Tuesday, 5 April 2022

Adjournment

Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (17:30): I move:

That the house do now adjourn.

Family violence

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (17:30): (1853) My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, and the action that I seek is for the minister to provide additional resources for men who are victims of violence, including information online. We have heard about the increase in domestic violence, but very little is ever heard about the men who are victims of violence. According to the personal safety surveys, from the age of 15 one in 16 men have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a current partner or ex-partner, one in six men have experienced emotional abuse from a current partner or ex-partner, one in 20 men have experienced sexual violence and one in four men have experienced emotional abuse or have been assaulted or threatened with assault. In the year ending June 2019 Victoria Police completed reports for 51 622 alleged victims of violence by current or former partners. Of those, almost one in five were male, but it is widely believed that these figures are understated and do not really paint the full picture.

As they may not be battered and bruised, men often find it difficult to recognise that they are being abused and to identify as a victim, so they do not report it. Men can also feel a much greater sense of shame and humiliation about being abused. It is also less socially acceptable for men to admit or to report experiences of abuse. Even if it causes less physical harm, it is not harmless and it is violence, and violence against anyone is completely unacceptable. What is even more unacceptable is the lack of crucial support. Men have almost nowhere to turn. There are virtually no specialist family violence services for victims who are male. The 2016 Royal Commission into Family Violence found that there were:

… opportunities to improve the understanding of male victims and services for them.

And:

… the Victorian Government should take steps to identify and take account of the needs of male victims …

I have searched VicHealth’s website for violence against men and could not find one thing about support services for men. Resources need to be— (Time expired)