On Her Way: Primary prevention of violence against immigrant and refugee women in

95 Pages·2011·0.67 MB·English

ON HER WAY:

Primary prevention of violence against
immigrant and refugee women in Australia

Prepared by Carolyn Poljski

Contribution from Adele Murdolo

September 2011
© Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH) 2011

Title inspired by Arundhati Roy, Confronting Empire, World Social Forum, 27 January 2003, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
© Arundhati Roy 2003

Cover design and illustration by 3 Tier Design for MCWH

Suggested citation:
Poljski C. 2011. On Her Way: Primary prevention of violence against immigrant and refugee women in
Australia. MCWH: Melbourne.

An electronic version of this publication can be found on the MCWH website. For any queries about
this publication, please contact:

Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
Suite 207, Level 2, Carringbush Building
134 Cambridge Street
COLLINGWOOD VIC 3066
AUSTRALIA
Ph: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mcwh.com.au
3
4
Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.
Arundhati Roy (Indian novelist, essayist and activist)
Confronting Empire
5
6
TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. 7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... 8
ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. 9
BOXES ............................................................................................................................ 10
TABLES ............................................................................................................................ 10
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 13
1.1 Introduction to On Her Way ............................................................................................. 14
CHAPTER 2: PRIORITY GROUPS FOR PRIMARY PREVENTION STRATEGIES ................ 17
2.1 Newly-arrived women on permanent and temporary visas ............................................. 17
2.2 Women from well-established communities .................................................................... 26
2.3 Women in precarious employment .................................................................................. 27
2.4 Visible minority women ................................................................................................... 28
2.5 Young women ................................................................................................................. 28
2.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 29
CHAPTER 3: PRIMARY PREVENTION STRATEGIES ........................................................... 31
3.1 Research, monitoring and evaluation.............................................................................. 31
3.2 Advocacy ......................................................................................................................... 34
3.3 Community strengthening ............................................................................................... 39
3.4 Communication and social marketing ............................................................................. 44
3.5 Direct participation programs .......................................................................................... 50
3.6 Organisational and workforce development .................................................................... 56
3.7 Legislative and policy reform ........................................................................................... 59
3.8 Good practice principles for culturally-appropriate violence prevention efforts .............. 63
3.9 Primary prevention of violence against immigrant and refugee women: a framework ... 64
CHAPTER 4: CHANGE IS ON HER WAY ............................................................................... 69
4.1 Research, monitoring and evaluation.............................................................................. 69
4.2 Advocacy ......................................................................................................................... 70
4.3 Community strengthening ............................................................................................... 70
4.4 Communication and social marketing ............................................................................. 70
4.5 Direct participation programs .......................................................................................... 71
4.6 Organisational and workforce development .................................................................... 71
4.7 Legislative and policy reform ........................................................................................... 72
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 73
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 77

7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health acknowledges the support of the Office of Women’s Policy
(Victoria) for the preparation of this publication in 2009 (then only a background paper) as part of the
broader development process of A Right to Respect: Victoria’s Plan to Prevent Violence against Women
2010-2020, a policy that was developed under the previous Victorian government.

The Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health also acknowledges the financial support provided by the
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) for the revision and update of the 2009 background
paper to allow for a more comprehensive scope of violence prevention efforts. This support will ensure
wide dissemination of the publication to relevant key stakeholders across Australia and create momentum
in the primary prevention of violence against immigrant and refugee women.

Representatives from numerous agencies and organisations made invaluable contributions to the
development of this publication, either through membership of the advisory committee, participation in the
service provider workshop or an individual consultation, or review of draft versions of the publication.
Thank you to all these individuals whose input has increased understanding of the primary prevention of
violence against immigrant and refugee women in Australia.

Details of agencies and organisations represented on the advisory committee and in the service provider
workshop and individual consultations are listed in Appendix 1.

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health and
should not be attributed to the Office of Women’s Policy (Victoria), the Victorian Health Promotion
Foundation (VicHealth), or the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
8
ACRONYMS

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics
AHRC Australian Human Rights Commission
AMWCHR Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights
CALD Culturally and linguistically diverse
CMY Centre for Multicultural Youth
DIAC Department of Immigration and Citizenship
ECCV Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria
EU/EEA European Union/European Economic Area
FVPs Family Violence Provisions
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HREOC Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
(now known as the Australian Human Rights Commission)
ICT Information and communication technologies
IWDVS Immigrant Women’s Domestic Violence Service
(now known as inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence)
IWWCV Islamic Women’s Welfare Council of Victoria
(now known as the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights)
JTAFV Jewish Taskforce against Family Violence
MCWH Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
MRC Migrant resource centre
MRCSA Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia
NES Non-English speaking
NESB Non-English speaking background
NGO Non-government organisation
PACE Participate, Advocate, Communicate, Engage (name of MCWH program)
RERCV Russian Ethnic Representative Council of Victoria
SILC Self-esteem, Identity, Leadership and Community development (name of IWWCV program)
TAFE Technical and further education
TCF Textile, clothing and footwear
TC-TAT Transforming Communities: Technical Assistance, Training and Resource Centre
UNRISD United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
USAID United States Agency for International Development
VICSEG Victorian Cooperative on Children’s Services for Ethnic Groups
VIRWC Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition
WDVCS Women’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service
WYPIN Western Young People’s Independent Network
WRHC Western Region Health Centre
9