Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report 

• 4.1 Introduction: Emerging Groups of Women in Need
• 4.1.1 Older women
• 4.1.2 Younger women and girls
• 4.1.3 Women with disabilities
• 4.1.4 Women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• 4.1.5 Women with large numbers of children
• 4.1.6 Rural and regional women
• 4.1.7 Women in (remote) mining communities
• 4.1.8 Home owners
• 4.1.9 Other groups in need
• 4.2 Conclusion

4.1 Introduction: Emerging Groups of Women in Need

For over a decade now particular groups of women have been identified as missing out on access to services or who are less likely to use existing domestic and family violence services (Keys Young 1998a; Chung et al 2000). The consultation process as part of this report highlighted an array of emerging groups of women in need that cover a wide cross-section of the community. While some service providers focus on the needs of these groups, in many instances, no progress or little progress has been made over the last decade in tackling the issues confronting these women (Weeks & Oberin 2004).

In discussing the emerging groups of women affected by domestic and family violence in need it should be stated that the women in greatest need are those in need of crisis accommodation on any one night in Australia who are turned away because of a lack of capacity in the SAAP sector to meet their needs and those of their accompanying children. As pointed out in Box 3.1, 50 per cent of women who approach agencies to receive immediate accommodation on any one day are turned away. Many of these women (and their accompanying children) will be representatives of the groups of women identified below. 

4.1.1 Older women

While statistics here in Australia and in the UK indicate the number of older women experiencing domestic violence is low, around 4-5 per cent of women aged over 45, (Office of Women’s Policy 2002; Weeks & Oberin 2004; AIHW Marcolin 2005; Blood 2004) the limited research that exists and the experiences of service providers is that domestic violence affects considerable numbers of older women. In fact research in the US suggests the extent of women experiencing domestic violence is similar for both older and younger women (Women’s Aid n.d).

While the experience of domestic violence may be lower for older women a number of reasons have been highlighted in the literature to explain why domestic violence among this group remains particularly hidden. In an excellent overview of older women and domestic violence by Women’s Aid in the UK (Womens Aid n.d.) it is suggested reasons fall into two categories – older women are less likely to experience abuse or older women are less likely to report abuse. It is suggested that older women are less likely to disclose or report violence for a range of reasons including shame, fear of isolation, lack of financial resources, difficulty of leaving the home they have lived in for most of their lives, the responsibility of being the caregiver, fear of estrangement from children and/or grandchildren, lack of knowledge about services available; and  lack of knowledge about the law and the entitlements available (Office of Women’s Policy 2002; Women’s Aid n.d). Commenting on the situation in the UK Blood (2004, p. 2) states:

Some commentators have divided domestic violence against older women into three categories – domestic violence that started early in life and persists into older age; domestic violence that begins through entering into an abusive relationship later in life, and late onset domestic violence that begins in old age and can be linked to retirement, disability, sexual changes or the changing roles of family members (Women’s Aid n.d.). One of the problems in identifying older women suffering domestic or family violence is the confusion that exists between the definition of domestic violence and elder abuse. Women’s Aid comment ‘older women experiencing domestic violence occupy an ambiguous space between two social issues. This may result in victims of abuse “falling between the cracks of the elder abuse and domestic violence systems”’. Mears (2002, p. 2) in a presentation to a ‘violence against women’ conference in Sydney stated:

With domestic and family violence being categorised as elder abuse ‘the realities of the lives of older women are lost when age alone is seen as major factor precipitating abuse’ (Hightower et al 2001 quoted in Mears 2002, original emphasis). The Elder Abuse Prevention Association Australia qualifies elder abuse as different from domestic violence in that elder abuse happens to older people in a dependent situation compared with domestic violence that occurs to older people with independent capacity. This is a fine line of distinction and McDermott’s (1993) interesting article debating the difference between the terms ‘elder abuse‘ and ‘domestic violence’ indicates that elder abuse can indeed be classified as domestic or family violence, but it can also be understood as ‘embezzlement, medical malpractice, or caregiver stress’.  

McDermott (1993, p. 8) stresses that in Australia it is important that domestic violence is recognised as part of elder abuse and that:

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It is not only the inaccessibility of services that deters older women from seeking help. Blood (2004), the Victorian Office of Women’s Policy (2002) and Womens’ Aid (n.d.) in the UK suggest a number of reasons including:

• response of health and social work professionals and police as to the relevance of domestic violence services for older women;
• lack of knowledge of the resources available;
• services may not be appropriate for older women, for example refuges may be noisy and busy and lack facilities to cater for disability needs or complex health needs; and
• if older women are caring for grandchildren including teenage boys they may not able to be accommodated in refuges.

