It’s been nearly two decades since the Australian government launched its Closing the Gap campaign. There are 17 targets to meet, one being reducing the rate of all forms of family violence and abuse targeted at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by at least 50 per cent by 2031.
Some progress has been made, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia are still overrepresented as victims of family, domestic and sexual violence. Indigenous Australians are three times more likely to experience sexual assault than non-Indigenous Australians.
What’s even more concerning is that First Nations children represent about ten per cent of all reports of child sexual abuse.
For Lauren French, head of education at Body Safety Australia, it’s obvious to her that Western approaches to supporting both victims and perpetrators of family, domestic and sexual violence are not working – least of all for First Nations women.
“Colonial ways are not working in this space,” French told Women’s Agenda. “We’re not seeing a decrease in violence against women. We’re not seeing a decrease in sexual violence.”
It’s why French, a proud Karajarri woman from Larrakia lands in the Northern Territory, is travelling the world to learn from other Indigenous cultures and ultimately develop a new way to approach family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia.
As a Churchill Scholarship fellow, she has designed her research approach to centre storytelling, yarning and community gathering.
“I’m just one person, and I am being gifted huge amounts of knowledge,” French said.
“But I’m going to come back and try to galvanise people in the community, and generate a different approach to healing responses.”
The siloed sector
French began volunteering with Body Safety Australia, a children’s safety organisation, in 2017. As a queer, Indigenous woman, she found the organisation to be an exception to the violence prevention space, where organisations are “siloed” to fit a type of person.
“I feel this sector as a whole, when we talk about the violence prevention sector in Australia, it is very siloed,” French said.
“It’s really clear when you think about intersectionality and the fact that a lot of organisations and institutions tend to have to fit a certain box.”
Working in the violence prevention space, French said there are a lot of organisations that provide support for victims of family, domestic and sexual violence, yet they fail to be culturally safe for Indigenous peoples.
“So many services aren’t culturally safe for First Nations women, men, queer people and gender-diverse people. So often we’re not comfortable reaching out to those services,” French said.
“Within these kind of services, what often isn’t talked about is the intense history and impact of colonisation and on violence against women, on sexual violence and on a distrust of authority, government and institutions.
“And so unless it’s a really specific Aboriginal organisation, you can’t assume it’s going to be culturally safe.”
French explained how an organisation must go “above and beyond” to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples know the space is culturally safe for them to seek help from violence.
“As an Aboriginal woman, when I walk into a space, there might be an Aboriginal acknowledgement on the wall, but that doesn’t tell me it is safe for me to be there, or that assumptions are not going to be made about me,” French said.
“It’s unfair that it is on First Nations people to find out if somewhere is safe for us – that should be really clear to us beforehand.”
For example, health services often ask patients or people seeking help if they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. One way that organisations can make a more culturally safe environment is providing information as to why they are asking this question.
“If I go into a space and I’m trying to get support or assistance… and one of the first questions I get asked is that, but there’s no explanation, instantly my brain is going to go: Why are you asking me that? Is it because I’m going to go into a little room over there where Aboriginal people go?” French said.
A new perspective
Since British invasion in 1788, most things in Australia are now approached with a Western, colonial lens, including violence prevention and support.
But these approaches are failing to move the dial on the elimination of violence: in a 2021-22 study from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 11 per cent of woman and 3.6 per cent of men had experienced sexual abuse perpetrated by an adult before the age of 15.
French is looking to change that: she has embarked on a journey through the Churchill Scholarship program to look into Elder-led cultural practices around the world for healing after youth sexual violence.
French knows the importance of community-centred approaches as an Indigenous woman herself.
“When I’m working with my community – when I’m just having yarns at my local gathering space – I just see so distinctly how such Western models are so individual, and Indigenous models are so community-based and collaborative and bring everyone together,” French said.
“In my work [in violence prevention], I was watching so many young people be so isolated and separated. There’s so much silence and shame with sexual violence. Victims don’t get a huge amount of support, but perpetrators also don’t get a huge amount of support to how to actually not perpetrate again in the future.”
Over the course of her Churchill scholarship, she is travelling to New Zealand, Canada, the United States and Norway to speak with Indigenous Elders and learn more about their ways of healing after a young person has experienced family, domestic and sexual violence. It’s less researching and more yarning, French said.
“This research is done by mob, for mob,” French said.
“Our yarns have been so much around healing communities, intergenerational trauma and what healing could really be, and how we see strength in Indigenous people, not just deficits.
“Colonial ways are not working in this space… so why don’t we try the Indigenous way?”
French hopes to develop a new approach to healing after youth sexual violence – not just for Indigenous people, but for non-Indigenous Australians too. She hopes to “decolonise” the space, and “reindigenise practices”, an approach she learned from Dr Al Fricker at Deakin University.
“What does it look like to incorporate Indigenous ways of healing for non-Indigenous people, and how do we do that respectfully?” a question French asks.
“How do we decolonise spaces and reindigenise practices?”
To mark NAIDOC Week 2024, Women’s Agenda has produced a special edition eMagazine in honour and celebration of incredible First Nations women trailblazing across different sectors in healthcare. Thanks to Charles Sturt University’s First Nations Pathways for its support bringing this eMagazine to life.
Feeling worried or no good? No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn. Speak to a 13YARN Crisis Supporter, call 13 92 76. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.
If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit http://www.ntv.org.au.