Responses to family and domestic violence: supporting women?. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: valentine, kylie; Breckenridge, Jan
• Is Part Of: Griffith law review. Volume 25:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 30
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Gendered violence -- interventions; Law -- Australia -- Periodicals; Law reviews -- Australia -- Periodicals; 349.94
• DOI: 10.1080/10383441.2016.1204684
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1038-3441

Abstract

ABSTRACT: At a time when domestic and family violence (DFV) is being cast as a national emergency, comparable to terrorism, it is timely to review the relationship between feminist advocacy and state-led responses. The principles of long-standing feminist interventions into DFV, which privilege victims' accounts of their experience, are at risk of being sidelined in the contemporary emphasis on evidence-based policy and atheoretical approaches. However, promising signs are evident in interventions that support women's economic security, safe and permanent housing, and employment. These interventions are constituted by specific, local networks of actors including government and non-government organisations. The effects of DFV can be distributed across multiple domains, including workplaces, housing, and courts. These diverse effects may best suit an integrated, multi-systemic response, which is based on recognition of the importance of empowerment, agency, and meeting practical needs.