Domestic violence in review

There have also been women that have not left a domestic violence situation as the abuser threatens to harm pets within the household. There was such a large number of reported incidences that saw women concerned for the safety of their pets, or lured back to the family home with concerns for their pets, that initiatives such as the Safe Beds for Pets Program were generated. The Safe Beds for Pets Program allows a woman/family fleeing domestic violence to have a temporary place for their pets to stay safely without the fear of harm to the pet if let with the abuser.

One of the largest factors that keeps a woman who is the victim of domestic violence in the relationship is fear. A domestic violence perpetrator can verbally and emotionally abuse a victim to the point that she feels worthless and believes what the abuser says about her. Coupled with social and financial isolation, it becomes very easy for the abuser to maintain control of the relationship, and of the victim.

Bidermans Chart of Coercion was developed in the 1950s from a study of United States Prisoners released from the Korean War to examine their experiences and the actions of their captors. Bidermans Chart of Coercion examines the methods used by captors to force compliance from the prisoners and condition the prisoners. With a better understanding of domestic and family violence throughout time, there were parallels likened between the victims of domestic violence, and those prisoners of war. A domestic violence perpetrator can "condition" and force compliance from their victims, and this is an abuse that is not bound by prison bars – but an abuse that is bound by emotional, physical, sexual, financial or psychological control. Domestic violence is a traumatic, controlled abuse. It is a cycle of violence.

There have been many statistics that have been the focus of media reports as the spotlight on domestic violence has been at the forefront of the media in 2015. Research from the 2012 Australian Bureau Statistics Personal Safety Survey and Australian Institute of Criminology shows that 89 women were killed by their current or former partner between 2008-2010. This equates to nearly one woman every week.

One Australian woman every week murdered as a result of a domestic violence related homicide.

For 2015, with the 39 women murdered as a result of an intimate partner domestic violence related homicide, that figure equates to nearly one woman per week.

The same Survey revealed that 1 in 3 Australian women had experienced physical violence, and 1 in 5 Australian women had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. The scariest thing about these statistics, are these are only the reported incidences of domestic violence assaults. Imagine the accurate reflection of what domestic violence really looks like if you examine the unreported incidences. Who is not to say that the statistical data could double?

In 2015 there were 39 women believed to have been murdered at the hands of their intimate partner.

What will 2016 look like?