Whittlesea CALD Communities Family Violence Research Report 2012 | Page 54
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Research conducted in Australia (In Touch Inc, 2010) and the US suggests that service providers may
experience difficulties establishing trust within CALD communities (In Touch Inc, 2010, Runner et. al,
2009). The In Touch Report found that CALD women felt more comfortable accessing settlement
services and had an expectation that these services would be able to address all of their needs (In
Touch Inc, 2010, p.23). The report also found that there is a high level of trust in CALD specific
services amongst CALD communities but these services lack expertise in family violence (In Touch
Inc, 2010, p. 28) In consultations with CALD women and service providers for the scoping exercise
there was a perception amongst some sectors of the community that family violence specific
services promote or encourage divorce and the breakup of families. Partnerships and collaboration
between CALD specific and family violence specialist agencies may increase the capacity of both of
all agencies to address the needs of CALD communities. (In Touch Inc, 2010, Klevens, J., 2007,
Runner et. al, 2009).
Challenging Social Isolation – Mentoring and Group work
The literature and the consultations conducted for the scoping exercise highlighted the fact that
CALD women commonly experience social isolation and this can be exacerbated by other factors
including being newly arrived, lacking social connections and lacking English language proficiency.
The literature identifies a number of strategies that may assist women to break social isolation and
establish social connections including group work and mentoring.
There is recognition in the literature that group work can be a successful way of working with
women who have experienced trauma and as an intervention is particularly suited to assisting
victims of family violence. (Flannery et. al, 2000) Drawing on their experience conducting twelve
support groups for women experiencing family violence, including three in languages other than
English, Flannery, Irwin and Lopes identify four main benefits to working in groups with women who
have experienced family violence:
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Counteracting secrecy: groups can provide a safe environment for women to talk about and
understand their experiences as well as challenging abuse. Sharing experiences with other
women also provides validation for their experience.
Challenging isolation: it is a common feature of family violence that the abuser seeks to isolate
the victim from others which can contribute to loss of confidence and self esteem. Groups
provide women with an opportunity to re-establish contacts and relationships and provide
women with a sense of belonging
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