Faulkner and Beer (2008) also discuss the lack of financial resources among older people generally and the difficulty many older people have finding accommodation other than residential care. Old age alone no longer qualifies as a priority in public housing and most older people in Australia cannot afford private rental accommodation.

All of these issues create greater vulnerability to homelessness within the older age groups, and as the Australian population ages the reporting of incidences of domestic and family violence against older women and their vulnerability to homelessness can only be expected to increase.

4.1.2 Younger women and girls

Youth services indicate that young women and girls are a group in need. Many of these women are pregnant, have children or are trying to restore their family, because their child(ren) are in temporary care for one reason or another. In addition many of these women have complex issues including drug and substance abuse, poor ways of responding to authority, and lack of parenting and life skills. They may have experienced lifelong abuse and neglect – often from their parental family – and then from partners. For example, some think they should stay in their current relationship because this partner is not as abusive as the previous one. Many are unable to stay at a parent’s home due to family abuse in the past; the parent’s partner does not welcome them or their residence may affect a parent’s income supports. A large proportion of these women have few reliable family networks and so they, and their very young children, tend to couch surf.

Housing and support options for this group of women are very limited. Youth refuges are available but only if young women are not accompanied by children; they can go into a family refuge but only if they have children present. Women trying to restore their families and regain custody of their children then are faced with significant accommodation issues – needing some sort of flexible and responsive housing option so that they can prove they can accommodate their children adequately while fighting to regain custody and so that they can adequately house their child(ren) after  they regain custody.

Many young girls also have the additional issue of ‘sexually transmitted debt’ – debt inherited from a partner or a relationship with a former partner. Young women need a range of services including child care services to support them deal with crisis needs and to support them through what may be a very long process to improve their wellbeing for the future. Such support is also crucial to ensure the same behaviours are not perpetuated among the children of these young women and girls.

4.1.3 Women with disabilities

The consultations undertaken for this research and the growing body of national literature on domestic and a family violence and women with disabilities confirms that this diverse group of women continue to experience both high levels of domestic and family violence and have high levels of unmet needs in terms of access to domestic violence (and homelessness) services (WWDA 2008a; 2008b; 2007; Salthouse 2007; Salthouse & Frohmader 2004; see also the non-gender specific study by the NSW Ombudsman (2004) on who is excluded from SAAP services in NSW). Research by Weeks and Oberin in 2004 also commented on the issue of women with disabilities and domestic and family violence, noting:

Limited data exist on the extent of violence against women with disabilities in Australia, and statistics on women with disabilities accessing SAAP services for domestic and family violence reasons are not collected through the NDCA. Including a disability indicator in the SAAP NDCA collection would clearly assist in improving community, sector and Government understanding of the extent of domestic and family violence among women with disabilities. This must be an area of priority, particularly given that 20 per cent of Australian women have some form of disability and as domestic violence services are reporting an increasing proportion of older women presenting to their services and the prevalence of disability increases with age (ABS 2004).  

Research on women with disabilities and domestic and family violence by Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA) (Salthouse 2007; Salthouse & Frohmader 2004; WWDA 2008a; 2008b) suggests that women with disabilities are more likely to experience domestic and family violence than women without disability. They also experience violence more frequently and in more diverse ways.⁶ Women with disabilities are also at significantly greater risk of violence because of a range of factors, including the physical and economic dependence of some women on the perpetrator of the violence. Often violence is perpetrated by a women’s primary carer – who may be their partner, a family member or professional (paid) carer. Women with disabilities also tend to be subject to violence for longer periods of time. For many this is because they ‘have considerably fewer pathways to safety’ (WWDA 2008a). This is a significant issue for women with disabilities who require modifications to their home and who have to leave their homes because of such violence. The fact that domestic and family violence (and homelessness) services – including refuges and shelters – are not accessible (including physically) for women with disabilities reinforces the lack of safe pathways. A study of the physical accessibility of women’s refuges in NSW for women in wheelchairs, for example, found that only 38 per cent were accessible (NSW Women’s Refuge Resource Centre 2003, p. 18). Accessibility, however, is not just about physical accessibility. It is also about other services women with disabilities may need, such as assistance with communication and some aspects of self-care, and certain aids and appliances (WWDA 2004; DV Vic 2008). It should also be noted here that exposure to domestic and family violence may indeed cause disability for some women.

