Grampians Community of Practice for the Prevention of Violence Against Women

Grampians Community of Practice for the Prevention of Violence against Women

Session 2: Making Data Meaningful

Discussion Paper

3 March 2016

Alexandra Oval Community and Recreation Centre Ararat

Thank you to the 24 people, representing 21 organisations from across the region, that participated.

A Community of Practice (CoP) is an effective way for people to share experiences, identify common challenges, solve problems and learn – thereby maximising opportunities to improve evidence-based practice in real time.
The GCOP-PVAW aims to:

Assist people to access resources to improve their practice
Translate research into relevant and accessible knowledge
Facilitate the exchange of skills and knowledge
Provide opportunities for people to support each other develop working relationships and share problem-solving strategies with one another.

The Grampians Community of Practice for the Prevention of Violence against Women (GCOP-PVAW) is led by WHG and supported by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust.

Contents

Background rationale

Section 1: Making data meaningful

What data about family violence exists and what can it tell us?

Aspects of Gender Inequality in Ararat

Translating gendered data into action: Group activity

Section 2: Sharing local information/local case studies

Central Highlands Community Legal Centre – the story of becoming White Ribbon Accredited

Women’s Health Grampians update on two local initiatives

What is available to help you progress your work? Group Activity

Acknowledgements

AboutWomen'sHealthGrampians

Background rationale

Statistics measuring the extent of family and sexual violence against women and their children and gender inequality are compelling and confronting and can function as an integral conduit for informing national, regional and local strategies, policies, programs and services.

Credible, high-quality data is routinely collected by police and organisations however associated limitations can often fragment the data’s capacity to provide an accurate discourse on gender-based violence. For example, rates of violence against womenhave steadily increased over the years but what does this actually mean?

Several reasons exist to explain an increase:

Changes in community attitudes which may be empowering women to report as opposed to previously privatising the matter and also an increase in the number of bystanders reporting to police;
Legislative reforms such as the Victorian Government’s Family Violence Protection Act 2008 which has had a positive impact on reporting family violence;
The introduction of Victoria Police’s the Code of Practice for the Investigation of Family Violence 2004, which have allowed for stricter and obligatory processes for reporting family violence as police apply a proactive approach to family violence; OR
An actual increase in violence against women.

However, even with these limitations, family violence data is an important advocacy tool. It needs to be understood to accurately ascertain though whether family violence is in fact increasing or decreasing within these limitations to make it meaningful. By extension, the effectiveness of concerted interventions can be determined. This requires using reported data in combination with other measures such as gender equality, community attitudes, court data, hospital admission records, and death notices.

Broadening the indicators for assessing family violence to include other variables such as gender equality measures in particular is a complementary mechanism for explaining societal shifts in the context of violence against women. The underlying driver of men’s violence against women is gender inequality, reiterated by national and international literature. This means violence against women can also be understood by considering other indicators such as pay equity, women in leadership, political participation, education and observing any changes.

As we require a coordinated approach by governments, service providers and professionals, research bodies and the community to reverse the situation, understanding how to interpret, implement and explain data to advance this agenda is an advantageous skill for practitioners to demonstrate.

Section 1: Making data meaningful

What data about family violence exists and what can it tell us?

Fiona Dowsley–chief statistician, Crime Statistics Agency

Fiona’s background in criminology and extensive experience overseeing and disseminating family violence data allowed for a unique insight into this public health issue.

Fiona explored family violence data at national and state levels as well as those specific to the Grampians; the importance of data for increasing dialogue on violence against women; the limitations of family violence data; responding to queries trivialising the data; how to use statistics to engage community and prevent violence against women; and new innovative initiatives for collecting data.

Fiona highlighted some of the challenges in working with data, especially family violence data reported by police:

An unknown percentage of unreported incidents
Contested definitions of what constitutes ‘violence’
Sources not coordinated in their data collection (methodology)
Lack of standardisation, barriers to information sharing, incomplete data collections especially where incidental to core business
A patchwork of information (and the quilt has lots of holes and overlaps)

It is important to acknowledge thesechallenges and limitations, however the reported incidence of family violence still provides credible information that tells a story about the prevalence of the issue and is a valuable advocacy tool to:

Provide an evidence base to support actionand change
Provide empirical (objective) quantative support to individuals experiences and stories
Assist in assessing potential demand of services and targeting resources
Support funding proposals
Evaluate over time what actions work

Given that statistics on theirown can be quite dry, Fiona also highlightedthe importance of presenting information in a meaningful way. Fiona recommended various tools such as infographics or other visual tools and supplementary mixed media approaches to make the translation relatable according to the audience, so as to give the numbers a persuasive narrative.

