Mitchell Community Health                                                                         

PRESS RELEASE October 2007

Leading the way in Relationship Violence Prevention…

Mitchell Community Health Services (MCHS) Family Violence Team has just released a world-first research report on adolescent girls’ attitudes and responses to warning signs of intimate partner abuse. Kylie Murphy conducted the joint project with MCHS and RMIT University , and will be presenting the results at the 2007 International Association of Relationship Research Conference to be held in November.

Kylie was thrilled with the response of adolescent girls to the recruitment drive. “We had almost 200 girls generously give their time to complete anonymous questionnaire.

The research showed that girls know what partner behaviours can cause problems, and they don’t like these behaviours in their relationships. The research revealed, however, that nearly all of the girls could benefit from practical training in protective ways to respond to problematic behaviours. “Few girls identified strategies that they could use, to prevent abusive dynamics from becoming entrenched.

“There are ways that girls who are at risk can discourage abuse. It is important that young women who are in abusive relationships seek support, that’s where the counsellors in our Family Violence Service can help,” Kylie advised.

The research findings are consistent with MCHS’ Family Violence Team’s comprehensive approach to the issue of intimate partner abuse. “Girls need to be empowered with protective skills to help keep their relationships healthy and safe from the outset.  Unfortunately, they are not born with this know how”

“It’s important to be aware that boys and men can be hurt by their partners, too. Every relationship has it’s own unique dynamics, and abuse isn’t always a one-way street. But the evidence shows us that females stand to be much worse affected by relationship abuse than males,” Kylie explained.

The success of this project was largely attributable to the active support of local secondary colleges. “Both Government and Catholic sector schools supported this initiative. This project identified what training is required for young people to help them keep their relationships safe. The results of this study foundthat just telling girls not to accept abuse is not enough.

We plan to use the results to create a program to help girls better protect themselves from outcomes that can be really damaging for women in relationships,” Kylie said.

WHAT’S OK - WHAT’S NOT OK IN RELATIONSHIPS?

A Joint Initiative of RMIT University and Mitchell Community Health Services Inc.
72 Ferguson St (PO Box 84) Broadford Victoria 3658 
Ph. 03 5784 5555  Fax. 03 5784 3314 email info@mitchellchs.org.au

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