Women in Australia are all different.

And they can experience violence in many ways.

We must think about how different people experience violence.

And what each person needs.

We explain how some groups of people experience violence on the following pages.

Women can experience different types of violence across their life.

People can use violence against girls and young women to:

• force them to get married

• take away their choice about having children

• harm their private body parts.

Young women are also more likely to experience partner violence.

Older women can also experience violence.

Older women might experience:

• financial abuse
• abuse from a family member, including their adult children
• abuse from people who support them, including carers.

Older women are also more at risk of being homeless.

People who are homeless do not have a home.

They must find a place to sleep each night.

Women with disability can experience violence:

• more often
• over a longer time
• in more places.

They can also experience violence from many different people, including:

• carers
• support workers.

Women with disability can experience violence when other people make decisions for them.

For example, decisions to stop them from:

• having children
• doing what they want.

They are also more at risk of technology-facilitated abuse when their disability affects how they:

• communicate
• do things on their own.

We call it technology-facilitated abuse when people use technology as part of their violence.

They might use a device, like a phone or computer.

Or they might use social media, like Facebook or Snapchat.

Some people in Australia have bad attitudes towards people with disability.

Because of this, some people think it’s okay to:

• use violence against people with disability
• control people with disability
• not let them take part in the community.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience:

• more violence than other women
• different types of violence.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are much more likely to:

• go to hospital because of violence
• be killed by someone using violence.

They also face other challenges.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are often kept away from their:

• land
• family
• culture.

Your culture is:

• how you think or act now because of how you grew up
• your beliefs
• what is important to you.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience violence from men of all backgrounds.

Not just Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are afraid people will take their children away.

This happened a lot in the past.

This is something that can still happen.

Too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are taken away from their family if they experience violence.

Because of this, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are scared to report violence.

Or get help when they need it.

The justice system often doesn't understand how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience violence.

The justice system can blame them for violence when they try to get help.

The justice system helps to make people who use violence responsible for their behaviour.

This includes:

• police
• courts
• the law
• prisons.

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people:

• come from different cultures and backgrounds
• speak languages other than English.

Violence can affect CALD women who have:

• lived in Australia for most of their life
• just arrived in Australia.

Sometimes CALD women might be visiting Australia for a short time to travel, work or live.

These women might not have friends and family in Australia to support them.

Some CALD women might experience violence from a person they rely on to stay in Australia – like a partner.

They might not ask for help because they worry about having to leave Australia.

CALD women might also not get help with violence because supports and services don’t:

• speak their language
• understand their culture.

Other CALD people in Australia can also include:

• students from other countries
• people on a working holiday.

They can be at risk of violence because:

• they might not have somewhere to live
• it might be hard for them to earn money.

The letters LGBTIQA+ stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer or questioning and asexual.

The ‘+’ is for people who are part of the LGBTIQA+ community but don’t talk about themselves using a word from this list.

LGBTIQA+ people can experience violence because of:

• who they are attracted to
• their gender.

Your gender is what you feel and understand about who you are as a person.

It isn’t about whether your body looks male or female.

LGBTIQA+ people experience the same kinds of violence that other people experience.

But they also experience different kinds of violence.

For example, people might:

• try to change their mind about their gender
• make them change their body.

People might also:

• threaten to tell other people that they are LGBTIQA+
• stop talking to them because they are LGBTIQA+.

Or people might force LGBTIQA+ people to do sexual acts they don’t want to do.

Children can experience violence when:

• it happens to them
• they see it happen to someone else.

When children experience violence, it can affect:

• how they grow and develop
• their physical health
• their mental health and wellbeing.

The effects on children who experience violence can last for a long time.

And it can affect:

• their relationships
• their education
• how they find and keep jobs.

Children who experience violence are more likely than other children to use violence when they are adults.

So it’s important to stop this by supporting children when they are young.