Working Together to Understand Family Violence and Illicit Drug Use Links

The Liberal Government is committed to working with the community sector to address violence against women.

Today sees the end of the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign, which aims to raise awareness about violence against women and its impact on a woman’s wellbeing.

Appropriately, the campaign began on 25 November, White Ribbon Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and concludes with today’s International Human Rights Day.

This campaign highlights that being free from violence really is a basic human right.

To mark the sixteenth day of the campaign, the Hobart Women’s Shelter partnered with Support Help and Empowerment to host an information session about illicit drug use and family violence.

The session, conducted by Anglicare Tasmania, heard that there is evidence of an association between family violence and illicit drug use, particularly among male perpetrators.

Victims too can develop problems with alcohol and illicit drugs through their use as a coping mechanism to deal with the distress and pain of a violent relationship.

Family violence is triggered by a complex mix of factors, including illicit drugs, so it is important that we have information sessions like this for service providers to share their knowledge and work together to develop effective responses.

The Government supports this work through our commitment to the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children and its Second Action Plan – Moving Ahead 2013-16.

We are contributing $100,000 to the Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety to fund research that will support best practice in building integrated systems of care.

If you or someone you know is impacted by family violence of sexual assault, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visit www.1800respect.org.au
Jacquie Petrusma, Minister for Human Services