The smaller states and territories have a greater concentration of people towards the highest or lowest ends of the income spectrum. Poverty rates are highest in non-urban areas in the smallest states and territories, including 52,000 people outside the capital in Tasmania.
Intersectionality is a term many of us may be unfamiliar with, but which is a term being used more and more in public discourse around domestic and family violence.
Intersectionality in relation to domestic and family violence is a study of how different categories of identity overlap and interact to create unique experiences of discrimination and its opposite, privilege.
Intersectionality is intertwined with the drivers of partner violence – gender, inequality and oppression – doubly impacting the forms of abuse a victim experiences.
Tasmanians, and in particular children and the elderly, are especially affected as much as of the state’s population lives in regional, rural and remote communities where education, employment and access to social services is severely limited.
The result is individuals facing intersecting forms of oppression and greater discrimination due to: sexual orientation and identity, gender and gender identity, economic status, immigration status and national origin, and ability to improve their external circumstances.
These factors interact to create unique experiences of violence, but they also interact in a way that weakens a person’s position in society and increases their vulnerability and disenfranchisement.
A victim’s experience of violence is shaped by: race, colour, religion, marital status, age, disability and living in a remote area.
Intersection of the factors above too often leads to vulnerability and higher risk of homelessness, drug dependence, acute distress and trauma.
Inequality leading to poverty in Australia, and locally in Tasmania, is escalating the divide between the wealthy and the poor.
The smaller states and territories have a greater concentration of people towards the highest or lowest ends of the income spectrum. Poverty rates are highest in non-urban areas in the smallest states and territories, including 52,000 people outside the capital in Tasmania. (For more information, see the 2019-20 report Income distribution of people by State/Territory - Poverty and Inequality).
Today Tasmania is facing an education crisis with the worst rates of literacy in adults.
In 2022 Tasmania's year 12 attainment rate was 53.1 per cent — the worst of any state or territory. See also Independent review into Tasmania's education system finds literacy, staff workloads need to be improved - ABC News
Recent ABS census data shows the number of Tasmanians who describe themselves as homeless jumped 44.8 per cent, or 728 people, between 2016 and 2021. Charities have reported being unable to cope with the increased demand on services. The Tasmanian government says it spends at a rate "much high than the national average" per person on the homelessness issue.
The number of Tasmanians experiencing homelessness is continuing to rise.
On census night in 2021, 2,350 people in Tasmania said they were experiencing homelessness, compared with 1,622 on census night in 2016.
Lack of education and housing are just two of the categories of intersectionality Tasmania experiences. I believe one of our state’s greatest issues causing inequality is the abundance of regional communities spread across Tasmania far from urban communities and facilities and services providing support to the disenfranchised.
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How is intersectionality with respect to family violence mitigated?
Mitigating intersectionality requires a multifaceted approach including promoting awareness of the various factors at play in an individual’s life that increase systemic inequality and discrimination.
Mitigation involves implementing inclusive policies which address the problems in marginalised communities to support them in meaningful ways.
Key steps include:
Raising the awareness and understanding of the public, organisations and policy makers of how intersectionality impacts individuals.
Devising supports that truly are relevant in addressing inequality.
Provide training on intersectionality for organisations, community leaders and frontline workers to recognise this form of discrimination that will in turn foster inclusivity, build empathy for those experiencing inequality and raise awareness.
Implement policies and practises that are inclusive of all intersecting identities and address potential barriers to equality.
Encourage diversity when hiring, promoting and in decision-making processes. Doing this considers the unique makeup and needs of diverse groups.
Support marginalised communities by empowering marginalised voices, involving community members in shaping policies and programs that affect them.
Governments need to:
Prioritise the provision of resources and support services to marginalised communities, including mental health services, legal assistance and advocacy.
Address structural barriers. To do this work may involve dismantling current structural institutions and obstacles that contribute to intersectional inequalities such as discrimination in housing, employment and access to services.
Promote anti-discrimination measures. Enforce anti-discrimination policies and laws.
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Advocacy and activism can lead to solutions that effectively address discrimination and inequality while increasing progress in supports for the disenfranchised.
By implementing these strategies, Tasmania can move towards a more inclusive and equitable society where the needs of individuals are recognised and remedied even when they face overlapping systems of oppression.
Deborah Thomson moved to Tasmania with her daughter in 2010, and now lives with her partner of nine years and a parrot. She moved to escape domestic violence and, inspired by her new partner, wrote her first book, Whose Life Is It Anyway? Recognising and Surviving Domestic Violence, to help others recognise abuse (and in particular coercive control), in the home, and to increase their motivation to leave earlier. After publishing her first book, she became a trained advocate through Engender Equality, a non-government Tasmanian organisation working with people and communities impacted by family violence. Deborah Thomson advocates for survivors of family violence, speaking at domestic violence events across Tasmania, through media channels and podcasts. She recently completed a second book, detailing lived experience with domestic violence by her then husband, spanning 17 years from 1985 to 2003. This book is now used in Tasmania as an information resource for family violence counsellors and students on practicals.
