Primary Health Care's Role

in responding to Domestic and Family Violence

DFV is a pattern of abusive behaviour in a spousal, intimate personal, family or carer relationship where one person assumes a position of power and control over another and causes fear.

1 in 3 women and 1 in 14 men have experienced physical or sexual violence and/or emotional abuse by an intimate partner since age 15.

WOMEN are more likely to suffer physical harm, including injuries requiring medical treatment, absence from work and prolonged recovery.

women are more likely to be victims of domestic homicide.

women are more likely to use violence against their partner in self-defence.

75% of victims of domestic violence reported the perpetrator as male.

98.3% of offenders of non-fatal strangulation between 2016-2018 were male offenders in QLD.

Domestic and family violence is considered a gendered crime.

it is mainly perpetrated against women and their children by men.

Women and children are disproportionately represented as being victims.

the violence they experience is usually much more severe than male victims.

people with disabilities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and LGBTIQ+ populations experience domestic and family violence at much higher rates than the general population.

forms of domestic & family violence

physical

Physical abuse is when a person uses physical force against another. Physical abuse can include hitting, pushing, kicking, punching, scratching, strangling or choking, spitting or biting, using weapons, physical restraint, harm to children or pets, locking you outside or inside a house, depriving you of sleep or food and driving dangerously. 

sexual

psychological

social

verbal

Sexual abuse is any unwanted or forced sexual activity from one person to another. Sexual abuse includes rape, unwanted touching, assaulting genitals, forced sex without protection leading to STI transmission or pregnancy, reproductive coercion or using sex to coerce compliance and unwanted exposure to pornography.

Emotional and psychological abuse has major impacts on people’s sense of self, safety, mental health and wellbeing. Emotional and psychological abuse can include constant put downs and verbal abuse, blaming you for everything going wrong, ‘gas lighting’, name calling, threats and intimidation, making you feel guilty or scared for not doing something they ask and socially isolating you from friends and family.

Social abuse includes controlling who you can and can’t see, who you can be friends with, stopping you from going to social events or gatherings, stopping you from participating in community and cultural events, controlling your social media and can lead to social isolation so you are reliant on your partner for all social supports.

Verbal abuse includes yelling and screaming in anger, threats to hurt or kill you or others, put downs and taunts, continual criticism, swearing, humiliation and name calling with the intent to emotionally abuse and manipulate you.

forms of domestic & family violence

financial

coercive control

spiritual + cultural

Financial abuse includes not allowing you to have your own bank account, taking control of finances, stealing from you, not letting you work, not letting you buy things for yourself, only giving you money if you do what they say, spending family income on drugs, alcohol and gambling, identity theft to open bank account or secure credit and refusing to work to contribute to household expenses.

Coercive control is a pattern of abusive behaviours that instil fear in victims so that perpetrators maintain control over them. Coercive control is maintained through the use of multiple types of abuses over time and can include threatening suicide or self-harm, threatening to hurt or kill you or others, stalking and monitoring, physical assaults, intimidation, verbal abuse and put downs, isolating you from friends and family and sexual violence or coercion.

Spiritual and cultural abuse is the misuse of spiritual or cultural beliefs to justify abuse and violence towards someone, or not allowing you to practice your chosen beliefs.

damage to property

Damage to property includes using physical strength, threats and intimidation to cause damage or threaten to cause damage to personal belongings and valuables and is a form of coercive control.

tech + digital

stalking

the use of technology to abuse, harass and intimidate. Tech abuse can include uploading personal photos or content or threatening to do so, tracking you through technology, controlling who you can be friends with on social media, hacking into your accounts and impersonating you or going through personal data, harassing you by messaging and calling excessively or withholding technology so that you can’t communicate with others.

Stalking is persistently pursuing someone against their will, and can be with or without the victim’s knowledge. Stalking can include following you, tracking you through technology and social media, sending multiple messages or calling excessively, monitoring your use of technology. Stalking creates fear and can make a victim believe they are in danger.

Top 8 risk factors contributing to disease burden in Australian women aged 18-44 years.

intimate partner violence

alcohol misuse

tobacco use

workplace hazards

overweight/

obesity

illicit drug use

physical inactivity

childhood sexual abuse

5.1%

4.1%

2.3%

2.2%

1.8%

1.8%

1.8%

1.2%

GPs are in a unique position in that they are a trusted service within the community whom have been involved with people across their lives, and have therefore established great relationships with their patients.

It has been estimated that full-time GPs are seeing up to five women per week who have experienced some form of intimate partner abuse – physical, emotional, sexual – in the past 12 months. One or two of these women will have experienced severe intimate partner abuse – for example, being raped, attacked with a weapon, locked in their home or not allowed to work.

These figures are from a survey of 1836 consecutive women attending 20 randomly chosen Brisbane general practices (with a response rate of 78.5%). One in three women in current relationships attending routine general practice clinics had experienced partner abuse in their lifetime.

what's your part in the story?

The DFV Local Link is a new service in the Logan and the Redlands regions, provided by the Logan and Redlands domestic and family violence specialist service, Centre for Women & Co.

It offers one-point of referral for patients affected by domestic and family violence, as well as advice and support for general practices to enable better identification and response to domestic and family violence.