What family violence workers see when injured women come for help

“They can be particularly disfiguring, for example injuries to the face with knives or sharp force, or sometimes injuries designed not to kill them but to then disfigure them and cause psychological damage.”

While statistics on verified violent deaths among women are being tallied – so far only by volunteers online – Dr Sarah Whitelaw, an emergency physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, agrees with Chris and other medical experts, academics and social workers that the full images of harm to Victorian women are not captured in data – but they should be.

Experts are calling for better information sharing between hospital networks and the use of technology to help understand the broader picture of domestic violence, which – with community anger increasing around 28 alleged murders of women by men this year – could help governments can help provide adequate answers.

Whitelaw, who works in one of Victoria’s two major trauma hospitals, describes the toll domestic violence takes on Victorian women as “a hidden epidemic”.

Multiple agencies collect data on injuries caused by domestic violence, but there is no central way to store or access it. Some domestic violence injuries are sent to the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, but only those reported to police or hospital staff as committed by a partner, which is often not the case.

This week, Will Alstergren, Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit and Family Court, also called for better information sharing among the country’s family courts to enable courts to best assess cases in which women may be at risk and to identify the level of risk they face. sight.

Whitelaw says the hospital accommodates women who have been in extreme pain and trauma for some time, but who are forced to wait “hours or days” by the perpetrator before they can receive treatment.

“As part of our daily case presentations in the emergency department, we see the spectrum from the first presentation of injury to the 50th presentation of injury… what we look for and what we often see are patterns of injury,” says Whitelaw.

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“We are learning a lot about non-accidental injuries – injuries to bilateral (both) arms that can be defensive and sustained while trying to defend yourself. It’s often a situation where our nurses notice that this woman is trying to tell us something. sometimes with her eyes, sometimes with her body language.”

“They are very difficult to deal with; when you see people who have been injured repeatedly over days, weeks or years. Sometimes it can be just as difficult to deal with as some of the really serious injuries we see, if there are repetitive injuries, or if there is abuse over an extended period of time.”

Distressing scenarios for hospital staff, as well as for families and most of all for the victim, include women with brain injuries from domestic violence, chest and abdominal injuries, and injuries to pregnant women that also endanger the baby, she said.

Frontline staff want women to know that they will receive safe support in hospitals, and that they will not be judged if they choose to follow only some of the advice offered, even if and when they feel ready to reveal that the damage was caused by family. violence.

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Hospital networks do not have interconnected information systems, which means that if victims of violence – who may not have felt safe disclosing the cause of their injuries – are taken to hospitals in different networks, the staff who care for them are likely to treats do not know that they have been treated. previously admitted for non-accidental domestic violence.

This knowledge could help medical providers provide targeted support.

Dr. Christine Craik, a social work academic at RMIT who worked for 12 years in the intensive care unit of one of Melbourne’s largest trauma hospitals, says that because hospitals in different regions have different information systems, medical staff cannot see whether women have had different information systems. recent injuries that may have resulted from violence, and may miss the opportunity to help them get support.

“In some states, such as Tasmania and New South Wales, hospital emergency departments are connected, but in Victoria that does not happen,” she said.

“We had cases where the perpetrators chose Sunshine Hospital for one thing, and then five months later they came to Austin and then to The Alfred or another hospital…but they’re not talking to each other, we might be able to talk about red flags if they did.”

All experts said more hospital information should be adopted that could help gain a clearer understanding of the true extent of harm to women from domestic violence, along with strict privacy and confidentiality measures to keep the information safe.

Farah Mak, a domestic violence survivor who works with other women to help restore a sense of self-worth, spoke at the Family Violence Remembrance Day candlelight vigil near Parliament House on Wednesday evening, saying advocates want systemic reforms.

“Domestic and family violence spares no one and does not discriminate,” she said. “It is a plague that ignores the boundaries of background, culture, race, religion, wealth or upbringing. Its insidious reach touches lives across all walks of life, leaving a trail of devastation and heartache in its wake.”

Dr. Stefan Kane, head of the maternity unit at the Royal Women’s Hospital, agreed with other experts who said it is possible to gather more information, even anonymously, from women whose injuries – or as is strongly suspected to be the case with some patients, whose miscarriages are caused by domestic violence, could improve the response for women and people at risk.

“How do we collect routine data better, but do it in a systematic way… in a way that captures the things that are going on beneath the surface that we suspect or that women reveal but don’t capture?” Kane said.

“The deaths (of women from domestic violence) are the tip of the iceberg; they are very visible and naturally and appropriately evoke a great deal of distress. But… it’s only a small part of what we see.”

Support is available via the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Advisory Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).