By ANEEKA SIMONIS and GEORGIA WESTGARTH
FAMILY violence may not be what many people think it is.
And police and welfare organisations urge everyone – not just victims – to clue up on identifying all forms of abuse fuelling the epidemic plaguing the outer south-east.
Violence in the home is so much more than a black eye.
It stems from a deep-seated notion of inequality between the genders and is exacerbated through manipulation, isolation techniques, power-plays and put-downs.
The real crux of the problem comes down to control.
Head of the Casey Family Violence Unit (CFVU) Sergeant Ian Lane said when one partner began to exert power over their partner, was when things could turn ugly.
“Family violence comes in the non-physical form as well as the physical such as threats, psychological, economical and verbal abuse,” Sgt Lane said.
“Awareness campaigns that show victims with black eyes often bring it home for people, but don’t highlight other forms that women are falling victim to.”
Financial controls are what police often report as a common tool abusers use to control and intimidate their victims.
“Contrary to popular belief, most of our work isn’t offences of physical violence,” he said.
“We see economic abuse where one partner is being held against their will and threats are made to take away credit cards or the partner is only given $10 or $15 a week to live off.
“Or money is only provided for household costs and nothing is left for them to buy things they may want.”
Crippling victims’ freedom through financial control often sees them further isolated from friends or family.
Cutting connections with loved ones dangerously segregates a victim from those who might have otherwise identified the unhealthy power struggle and stepped in to try to stop the cycle of abuse, Sgt Lane said.
“Isolating a partner and ensuring they don’t leave the home and aren’t allowed to mix in a social circle or make friends is another form of abuse.”
Sgt Lane said coercive and threatening behaviour was another sign of family violence that might seem simple from the outset – but supported a deeper culture supporting men’s entitlement and power over women, including intimate partners.
“Threats like ‘if dinner is not on the table by the time I am home’ I will do such and such to you and a lot of verbal, emotional abuse goes on with this type of family violence,” he said.
The typical family violence offender is male, aged 18 to 45 years old.
Sgt Lane encourages anyone who is falling victim or knows of someone experiencing violence in the home to make a police report.
“The rise in family violence offences is a good thing,” he said.
“If family violence reports went down I’d ask myself why, because I don’t know that enough is being done at the moment to stem the flow of these types of offences.
“It’s one of those things that the government and police can never do enough of to help prevent.”
Anyone who is experiencing family violence can phone the safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Centre on 1800 015 188.
