Whittlesea CALD Communities Family Violence Research Report 2012 | Page 15

14

Of those migrants and refugees who arrived on Humanitarian or Family stream visas a higher
proportion (62%) spoke either no English or had poor English. Of Refugee and Humanitarian settlers
the top three languages spoken were Arabic, Tamil and Farsi and the top three countries of birth
were Iraq, Sri Lanka and Iran. The makeup of Family Stream settlers was quite different with the top
three languages Mandarin and other Chinese languages, Vietnamese and Arabic and the top three
countries of birth India, China and Macedonia.
A higher proportion of women than men arrived on both Family Stream and Refugee and
Humanitarian visas (61%) in this period and of these, 20% arrived on either a spousal or fiancé visa
and more women arrived on a spousal visa than any other visa category.
Of those migrants who settled in the City of Whittlesea in the last 6 years, 21% were aged under 18
at the time of arrival and 41% were aged under 25. Humanitarian entrants had an even higher
proportion aged under 18 (33%) and close to half were aged under 25 (48%).

CALD Women: Multiple Complexities, Specific Vulnerability
Family violence is a problem that impacts on all sectors of the community regardless of age, class,
income, religion, country of origin or cultural background/ identity.
Family violence is however very much a gendered crime in which the majority of victims are females
(80% of reported family violence victims in Victoria are women)19 and the majority of perpetrators
are males. Family violence has been identified as the leading contributor to preventable death,
illness and disability in Victorian women aged 15-44.20 In Victoria the Australian Bureau of Statistics
estimates that approximately one fifth of the 95 victims of homicide in Victoria in 2010 were
victimised by a partner or ex-partner.21 Nationally, the National Homicide Monitoring Program found
that 78% of female homicide victims in 2007/2008 were killed by an offender with whom they
shared a domestic relationship.22
Results from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey 2006 found that of those
women who were physically assaulted in the 12 months prior to the survey 31% were assaulted by a
current or former partner.23 The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates reports that over one
third of women who have ever had an intimate partner report experiencing one form of violence
during their lifetime from a male partner.24 The most common location for physical assaults on
women was in the home irrespective of the sex of the perpetrator and this differs quite markedly
from men’s experience of physical assault. Men were more likely to be physically assaulted by a male
stranger and the location of the assault is more likely to be a licensed premises or a public space.25

19

Victoria Police Crime Statistics 2010-11, in Victims Support Agency, The Victorian Family Violence Database Volume 5:
Eleven-year Trend Report, Victorian Government Department of Justice, 2012, p.22
20
VicHealth, 2004 in Victims Support Agency, The Victorian Family Violence Database Volume 5: Eleven-year Trend Report,
Victorian Government Department of Justice, 2012, p.22
21
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004 in Victims Support Agency, The Victorian Family Violence Database Volume 5: Elevenyear Trend Report, Victorian Government Department of Justice, 2012, p.22
22
Virueda, M., & Payne, J., 2010, Homicide in Australia: 2007-08 National Homicide Monitoring Program annual report,
Canberra, Australian Institute of Criminology in Victims Support Agency, The Victorian Family Violence Database Volume 5:
Eleven-year Trend Report, Victorian Government Department of Justice, 2012, p.22
23
Of those women who reported at least one incident of physical assault since the age of 15, 46% reported that in the most
recent incident they had been assaulted by a current or former partner.
24
Mouzos, J., and Makkai, T., 2004, ‘Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian Component of the
Internationals Violence Against Women Survey’, Research and Public Policy Series No.56, Australian Institute of Criminology,
Canberra in Vic [\??\?Y?[??KH?X??X[??[Z[H?[?[??H]X?\?H??[YH
N?[]?[?^YX\??[??\??X??X[????\??Y[?\\?Y[???\?X?K?L??????B?]\??[X[??\?X]H??]\?X???P??H?
K\???[?Y?]K]\??[XK?
H
?Z\??YJH?][??YH??
L
??]\??[X[???\?X]H??]\?X???[??\??K???