Children and young people feel ‘invisible and unheard’ when disclosing their victimisation of family violence to different services, a new Monash University report reveals.
The I believe you report, released today, reveals how Victorian youth who have experienced family violence feel overlooked and silenced through current responses to family violence.
Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre Director Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon with Drs Jasmine McGowan and Rebecca Stewart led the report which identifies the many points in the family violence, education and criminal justice systems where young victim-survivors feel invalidated, isolated and let down by trusted adults in their lives.
“The young victim-survivors we interviewed were abundantly clear that responses to family violence are not meeting their needs,” Professor Fitz-Gibbon said.
“As Victoria progresses its family violence reform agenda, it is vitally important that the views and expertise of young victim-survivors are drawn upon to influence policy and practice design.”
The study highlights the need for young people to feel validated and heard when making their first contact with support services, and the need for practitioners to use individualised, trauma-informed and age-appropriate supports to ensure youth do not feel alienated.
“All too often children and young people described feeling like responses had been developed with only adults in mind, and that their own victimisation was invisible,” Professor Fitz-Gibbon said.
Participants also wanted their emotional and trauma-based needs to be handled sensitively with consideration to any individual language or accessibility requirements.
The study examines young people’s experiences of seeking help via support services, informally from family and friends, and from trusted adults at school. While some young people described the positive impacts of help-seeking, all too often young victim-survivors experienced significant barriers to gaining support and securing their safety.
“Young people spoke to us about the importance of not feeling patronised in the process of receiving advice, and the need for their first point of contact to be authentic and to validate their experiences of harm,” study co-author Dr McGowan said.
“Having a sense of agency and self-respect are crucial components of the pathway to support and recovery for young victim-survivors.”
The study also identified the need to improve the design of spaces where children’s risk assessments are carried out, and those delivering child-centric support services.
Researchers conducted interviews with 17 Victorian young people, aged 10 to 25, with lived experience of family violence to better understand their experiences of seeking help.
The findings support the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2023, which acknowledges the need to view children as victim-survivors in their own right.
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Ros Spence welcomed the important research to ensure the systems and services are better informed to meet young people’s needs.
“We know that children and young people’s experiences of family violence have a detrimental impact on their safety, health and wellbeing,” Ms Spence said.
“This vital research, and the MARAM Framework and guidance, helps us to continue to centre children and young people’s experiences in our reform of the service system, and respond to them as victim-survivors in their own right.”
The study was contracted by Family Safety Victoria, as part of the Victorian Government’s Child and Young Person-focused MARAM practice guidance project.
