Elimination of violence against women

There is growing recognition around Australia and a groundswell of support for actions that recognise the prevalence and cost of violence against women and children.

Domestic or family violence is one of the most common forms of violence against women and their children in Australia, and can take a number of forms, including:

Physical e.g. slapping, hitting, choking, stabbing
Sexual e.g. rape, harassment, being forced to watch pornography
Emotional or psychological e.g. isolating the person from friends, family, culture, threats against children, threats to commit suicide or self-harm
Economic e.g. withholding money, controlling family finances, taking out loans in a partner's name without consent
Stalking e.g. repeated following, watching or harassing

Types of violence against women

Domestic violence

Domestic violence occurs where one person in a relationship uses his or her violent and/or abusive behaviour to control and dominate others. It is any behaviour that causes someone to live in fear.

Domestic violence occurs in all socio-economic and cultural groups and in same-sex relationships. In the majority of cases the man is the person perpetrating the abuse and the women is the person being abused. Family violence occurs between young people and their siblings or parents.

Examples of domestic violence

Hitting
Kicking
Punching
Choking
Damaging property
Yelling
Insults
Threats
Bullying
Withholding and controlling finances
Unwanted sexual acts
Forced sex

Unlawful harassment

Unlawful harassment means any form of behaviour that takes place in circumstances in which a reasonable person, having regard to all circumstances, should have anticipated that the person, or group of people, who is (are) subject to the harassment would be offended, humiliated or intimidated. The behaviour in question must be perceived to relate to one or more of the grounds of discrimination listed in Federal or State legislation.

Examples of unlawful harassment

Sex or gender
Sexuality
Pregnancy
Marital status, or status as a parent or carer
Status of a person's spouse
Breastfeeding
Caring responsibilities
Physical or intellectual disablity
Race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin
Cultural differences
Age
Political beliefs
Religious conviction
Personal association with a person who is identified by any of the listed attributes
Social origin

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is any unwanted, unwelcome or uninvited behavior of a sexual nature that makes a person feel humiliated, intimidated or offended.

Bullying

Bullying defines persistent or ongoing behaviours directed towards an individual or group that a reasonable person, having regard to the circumstances, would find offensive, intimidating, humiliating or threatening and that potentially or actually affects health and well-being.

Support structures

Men's violence against women - whether it occurs in or beyond the workplace - impacts the health and safety of women at work, their wellbeing and productivity.

Flinders University is committed to achieving equal opportunity in education and employment and to a work and study environment free of unlawful discrimination, harassment or bullying. Part of this commitment is to support staff who may be experiencing violence in their lives, in particular, women.

The University has introduced provisions to include staff dealing with matters arising from family or domestic violence within special paid leave. Staff can also access the Employee Assistance Program - an independent counselling service available to University staff in South Australia and the Northern Territory.