The NSW Ombudsman’s Inquiry into Access to, and Exiting from, the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program commented on the need for addressing access to SAAP services generally for people with disabilities (2004, p. 44). The report of this inquiry confirms WWDA’s concerns about crisis services, stating: ‘There is a clear need for prioritisation of disability access in SAAP planning and resourcing of SAAP agencies to improve their accessibility’.

The vulnerable position of women with disabilities affected by domestic and family violence is further compounded by continuing discrimination in the housing market and especially in the private rental market (on this issue see also Kroehn et al 2007). As noted in a recent paper on Women, Health and Housing Assistance by Baker and Tually (2008, p. 131):

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The vulnerability of women with disabilities is also compounded by the overrepresentation of women with disabilities among those living in poverty, among those with poor levels of education and in poorly skilled, low paid employment (or no employment at all) – affecting economic autonomy, and among the socially excluded (see Jennings’ 2003 report on DVIRC’s Violence Against Women with Disabilities Project).

WWDA have undertaken significant work in the area of domestic and family violence and women with disabilities, advocating on/for a range of actions needed to improve the situation for women with disabilities affected by domestic and family violence, including:

• community awareness of the impact and extent of domestic and family violence on women with disabilities and seeing women in this position as women in need of help first and not defined by their disability;
• broadening of the definition of domestic violence to include violence perpetrated by formal and informal carers of women with disabilities;
• empowering women with disabilities affected by domestic and family violence – through such things as supporting women into higher education and better employment opportunities, giving women autonomy to hire and fire carers/support staff, providing better support for women with mental health issues;
• improving the accessibility of domestic and family violence support services for women with disabilities, including ensuring that women with disabilities affected by domestic and family violence have access to transport to crisis services;
• ensuring portability in women’s care/support packages if they need to leave their home and providing support to women with disabilities to stay safely at home if they wish to and are able, including outreach;
• training staff in crisis accommodation services to assist women with disabilities escaping violence;
• providing more and better housing options for women with disabilities generally, including women with disabilities affected by violence; and
• recognising disability and domestic and family violence as part of a Human Rights agenda.

(Salthouse 2007; Salthouse & Frohmader 2004; WWDA 2008a & b)

Many of these areas in need of action are similar to those raised in recent (and the first national) research on the needs of women with disabilities experiencing domestic violence in the UK (see Hague et al 2008). This research considers these actions as good practice in assisting women with disabilities affected by domestic violence.

Resources have been very recently developed for service providers assisting women with disabilities affected by domestic and family violence. These are WWDA’s Resource Manual on Violence Against Women With Disabilities (2007) and DVIRC’s Getting Safe Against the Odds – A Guide for Service Providers (2008).⁷However, the roll out of specific assistance for women with disabilities will clearly require further resources from Government – both to fund improvements to the accessibility of services and to train staff in the sector to appropriately assist women with disabilities.

Improving the accessibility of Australia’s housing stock for people with a disability generally is an area in need of further Government attention, and will also improve the situation for many women affected by domestic and family violence. Recent research by Tually, Beer and Faulkner (2007) and Tually (2008a) discussed the importance of introducing Universal Design ⁸principles into the design of new built Australian housing, and social housing. The UK Government are working toward this outcome particularly in social housing as part of their national strategy for housing in an ageing society (see UK DfCaLG, DoH & DfWaP 2008). New and existing social housing will clearly assist women (and people) with disabilities generally in their daily lives, and when they need to move home for whatever reason.

4.1.4 Women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

Research (see, for example, Keys Young 1998a; Chung et al 2000; Aly & Gaba 2007; Office of Women’s Policy 2002; DV Vic 2008) on women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds indicates that these women are generally much less likely than other groups of women to report cases of domestic violence and many experience barriers to accessing domestic violence support services including crisis accommodation services. Service providers, however, are seeing increased numbers of CALD women particularly from recent migrant groups seeking assistance. The issues identified include:

