FAQs
Why are the business-community partnerships so important? Doesn’t the government pay the support services?
Domestic violence prevention services do receive limited government funding and support to provide basic essentials for the refuge. But it’s just that, basic essentials: wages, rent, gas, basic groceries.
Prevention services are some of the most in-demand and underfunded sectors. They have one of the toughest services to deliver—supporting physically and emotionally abused women and their children create a new life free from violence.
A business-community partnership means that the prevention service is better equipped to support women and children fleeing violent homes. We’re not talking about creature comforts. We’re talking about things like linen and pillows, their own underwear and clothes, toiletries and school packs.
Our community partners have incredibly humble needs. A business’ support to meet these needs makes a world of difference to the women and children staying there.
What happens when a women escapes a violent home?
Every woman has her own story. Mostly it happens quickly and with the support of organisations like dvconnect. When we use the word escaping, in many cases it is quite literal.
Often done in a few short phone calls, dvconnect works with the woman to find a time where the person using violence isn’t home and the woman can safely leave. dvconnect then organise all of logistics to support the woman escape safely. This includes all the challenges like transport, short-term accommodation and the money to pay for these.
What sort of support do women and kids in refuges need?
When a woman flees a violent home, she mostly leaves with nothing. By nothing we quite literally mean only with the clothes on her back. Many woman arrive at the refuge with no ID, money or clothes. Kids leave their toys, pets, games, iPods and computers behind.
The refuge staff support the woman get any medical treatment she needs, help setup her room, organise counselling and basic living essentials and the kids enrolled in new schools.
During her stay in a refuge a woman receives support to take out domestic violence orders, money and setup government support payments, apply for new ID and bank accounts; and establishing more permanent accommodation in a safe area.
How long does a family stay at the refuge?
Each stay varies depending on what support the woman needs; it’s typically around three months. While at the refuge the woman is supported applying for any domestic violence orders, government support payments, court appearances, organising legal counsel for custody orders, counselling and organising permanent accommodation.
What’s the difference between emergency accommodation and refuges?
Most refuges only do medium to long term accommodation.
Emergency accommodation is just that, it’s for emergency situations and is a short-term accommodation solution. It can be used as a respite solution for a woman or as a safe place to stay while a place in a refuge is being organised.
All refuges operate at capacity, meaning as soon as there is a vacancy, it’s filled (generally from a waiting list). A woman can be in emergency accommodation until a place can be secured. If they have children it can take longer. dvconnect tells us that women staying in emergency accommodation are more likely to return to the violent home because they don’t have access to the level of support they get in a refuge.
What’s the difference between a partnership and a supporter?
A supporter has no formal agreement with Australia’s CEO Challenge and supports our events, campaigns and organisation throughout the year.
A partnership has a formal agreement setting out how the business and prevention service will work together—the business contributing to the needs of the refuge and clients and the prevention service giving talks, providing updates etc.
What’s the difference between a corporate partner and a business partner?
A corporate partner directly supports Australia’s CEO Challenge while a business partner directly supports a prevention service.
For more information about becoming a partner, call us on 07 3119 6347 or email team@ceochallengeaustralia.org.
How much time is involved in being a partner?
That’s up to you. Initially, we will organise a few sort meetings to introduce the people involved in the business-community partnership and open the lines of communication. After the partnership is established, each business partner contributes to the refuge in their own way throughout the year.
In our experience, the staff really take ownership of the partnership and organise morning teas and donation drives throughout the year for their community partner.
“The staff really pull together when we have a fundraiser – it gives them a sense of us as caring about the community, people…women and kids…. in crisis who we will never know but who we can help so easily.” GHD
One of our favourite stories so far this year is Minter Ellison Gold Coast organising a Back-to-School drive for their community partner. They engaged the local businesses to donate books, pens, lunchboxes, backpacks, non-perishable lunchbox items, socks, shoes—you name it, they collected it. All it took was a few phone calls to their suppliers and an email to their staff. The children staying with their community partner had new stuff to start school with and Minter Ellison are still smiling at the thought.
I want to help out, but I don’t want to enter into a partnership. What can I do?
You don’t have to have a formal partnership to make a meaningful impact. We have businesses who hold morning teas, make clothing and toy donations etc directly to Australia’s CEO Challenge and we direct them to shelters.
You can also participate in events and campaigns we run throughout the year.
How often does domestic and family violence occur?
The most recent national survey statistics (1) show that nearly one in five Australian women have experienced violence by a current or a previous partner at some point in their lives. Many are subject to repeated violence. Among women who have experienced violence from a previous partner at some time in their lives, more than 2 in 3 (68%) suffered more than one violent incident, as did almost half of women (46%) where the violence was committed by a current partner.
