The majority of the families who attend Jannawi are affected by and have experienced domestic violence. Over the years Jannawi has developed clear practice guidelines for gender sensitive interventions which address power and control, place the protection and safety of children as paramount, promote womens safety and empowerment, and focus on responsibility and accountability issues for men who use violence.

Domestic violence is recognized as including physical, sexual, financial, social, psychological and emotional abuse. It is a crime. Full responsibility for the violence is attributed to the perpetrator. Violence is never acceptable in intimate relationships.

It is primarily a pattern of behaviours used by abusive men to dominate and control their partners. These behaviours reflect power imbalances between men and women, where social systems support beliefs about male entitlement. It creates an environment for the victim to live in fear, feel powerless and have concerns for her safety.  

We recognize that other forms of family violence also impact on children, and should be taken into account when assessing the family. These include violent behaviour of adolescent children towards parents, or parents towards grandparents, or other family members.

Domestic violence is a child protection issue because living in a household where there is violence is psychologically harmful, and is associated with increased risk of physical and sexual abuse of children. Because of the strong association between domestic violence and child protection, where both parents are referred to the Family Program, the focus is on establishing whether it is possible to work safely with any parents as a couple, regardless of whether domestic violence is explicitly stated as a reason for referral. The woman and man will be engaged separately, until it is established that it is safe to work with them as a couple.

Our assessment process seeks to identify the presence of tactics of power and control such as social isolation, financial abuse, emotional abuse, harassment, stalking and the use of physical and sexual violence used to intimidate.  

In the rare instances that both partners are using violence but a pattern of intimidation of one partner over the other is not able to be identified, the focus would be on the responsibility of both parents to provide a safe environment for their children.

The Family Program aims to assist women so that they can recognize and act on their right to safety for themselves and their children. It is Jannawi’s experience that it is not possible to do this while attempting to engage a woman and a man who uses violence in joint therapeutic intervention.

Safety is the priority of intervention where a woman and her children are living in a violent situation. The focus is on developing relationships and providing assistance so that the woman and children become safe. Assistance to women may be given to find alternative accommodation, to obtain an Apprehended Violence Order, safety planning, referral and supportive counselling. Services to children who are living in a violent household may include contact with Child Development Workers, developmental assessment and intervention, group activities focusing on needs and interests, and occasional care, after school groups and school holiday programs.

Therapeutic counselling which addresses the impact of trauma can only be provided to women and children once they are living in a safe situation.

Literature, model of intervention-

Family Law and Domestic Violence