Family, domestic and sexual violence
ARCSHS has cultivated a breadth and depth of expertise in family, domestic and sexual violence over the past decade across a range of contexts and disciplines. We are proud to now formally articulate this as a core theme of our work.
Our research has explored topics such as:
- perpetration of intimate partner violence and sexual violence
- barriers and enablers of professional support service engagement
- frameworks for understanding and preventing violence
- evaluation of violence prevention initiatives.
Our family, domestic and sexual violence knowledge translation work includes:
- the tailoring of core capability-building offerings for the family violence sector
- the development of guidance resources for both prevention and response work.
Our projects include:
- Crossing Lines - A study investigating unwanted sexual behaviours against LGBTQ+ people, aiming to generate actionable knowledge and focusing on the social forces, risk factors, and characteristics of those who use sexual violence
- Respectful Connections: - A project researching transgender women’s experiences of technology-facilitated gender-based violence
- Pleasure-centred sexual safety - Moving beyond risk-focused approaches to sexual safety and instead celebrating sexual agency and pleasure for neurodivergent women, and trans and gender diverse people in Victoria.
- Pride in Prevention - A project that focuses on family violence experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex and queer communities, and how to prevent such violence from happening in the first place.
- Opening Doors - Ensuring LGBTIQ-inclusive family, domestic and sexual violence services
- Responsive pandemic practice - LGBTIQ+ family violence service innovation in Victoria during COVID-19
- Catalysts of Change - Interventions and service pathways for gay, bisexual, trans and queer (GBTQ) men who have used family violence in Victoria, Australia
Partnership projects
ARCSHS is proud to be part of the Partners in Prevention of Sexual Violence Project, led by the Reducing Gender-based Violence (ReGEN) Research Group and based at La Trobe University's Violet Vines Marshman Centre.
Theme co-convenors:
Belinda O'Connor and Sophie Hindes
Latest updates
Coming forward report
The underreporting of heterosexist violence and same sex partner abuse in Victoria [2008]
William Leonard, Anne Mitchell, Marian Pitts and Sunil Patel
Launch: Opening Doors: Ensuring LGBTIQ-inclusive family, domestic and sexual violence services
Held on October 13, the launch of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society's 'Opening Doors: Ensuring LGBTIQ-inclusive family, domestic and sexual violence services' research report and accompanying resources. Speakers include:
- Acting ARCSHS Director
- Associate Professor Adam Bourne
- The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP
- Commonwealth Minister for Social Services
- Lead investigator Dr Stephanie Lusby
- Acting Rainbow Health Australia Co-Director Jackson Fairchild
- Jex Burgess
- Lived experience expert, Fahad Jawaid
- Thorne Harbour Health, Sue Webeck
- Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT and Eloise Layard, ACON