Informed Approach and Research Needed Regarding Family Violence in Cald Communities

Mr Sam Afra, Chairperson of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) reiterated the call for greater support of community programs addressing family violence in culturally diverse communities after a special one-day forum drew an impressive array of political leaders, policy makers and community representatives.

Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls and Victoria Police Chief Commissioner, Simon Overland, were among the key speakers at a special one-day forum organised by ECCV to help identify risk factors and protective measures for family violence in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

Mr Afra said that assurances of support from Mr Hulls and Chief Commissioner Overland would be greatly welcomed by frontline agencies dealing with the causes and impacts of violence in the household, but urged swift action on behalf of all stakeholders to improve the quality of life of families at risk.

“Family violence is an issue that requires an informed, collective approach,” Mr Afra said, “so it is essential that all levels of government and sectors of the community co-ordinate their responses and remain consistent in their approach.”

The forum also explored how violence is handled in different arenas such as sports, the workplace, the media and popular culture.

The forum follows the release of the Victorian Government’s Violence Against Women Policy Statement 2010 and the recent announcement of a major overhaul of Australia's family law by the Federal Government to provide more protection for women and children.

Mr Afra said that assessing and confronting family violence within culturally diverse communities was often difficult due to differing attitudes about acceptable behaviour and limited awareness about appropriate avenues of redress.

“However national research points to a definite need for men and women in migrant and multicultural communities to become better informed about the problem of family violence and ways to prevent it from happening,” Mr Afra explained.

Mr Afra added that members of newly-arrived and non-English speaking background communities are particularly vulnerable to the pressures that can spark family violence due to their generally lower socio-economic status.

Mr Afra said he looked forward to closer working partnerships between government and the community sector yielding positive outcomes in the immediate and long term.

According to the Department of Human Services (DHS), family violence directly affects one in five Victorian women over the course of their lifetime, and is the leading contributor to preventable death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15 to 44 years.