Domestic & Family Violence: from national conversations to on the ground responses – Anangu women are met with a culture of silence and normalizing violence. This includes police responses, investigations, funding allocations, decision making and policy reform.
NPY Women’s Council stands firmly in condemnation of all domestic and family violence and is saddened by the ongoing national emergency of violence against women in Australia.
Our Domestic & Family Violence Service works into some of the most remote and isolated areas of central Australia where Aboriginal women experience domestic violence at an expectionally high rate compared to the national average.
Aboriginal Women are 35 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of domestic violence + 7 times more likely to be a victim of domestic homicide compared to the national average of non Aboriginal women.
From national conversations to on the ground responses – Anangu women are met with a culture of silence and normalizing violence. This includes police responses, investigations, funding allocations, decision making and policy reform.
Our chairperson Ms Smith has previously commented that “when a white woman is murdered this becomes breaking news, but when an Anangu woman disappears it is “news, wiya” (no news)”.
We applaud Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement this week of $925 million towards addressing domestic and family violence in Australia. This funding needs to be allocated on need rather than population numbers. The funding needs to go to regions that are struggling against violence towards women and are constantly calling for support.
We need greater investment in deep thinking, grass roots community led programs like our Uti Kulintjaku Watiku (men’s) (UKW) program. The Uti Kulintjaku Watiku Project is an innovative, Anangu (Aboriginal)-led initiative to develop community capacity and resilience and prevent family violence. The work is slow and ongoing but is the best chance of working with young men to make change. The UKW program, led by senior Aboriginal men and women, have become very sophisticated in their understanding of trauma and violence, and therefore their understanding of healing and prevention. They are now preparing to take this work back out to their communities to work with people of all ages in sharing this knowledge and understanding, in a trauma informed and culturally safe way.
In the wake of domestic violence, women need many layers of practical support and ongoing culturally aligned healing. For women in NPY communities, NPY Women’s Council is the only service to turn to.
Funding needs to be placed where there is greatest need. Aboriginal women should be acknowledged and supported in proportion to need. When our voice is heard we only grow stronger in the national conversation against violence. NPYWC calls for the Atunypa Wiru Minyma Uwankaraku (Good protection for ALL women) .
