Adults, children and young people who have experienced family violence are referred to as victim survivors. We note that some people also prefer to use the term people who experience violence.
The word family has many meanings. This report uses the definition from the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (the Act). This acknowledges the variety of relationships and structures that can make up a family unit, and the range of ways family violence can be experienced, including through family-like or carer relationships (in non-institutional paid carer environments).
The term family violence reflects the Act and includes the wider understanding of the term across all communities. Dhelk Dja: safe our way – strong culture, strong peoples, strong families[1] defines family violence as an issue relating to physical, emotional, sexual, social, spiritual, cultural, psychological and economic abuses. These occur within families, intimate relationships, extended families, kinship networks and communities. It extends to one-on-one fighting and abuse of Indigenous community professionals, as well as self-harm, injury and suicide.
Throughout this document, the term Aboriginal is used to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Intersectionality describes how systems and structures interact on multiple levels to oppress, create barriers and overlapping forms of discrimination, stigma and power imbalances. It is based on characteristics such as Aboriginality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, colour, nationality, refugee or asylum seeker background, migration or visa status, language, religion, ability, age, mental health, socioeconomic status, housing status, geographic location, medical record or criminal record. This compounds the risk of experiencing family violence and creates additional barriers for a person to access the help they need.
The term perpetrator describes adults who choose to use family violence, acknowledging the preferred term for some Aboriginal people and communities, as well as in practice, is a person who uses violence. The perpetrator is also the predominant aggressor where misidentification is suspected or has been assessed as occurring.
Young people who use family violence require a different response to adults who use family violence, because of their age, developmental stage and the possibility that they are also victim survivors of family violence. The term perpetrator is not used to refer to young people who use family violence. Some programs refer to adolescents who use family violence in the home.
References
[1] Dhelk Dja: safe our way is an Aboriginal-led agreement to address family violence in Victorian Aboriginal communities.
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