Family, domestic and sexual violence is a major health and welfare issue in Australia occurring across all socioeconomic and demographic groups, but predominantly affecting women and children. The impacts of family, domestic and sexual violence can be serious and long-lasting, affecting an individual’s health, wellbeing, education, relationships and housing outcomes. Limited employment opportunities to gain financial independence can severely hinder a woman from escaping an abusive situation.
Domestic and family violence is behaviour that controls, coerces or threatens a person and can occur in current or past domestic, family or intimate relationships. It may involve overt or subtle exploitation of power imbalances and may be isolated incidents or patterns of abuse over a period of time.
Domestic and family violence present’s in many forms and is not just physical as so often thought. Abusive and controlling measures can be exerted through sexual, verbal, emotional, financial and forced isolation methods.
It affects people from all walks of life regardless of sexuality, ethnicity, religion or socioeconomic status. Women facing these challenges are not separate from the rest of us - they are us!