You can access family violence data at

You can access Fiona’s presentation slides and an audio recording of her presentation from the Women’s Health Grampians website at

Aspects of Gender Inequality in Ararat

Hayden Brown–Senior Adviser, Social, Research and Planning unit, City of Greater Dandenong.

In a joint initiative between City of Greater Dandenong and the Victorian Local Government Association (VLGA), Hayden oversees the collection of gendered datasets for Victorian communities. This progressive position grants a unique perspective into the relevance and importance of sex-disaggregated data for promoting gender equality, thus preventing violence against women.

Hayden provided statistics on gender equality in a national, state and local context; explaining the role of gendered data in promoting gender equality; and how organisations can advocate for and use gendered data in their organisation.

Looking at percentages of early school leavers, people with university degrees or those in full-time or part-time paid employment told quite different stories when separated by gender, thus showing the importance of a gendered lens on all data.

Another example used was the rate of violent offences in an area, the incidents being vastly altered when looking at the statistics through a gendered lens.

For more information on gender differences in social conditions and outcomes in Victorian municipalities, click here:

You can access Hayden’s presentation slides and an audio recording of his presentation fromthe Women’s Health Grampians website at

Translating data into action: Group activity

The afternoon saw the CoP break into groups to consider how to apply what had been learned around family violence and gendered data into their own work. Here is a summary of what came up:

Actions / Challenges/Enablers
How can you translate this into action?
How can you practically apply this knowledge in your organisation? / What are the barriers/challenges to taking these actions?
What enablers exist to support the actions?
Actions:

Informing municipal health plans
Informing policy and program design (FV specific or more broadly GE)
Rational for research projects (i.e. PhD)
Advocacy (i.e. an educational tool to raise awareness)
Used in men’s behaviour change programs
Basis for funding (grant applications)
Used in evaluations to measure the impact of program delivery (i.e. used as a comparative reference)
Submit consultation paper on Vic Gov GE Strategy
Frame media messaging (i.e. increased reporting of incidents, not increased FV incidents)
Drive projects to support the most vulnerable
Collaborate – data sharing
Advocacy – use infographics
Use data in evaluation
Identify gaps in local data – advocate for it!
Build partnerships (this group) – a shared commitment

/ Barriers/challenges:

lack of funding (short and long term)
lack on management support
lack of engagement
lack of awareness
Time constraints
Competing priorities
low resources (i.e. staff)
Not knowing data sources
Limited confidence to analyse data

Enablers:

Our workplace values these issues
Good relationships with management therefore can seek support
Spare $$$ to allocate
Data back up
Shared clients
Integrated services to collaborate with

What strategies can you use to overcome barriers and build on the enablers?

Strategies to overcome barriers/challenges:
Present more compelling data to management
Identify group of champions to lobby to management
Identify key people showing resistance and set up meeting with experts
Speak with managers to allow PVAW to be included in your work plan so you can allocate time to this work.
Professional development courses of data and data analysis / Strategies to strengthen enablers:
Identify like-minded people in organisation to advocate for the cause
Present a concise succinct idea to managers on the actions to implement
Wide use of data sources
Sharing of resources
Philanthropic funding
Consider accreditation
Link it with HR (‘staff satisfaction’)
Leveraging current community momentum
Use local data and local stories
Sign on to the regional plan

Section 2: Sharing local information/local case studies

Central Highlands Community Legal Centre – the story of becoming White Ribbon Accredited

Lisa Buckland

The CH CLC provides a Family Violence duty lawyer to support women at the Magistrate courts in Ararat, Stawell andBallarat as well as Financial Counselling for women affected by family violence and CommunityLegal Education. Lisa presented on the process the CH CLC went through to become a ‘White Ribbon Accredited Workplace’. She spoke about the challenges,outcomes and the future.

The CH CLC’s Committee of Management initially signed a Statement of Commitment whereby Position Descriptions, Interview Guides, the Annual Report, Functions and Events and an Operational Plan were required to include data and awareness raising information about violence against women.

All staff and volunteers -including administration/reception, private lawyers, members of the Committee of Management and students received training around the issues and drivers of violence against women.The training was delivered by:

Women’s Health Grampians: Bystander Training, Primary Prevention of Violence Against Women and Gender Equity
Domestic Violence Resource Centre-Responding to Violence Against Women
White Ribbon-E Learning-understanding Men’s Violence against Women (this has become part of the induction of all new staff and volunteers.

Apre- and post-training survey was undertaken by all staff and volunteers.The pre-training survey identified that the majority of participants thought sexist jokes were notof concern and some had a limited understanding of violence against women and not sure if, for example, financial abuse was considered as family violence.

The post-training survey found a vast improvement in awareness and revealed the majority of participants felt sexist jokes were not appropriate socially or in the workplace and that there is now a much better understanding of violence against women and the behaviours that constitute family violence.

