ABUSE IN YOUNG WOMEN

Like most 17 year olds finishing school, I was wide eyed and inquisitive, ready to start exploring the world. That meant exploring new and intimate relationships too. Inexperienced with romance, I didn’t understand that my partner’s constant criticisms that were being drilled into my head were the early signs of abuse. Eventually he progressed to physical abuse, leaving me with horrendous injuries which I tried to conceal as ‘accidents’. The truth was too embarrassing.

Things continued to escalate for me until my mum pointed out that it was abuse. She had been a victim of it herself and recognised all the signs. We knew the only way out was to disappear and start a new life somewhere else—we just had to wait for the perfect opportunity to jump through the window. Learning that I was pregnant was the clincher for me to make the escape plan a reality. There was no way in hell that I was going to let my baby endure the same horrors we had.

What followed was a long and perilous journey spanning 1000s of kilometers. Stopping here and there for shelter, strangers became friends and friends became new family. Even the lyre birds banded together to make us feel at ‘home’. Eventually, with the help of SAHSSI we relocated to permanent and safe accommodation and were introduced to a support network. For the first time in 4 decades, mum can leave the butter out on the bench. It reminds us every day of the struggles we endured for the safety and well-being of our next generation. There is no better comfort than knowing my little babe is going to be safe from domestic violence.

What Do The Figures Say?

Women aged 18-24 are twice as likely to experience at least one episode of violence within their relationships compared with women over age 35.¹³
Due to the impacts of virtual media and a lack of targeted education programs through school curriculums, the current perceptions about domestic violence amongst our youth are negatively skewed. This is compounded by the fact that ¼ and sometimes 1/3 of youth have witnessed domestic violence within their homes which acts to normalise DV for these persons, making it harder for them to recognise the pathological/negative impacts of DV in their own relationships.

Where The System Falls Down

The positive impacts of longitudinal school based programs/education against inter-personal violence is well documented in American populations but this data is lacking in Australia. Currently there is very little in the way of school-based education in primary and secondary schools in Australia. Nor are there sensitive and dedicated services for young persons experiencing intimate partner violence to approach for help.¹⁴
In violence prevention, the most obvious rationale for ‘starting young’ is that adolescence is a crucial period in terms of women’s and men’s formation of healthy, non-violent relationships later in life. Interventions at this stage can change young people’s personal and personal relationship trajectories and protect them from the long term sequel of poor relationships.¹⁵