•  the cultural position of women in some migrant groups leaves them at risk;
• a lack of knowledge about the Australian system of law and about domestic violence. A study by South Western Sydney Area Health Service and Central Sydney Area Health Service (Moore & Connelly 1999) measuring the attitudes to domestic violence in Arabic, Tongan, Vietnamese and Chinese communities found that domestic violence was considered an issue to be dealt with by the family. By using a publicity campaign and community information events community members were more likely to recognise domestic violence as a crime and understand that services were available;
• women from CALD backgrounds may not access services because of fear of losing their family (children) and community support networks;
• increases in women who have recently arrived in Australia as part of a 457 visa. These visas are used by employers to employ overseas workers for a period of between three months and four years. Visa holders are allowed to bring secondary applicants who can work or study (Department of Immigration and Citizenship 2008a). Women who arrive with a male partner fear they will be deported or lose their children if they seek help;
• increases in the number of women on temporary visas (who have applied for a spouse visa – a visa granted because they married an Australian Citizen or permanent resident (Department of Immigration and Citizenship 2008b) who are reluctant to report domestic or family violence for fear they will not be able to remain in Australia. Though the partner is to provide sponsorship which includes ‘all financial obligations to the Australian Government that your partner might incur while they are in Australia; agree to provide adequate accommodation and financial assistance as required to meet your partner's reasonable living needs; will provide financial and other support, such as childcare, that will enable your partner to attend any English classes they need; and will provide information and advice to help your partner settle in Australia’ and this assistance is to cover the two years following the granting of the temporary partner visa (Department of Immigration and Citizenship 2008c), service providers comment that SAAP services are increasingly assisting and paying the costs of accommodating and supporting these women. Women on some types of temporary visas may not be eligible to work or receive income support and some cannot leave the country because of Family Court Orders concerning their children. SAAP services work with these women to enable them to gain permanent residency.
  
  It is suggested that if women on temporary and spouse visas need to seek shelter at a refuge then funding should be available to support them. This is a Human Rights issue
  
  
• some services do not have the resources and therefore are not prepared for significant increases in women from CALD backgrounds;
• in many cases interpreter and translation services are poor. The need for interpreter services is increasing the load (financially and physically) on service providers in some States/Territories. There is a need for interpreters and translators who are skilled in domestic violence and the processes of accessing various services, court, AVOs, refuges and what they do, so that they have an idea of the services available;
• refuges may not be able to provide for the particular needs of CALD women. For example Aly and Gaba’s (2007) research found that Muslim women often have real concerns that services are not culturally or religiously appropriate environments, i.e. with food preparation, prayer facilities or gender segregation of women and male children of certain ages;
• it is difficult to move immigrant groups from crisis services because of discrimination in the private rental sector and the high costs of private housing. Rental histories are difficult for newly arrived immigrants and those for whom the lease is in the husband’s name. In addition some migrant women do not have adequate life skills to maintain a private rental tenancy; and
• the services available to migrant women vary considerably across Australia with some regions having very poor services to cater for the needs of these groups.

4.1.5 Women with large numbers of children

Some families, particularly recently arrived refugee and immigrant families, who experience domestic violence have four or more children. There is a lack of suitable affordable accommodation for these families. This group of women faces additional challenges if they have older boys in the family, as many services do not have the capacity to house families with older male children. Finding accommodation options for larger families was described as a particular challenge for service providers and in both the private market and in social housing.

4.1.6 Rural and regional women

A report by WESNET (2000), as part of the Partnership Against Domestic Violence initiative, outlines the issues confronting women in rural and regional areas in relation to reporting violence and seeking support. These issues include the tyranny of distance, isolation, lack of transport, increased availability of firearms, financial insecurity, fears about confidentiality and community attitudes and a lack of services within the area. Possible housing options are particularly limited as there is an overall shortage of accommodation in many rural and regional areas. Many of these issues – and particularly the lack of crisis support options for women in many rural and regional areas – were highlighted as continuing concerns in our consultations with domestic violence services for this report.

4.1.7 Women in (remote) mining communities

A regional domestic violence service contacted for this research pointed to a newly emerging group of women in need of specific attention and help – women living in remote mining communities. The representative of this service discussed the need for further services to assist women in this situation for a number of reasons. First, the domestic violence service she is involved with is assisting an increasing number of women in/from mining communities affected by domestic violence. She believed this to be a direct consequence of high levels of alcohol and drugs abuse among mine workers – the majority of whom are male and earn substantial incomes that allow them to support such abuse. Second, house prices in remote mining locations are especially over-inflated, limiting affordable housing options for women who want/need to escape domestic and family violence. Third, and most disturbingly, she pointed to the fact that her service has seen an increase in the number of women who have escaped domestic and family violence and moved away from their family home in a remote mining community – where there are no affordable housing options – and been forced back to their partners or the mining community (paying exorbitant rents) because of a court order stating that they cannot move away from their ex-partner with their children.

