the end of family and sexual violence and that they really genuinely want to see improved outcomes for victim survivors as well, so that really gives me hope, because I think if we're all on the same page and we all believe in the same purpose, we will get there and we will make it happen. We need that political leadership, which we've got as well, and we've got also the expertise on the ground as well, so we've got everything there. It just needs to be consistent and sustained action, and we will start to see change, I'm sure.

Namidja McKenzie:

That was Bree Klerk, the inaugural CEO of the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance. If you would like to become an associate member of the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance, visit tfsva.org.au. You'll also find a link in the show notes. In the next episode, Cat Schofield, Executive Director of Nursing and Director of Services for Statewide Mental Health Services, will speak with counsellors who work with victim survivors every day. These counsellors from the Department of Health's Family Violence Counselling and Support Service will help us to recognise the signs of family violence.

Dorian Broomhall:

If this episode has raised any concerns for you, you can call 1-800-RESPECT. That's 1-800-737-732 to talk to a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Hotline. Alternatively, you could call Tasmania's Family Violence Counselling and Support Service on 1-800-608-122. If you have concerns about your safety or that of someone else, please contact police or call 000 for emergency help.