Respect Victoria is highlighting the need for cultural changes as new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal local women are continuing to experience high rates of violence.
Chief Executive of Respect Victoria, Emily Maguire said the data showed that around 39 per cent of women in Victoria had experienced physical or sexual violence since their age of 15.
Ms Maguire said the ABS’s Personal Safety Survey looked at rates of violence between 2021 and 2022, including the prevalence of physical, emotional, economic and sexual violence experienced in intimate partnerships during the two-year period and historically.
She said the ABS found about that 26 per cent of women in Victoria had experienced partner violence from a partner they lived with, including emotional, physical, sexual and economic abuse.
“While the prevalence of some forms of violence decreased slightly, many remained the same in comparison to the last survey in 2016,” Ms Maguire said.
“Women continue to be most likely to experience physical violence from someone they know, and to experience high rates of emotional, economic and sexual violence from current or former partners,” she said.
“The latest data tells us a familiar story, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
“Preventing violence starts by understanding our culture and addressing what allows this to continue to happen.”
Ms Maguire said that while the latest ABS data showed that women continued to experience high levels of violence, the slight decrease in reports of sexual violence and intimate partner violence during 2021-22 in Victoria offered a glimmer of hope.
Head of Crime and Justice Statistics at the ABS, Michelle Ducat said that across Australia one in six women and one in 18 men had experienced physical or sexual violence by a cohabiting partner.
The Bureau’s Personal Safety Survey data can be accessed at this PS News link.
