Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) has published a research report, Women’s specialist domestic and family violence services: Their responses and practices with and for Aboriginal women.
National statistics indicate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are overrepresented as victims of domestic violence. This report considers how how three specialist domestic and family violence services listened to Aboriginal women and how workers’ knowledge and training was applied in practice. The women involved expressed that they preferred to be called Aboriginal women and/or identified themselves by more local and regional language and cultural groupings and have therefore been identified as such in the report.
Key findings include what Aboriginal women identified as valuing from services at times of crisis – ‘proper help’ as identified by the women involved included active and careful listening, clear and non-judgemental communication, immediate and practical help, and assertive advocacy on behalf of women with other agencies and people in the community. Implications of these findings for policy are the need for greater recognition of how Aboriginal women can and have influenced service models and practice, especially where they are the majority of clients, and that defining and monitoring ‘successful’ outcomes should be realistic and grounded in what service users value.
The full research report is accompanied by a summary paper of key findings and future directions for research.