The latest survey of violence against women (1) found that the most common form of violence was physical assault (experienced by 84% of women who suffered violence from either a current or previous partner). Sexual violence was experienced by 17% (from current partners) and 24% (from previous partners), with a significant number of women also subjected to threats of physical or sexual assault.
The most recent survey statistics about the severity of violence perpetrated against women by partners (2) found that 40% of women experiencing intimate partner violence were physically injured in the most recent incident. The nature of the injury was most commonly bruises or swelling, although 10% of those injured suffered a broken nose or broken bones, 4% had fractures, 6% suffered internal injuries and 6% head or brain injury. Thirty per cent of the women felt their life was in danger during the incident.
In some cases, domestic violence results in the death of the woman. Over half (58%) of the 1,125 female homicides in Australia over a nine-year period were the victims of an intimate partner (3). The most recently available national homicide statistics show that more than half of all female victims (53%) were killed by their intimate partner in 2006–07 (4).
What are the wider health impacts for women?
The World Health Organisation (5) reports that violence by an intimate partner is linked to many immediate and long-term physical and mental health outcomes. They include: physical injury, gastrointestinal disorders, chronic pain syndromes, depression and suicidal behaviour. Partner violence also affects reproductive health and can lead to gynaecological disorders, unwanted pregnancy, premature labour and birth, as well as sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. On average, victims of partner violence experience more operative surgeries, visits to doctors and hospital stays throughout their lives than those without a history of abuse. Women who have been exposed to violence have a greater risk of developing a range of health problems including stress, anxiety, depression, pain syndromes, phobias, somatic and medical symptoms. They report poorer physical health overall and are more likely to engage in practices that are harmful to their health.
Intimate partner violence has been identified as the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15–44, being responsible for more of the disease burden than many well-known risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, illicit drugs, alcohol, and obesity. There is also evidence to suggest that the influence of abuse can persist long after the abuse has stopped. (6)
What other impacts are there on women’s lives?
Domestic violence is the major factor contributing to homelessness among women and their children. The most recent national statistics show that the most common reason given by all clients for seeking assistance from supported accommodation services around Australia was domestic or family violence (in 22% of cases) (7) and these figures will be higher for female clients. It was estimated that in 2003-04 33% of the 100,200 clients were women escaping domestic violence and 66% of the 52,700 accompanying children were with a female parent or guardian who was seeking accommodation for that reason. (8) Women forced from their homes in order to escape violence face financial disadvantage and significant disruption to their social support networks and their children's schooling and social networks are also disrupted.
Regardless of whether women leave or stay in the family home, experience of violence can have effects on a wide range of women’s activities. Almost one-third (30%) of women who have ever experienced physical assault by a male reported some change in one or more day-to-day activities in the 12 months after the incident. The most commonly affected are social activities (25%). Others include shopping (10%), housework (8%), childcare (6%), and voluntary or community work (2%). One in six women in paid employment took time off work after the last incident. (9)
However, living in a violent relationship can have much more debilitating effects on women’s lives. In some relationships, the abusing partner strictly controls the woman’s life, prescribing what she may do in detail, limiting whom she can see, where she can go and when.
Almost one-quarter (24%) of women who experienced violence by a current male partner in the previous 12 months currently live in fear. This figure is much higher (73%) if the women have been victimized repeatedly. (9)
It is not only women who have experienced violence recently that suffer these sorts of impacts. For example, the most recent Australian survey (1) show about one in five women who have suffered abuse from a current or previous partner at some time in their lives reported feeling anxiety or fear during the previous 12 months, with 8% of women where the current partner perpetrated the violence reporting feeling anxious or fearful every day during the past year.
Are there impacts on others?
The most recent national survey (1) found that nearly 2 in 3 children who were in the care of women that had experienced violence from a previous or current partner had witnessed a violent incident. Research (10) concludes that children exposed to violence within the family exhibit more behavioural and emotional problems than other children. They are at higher risk of mental health, behavioural and learning difficulties in the short term, and of developing mental health problems later in life. Exposure to violence within the family as a child increases the risk of becoming a perpetrator or victim of violence as an adult.
There are risks for unborn children of pregnant women who are abused. A review of the Australian and international research (11) found that four to nine per cent of women are abused during pregnancy and that abused women are at greater risk of complications in pregnancy and in childbirth. The most recent Australian statistics (1) found that more than one in three women (36%) who had experienced violence from a previous partner and were pregnant during the relationship suffered violence while they were pregnant, as did 15% of women from current partners. The violence occurred for the first time during the pregnancy for about half of the women in each case.
Domestic violence affects people at workplaces. As well as direct costs to employers from domestic-violence related absences, staff turnover, and other factors affecting productivity there are adverse impacts on co-workers, managers, clients and customers (12). This can extend to risks to their safety and the trauma associated with witnessing a violent event that occurs at the workplace. In the Unites States, domestic violence incidents that spill into the workplace account for 16% of female victims of job-related homicides (13) and 1% of all workplace violence is committed by an intimate partner (14).