WESNET identified this group of women as in need of further assistance back in 2000 (WESNET 2000, p. 13) and in their 2004 report commented that ‘Little progress has been identified in services for women in mining communities, and this continues to be viewed as a significant issue to be addressed and funded’(Weeks & Oberin 2004, p. 88). The consultations undertaken with this research – while very limited in regional areas – pointed to this as a continuing, and increasing, area of concern and need. The expansion of mines in certain areas of Australia and the growth in the number of mines, and of remote mining communities, means that the number of women in this situation in future years could well be significant. The impact of domestic and family violence on women (and children) in mining communities then is an area clearly in need of further research – particularly to determine the extent of such violence, as well as to determine the capacity for crisis services to meet demand from women in this situation – if indeed such services exist in these communities for women.

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4.1.8 Home owners

Though home owners would generally be considered to be in an advantageous position financially in relation to many women who suffer from domestic and family violence as in principle they have equity in a house/property, this may be inadequate to fund a new home, difficult to access, contested and expensive – especially to maintain on one income and if a court settlement process is involved. For some women their violent partner may also use their equity in their home before the woman has the time to secure her share, or it may be tied up with a business or farm, further complicating issues around settlement.

Women who have in the past received a First Home Owners Grant and fall out of home ownership due to domestic and family violence are also disadvantaged in the housing system because they are not again eligible for the First Home Owners Grant (FHOG). This important mortgage assistance is only available once regardless of circumstances. The eligibility criteria for the FHOG unnecessarily penalises women affected by domestic and family violence for their past choices and experiences.

4.1.9 Other groups in need

Other women identified as emerging groups both in the literature (Office of Women’s Policy Government of Victoria 2002; Chung et al 2000) and from the consultations undertaken as part of this research are women with mental health problems, grandparents who parent children of violent partnerships resulting in pressures on their housing situation, lesbian and bisexual women, single women, women with addictions, and families with pets. Women with older male children (boys aged over 12) and who want to keep their families together were also identified as a group still in need of specific attention and assistance (also raised as an issue back in the late 1990s by Keys Young (1998a). This issue was also raised in terms of recently arrived women from CALD backgrounds with older male sons, particularly for those who have limited social networks in Australia and for whom being separated is traumatic for both mother and their children. More dispersed community based medium and longer term housing for women and their children in this position (i.e. not communal or congregational style housing) would assist women and their older male children in this situation. 

The NSW Ombudsman’s report Assisting homeless people – the need to improve their access to accommodation and support services (2004, Chapter three) also identified pregnant women (especially post-seven months gestation) and women declining case management⁹ as among those often excluded from SAAP services in NSW. These groups are in addition to: people who use or posses drugs and/or alcohol; people with mental illness and people with disabilities; people with violent and challenging behavior; and people unable to pay rent or service charges. The recent report of findings from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) for South Australia – SA Drug Trends 2007 – found that:

Though not an emerging group, Indigenous women are a group in particular need and this is discussed further later in this report. WESNET’s 2004 report identified Indigenous women as a group in particular need of further assistance, with Indigenous domestic and family violence services severely in need of additional resources to provide support for women (Weeks & Oberin 2004, p. 78). The lack of safe houses in remote areas and their non-existent operational funding was raised as a specific resourcing issue that must be addressed (see Chapter five of this report). The consultations undertaken for this report showed this remains the case today.

4.2: Conclusion

This section has highlighted the diversity of women in need of assistance and at risk of homelessness. While it is important to have an understanding of the needs that are specific to certain groups of women, a system of provision across each State and Territory that adequately caters to the majority of needs of all women, should with relative ease, be able to cater for the highly specific needs of certain women. At present, however, due to a lack of real funding (and no significant increases in operational funding in a decade) and significant decline in social housing, services are struggling to do anything but supply basic core functions. This is the case despite their commitment, will and potential in the domestic and family violence sector to do much more for women and for more women.

6. These findings are reinforced in a number of overseas studies of women with disabilities and their exposure to violence (see Smith 2008 for a recent review of the literature on this issue).
7. DVIRC has also developed a guide for women with disabilities affected by/escaping domestic and family violence – Getting Free From Abuse: A Guide for Women with Disabilities (http://www.dvirc.org.au/Disability/DisabilityIndex.htm).
8. ‘The design of products and environments to be useable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design’ (Mace n.d.).
9. i.e. wanting to stay very short-term in a refuge and move into stable accommodation away from the perpetrator of the violence against them and who do not consider themselves in need counseling.