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A free resource supporting local governments to prevent violence against women in their workplaces and communities.
Not all women experience violence in the same way. Alongside gender inequality women can experience many other forms of oppression and discrimination, such as racism, ageism, ableism and homophobia.
All these forms of discrimination and inequality can play a role in driving or exacerbating violence against women.
Accurate, safe and respectful reporting on violence against women is the first step, and it is also critically important that reporting is based on an understanding of this wider context.
Respectful reporting does not blame, minimise or excuse violence for any reason – including the culture, sexuality, work choices or disability of either the victim or the perpetrator.
Power imbalances and the impact of multiple forms of oppression and discrimination mean the dynamics of violence differ across age and demographic groups, and that some women experience disproportionate rates of violence.
The impacts of discrimination also create additional barriers to reporting violence and accessing support.
Violence against women experiencing multiple forms of discrimination or oppression is more likely to be condoned.
Some women are more likely to be impacted by men’s control of decision making which limits their independence. For example, women with disabilities may have less equal access to education and work opportunities, and carers or service providers may not give them adequate control over decisions that affect their lives.
Women who face multiple forms of discrimination and oppression are often stereotyped. For example, older women or women with disability may be considered asexual in ways that make invisible the sexual violence they experience, or dismiss the significance of this violence.
Male peer relations that emphasise aggression, together with forms of masculinity that are based on ideas of male sexual entitlement can have particular impacts on some women. For example, racism and sexism can combine to drive men’s sexual violence against refugees and migrants, particularly women of colour – violence that is both gendered and racialised.
Get the guidelines