What are the costs of domestic violence?
The total annual cost of domestic violence to the Australian community in 2002–03 was estimated to be $8.1 billion by Access Economics. The largest contributor is pain, suffering and premature mortality, at $3.5 billion. (15) A recent update by KPMG estimates that the total cost of all violence against women and their children (including non-domestic violence) in 2008–09 was $13.6 billion and, if no action is taken to address the problem, it will cost the Australian community $15.6 billion in 2021–22 (16). Other research has shown that domestic violence costs Australian businesses alone at least $1.5 billion per year in direct, indirect and lost opportunity costs. (17)
Where do women go for help?
The most recent Australian survey statistics (1) show that most incidents of physical assault or sexual violence by current or previous partners are not reported to police. For example, only 4% for physical assault by a current partner and 23% by a previous partner that were experienced by women at some time in their lives were reported to police, and these reporting rates were lower for sexual violence. Violence orders were issued against current partners in about 10% of cases and against previous partners by 25% of women, but many still suffered violence after the order was issued (in about 1 in 5 cases by current partners and about 40% by previous partners).
An earlier survey of violence against women (2) found that 14 per cent of Australian women experiencing intimate partner violence reported it to police. The offender was charged in 19% of those instances. Charged offenders were convicted in 65 per cent of cases.
That survey (2) also found that only 16 per cent of the women contacted a specialist agency such as a shelter, crisis line, counsellor, or other specialist agency for assistance. Some women spoke to a professional such as a doctor or nurse (9%) or a psychologist or psychiatrist (8%) about the incident but more commonly they spoke to a friend or neighbour (55%), an immediate family member (42%) or other relative (13%). Some discussed the incident with a boss, co-worker or co-student (8%) but a quarter did not speak about it to anyone (25%).
References:
• (1) Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Personal safety survey, Australia 2005. (ABS Cat. No. 4906.0) Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra
• (2) Mouzos, J & Makkai, T 2004 Women's experiences of male violence: findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/56/RPP56.pdf (viewed 25/1/2005)
• (3) Mouzos 1999 Femicide: an overview of major findings. Trends & Issues, 124, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra
• (4) Deardon J & Jones W 2008. Homicide in Australia: 2006–07 National homicide monitoring program annual report. Monitoring report no. 1. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/F/F/B/%7BFFB9E49F-160F-43FC-B98D-6BC510DC2AFD%7Dmr01.pdf
• (5) World Health Organisation 2002 World report on violence and health http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/full_en.pdf (viewed 4/3/2005); Intimate partner violence Fact Sheet http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/factsheets/en/ipvfacts.pdf (viewed 4/1/2005)
• (6) VicHealth 2004 The health costs of violence. Measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence: A summary of findings http://www.togetherwedobetter.vic.gov.au/resources/pdf/FinalReport_HealthCostsOfViolence.pdf (viewed 2/3/2005)
• (7) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009 Homeless People in SAAP, Supported Accommodation Assistance Program National Data Collection Agency Annual Report 2007–08 http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/hou/hou-191-10662/hou-191-10662.pdf
• (8) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2005 Female SAAP clients and children escaping domestic and family violence 2003–04 http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/bulletin30/bulletin30.pdf
• (9) Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996 Women’s safety, Australia, 1996. (ABS Cat. No. 4128.0) Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra
• (10) Laing, L. 2000 Progress, trends and challenges in Australian responses to domestic violence Australian Domestic Violence & Family Violence Clearinghouse Issues Paper 1
• http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/issuespaper2.pdf (viewed 3/3/2005)
• (11) Taft, A 2002 Violence against women in pregnancy and after childbirth http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/Issuespaper6.pdf (viewed 4/3/2005)
• (12) Murray, S & Powell, A 2008 Working it out: domestic violence issues and the workplace Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse Issues Paper 16 http://www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/Issues%20Paper_16.pdf
• (13) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (USA) Women's Safety and Health Issues at Work http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/women/#other (viewed 25/5/2008)
• (14) Detis T & Duhart, U 2001 Violence in the Workplace 1993-99 Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/vw99.pdf
• (15) Access Economics 2004 The Cost of Domestic Violence to the Australian Economy: Part I: http://www.accesseconomics.com.au/frameset.htm: Part II: http://www.accesseconomics.com.au/frameset.htm (viewed 24/10/2004)
• (16) KPMG Management Consulting 2009. The cost of violence against women and their children. Canberra: Australian Government. http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/women/pubs/violence/np_time_for_action/economic_costs/Pages/default.aspx
• (17) Henderson, M 2000 Impacts and costs of domestic violence on the Australian business/corporate sector Report to the Lord Mayor’s Women’s Advisory Committee, Brisbane
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