CH CLC’s Communication Strategy includes information on:

The extent of VAW
Ways men can take action
How to create a safe environment in which employees can disclose
Where to find key policies and procedures

Women’s Health Grampians update on two local initiatives

Darlene Henning-Marshall

The Grampians Regional Strategy for the Prevention of Violence against Women

CEO’s from all 11 Local governments, EO’s from all 3 Primary Care Partnerships, the 2 major Community Health Centres, Services and committees involved in family violence, 2 Aboriginal co-opsand theDepartment of Health and Human Services have all been invited to be part of the Reference Groupto develop the vision and goals, provide feedback and input into the strategy document, provide input and develop the process for action planning and provide ongoing governance.

The purpose of the Plan is to create a foundation for collaborative work across the whole region. This is an opportunity for unprecedented collective impact.

This is a high profile initiative based on evidence and promoting a shared understanding of the underlying drivers of men’s violence against women.All organisations from across the region will be invited to join together to action the plan.

The Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy - Consultation

Darlene outlined the content of the Gender Equality Strategy submission that Women’s Health Grampians prepared. The strategy will guide the state’s actions and priorities for achieving equal social, civic and economic participation for women in Victoria. Advancing gender equality increases women’s safety, security and wellbeing by encouraging a society based on respect and equality. Gender equality also has tangible benefits for Victoria’s social and economic prosperity, as more women are supported to reach their potential.

Darlene invited the organisations present toeither become a partner in the proposal or develop their own submission in this important space as the consultation is requesting input from business, community groups and the public.This is a great opportunity to have a united voice on this complex issue, influence policy, and shape our future.

What type of activities can you do locally to promote equality and prevent Violence against Women? Group Activity

The afternoon saw CoPparticipantsbreak into groups to consider how they couldapply what they learned about local projects to make progress in their own work. Here is a summary of what came up:

Actions / Challenges/Enablers
How can you translate this into action?
How can you practically apply this knowledge in your organisation? / What are the barriers/challenges to taking these actions?
What enablers exist to support the actions?

Develop proposal for Vic Gov’t GE submission
Baby Makes 3 (primary prevention program for new parents)
Act@Work (primary prevention program for workplaces)
You the Man (primary prevention performance for young people)
IWD events (fundraising film ‘Lady in the Van’, Horsham)
Interfaith – (Faith based primary prevention program)
WGEA Employer of Choice for GE
WR event (awareness raising)
Nominate WR ambassadors
WR Workplace Accreditation
Active Bystander training (WHG)
Sign up to Regional PVAW Strategy
Gender Impact Assessment Training
Educate services outside of FV sector
Community education

Lack of funding (short and long term)
Lack on management support
Lack of engagement
Lack of awareness
Time constraints
Competing priorities
Low resources (i.e. staff)
Unaware of local initiatives happening
Lack of experience in Implementing/holding a PVAW/GE event
Privacy in small communities
Service/workplace/community resistance

Enablers:

Organisational support and interest from management and workers
Skilled/experienced workers
Community connectedness

What strategies can you use to overcome barriers and build on the enablers?

Attend GCoP for updates on local progress
Identify champions
Map current PVAW/GE initiatives happening
Present evaluation findings to management (i.e. A@W and BM3 evaluation findings)
Hold events to strengthen interest in these issues
Participate in training opportunities (i.e. active bystander training)
Present clear and concise plan to management with achievable and realistic goals
Understanding what is within your organisations capacity to deliver (i.e. sign up to PVAW Regional Strategy vs Act@Work)
Consult with others who successfully implemented initiatives
Education

Acknowledgements

Women’s Health Grampians would like to thank the following:

Our guest speakers: Fiona Dowsley, Hayden Brown, Lisa Buckland and Darlene Henning-Marshall

The facilitator for the day:Suzanne Gatz

The organisations and staff participating:

Government, Justice & Legal

Victoria Police (VicPol)

Central Highlands Community Legal Centre (CHCLC)

Dep’t of Education and Training (DEET)

Federation University

Crime Statistics Agency (CSA)

Community & Health Services

Child & Family Services (CAFS)

Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA)

Grampians Community Health (GCH)

Maternal Child Health Centre – Pyrenees (MCH)

Wimmera Health Care Group (WHCG)

WRISC Family Violence Support

Hepburn Health Services (HHS)

Non-Government Organisations

Women's Health Loddon Mallee (WHLM)

Women’s Health Victoria (WHV)

Women’s Health Grampians (WHG)

Local Government

Yarriambiack Shire Council

City of Greater Dandenong

Horsham Rural City Council

Ararat Rural City Council

For further information on this Community of Practice including film, audio recordings and presentation slides, please visit Women’s Health Grampians website: