About Family Violence

Family violence is common in Australia. While it can be called many names, family violence or domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behaviour through which one person seeks to control and dominate another person.

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Family violence is not a single incident but rather an ongoing behaviour that targets the victim’s confidence and ability to defend themselves. Violence tends to escalate and become more frequent over time. 

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Physical violence is the most obvious form of domestic violence but by far not the only one.

 

Here are examples of non-physical violence:

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• isolating a person from family and friends

• controlling their access to money

• diminishing their self-esteem through insults

• preventing them from practising their religious beliefs

• intimidating them, and

• threatening them.

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Women are not the only gender experiencing family violence - many men suffer from it too. Unfortunately, most of the people belonging to the LGBTIQA+ community experience family violence and other forms of abuse too often.

 

By speaking openly about this serious issue and providing specialist therapeutic support, we can change the situation for the better.