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Media Release

November 17 2006

Cultural perspectives on domestic violence

Domestic violence crosses cultural boundariesTo mark White Ribbon Day ( International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women), the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at UniSA and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Australia will present a special forum examining cultural issues in domestic violence.

Many people assume in Australian that domestic violence responses are now in better shape since we have “outed” the problem and set up targeted policing and counselling services. However, cultural differences in our Australian community can be a huge hurdle to solving the problem for some women and their families. Recent reports on indigenous communities have shown just how difficult it is to unravel family violence from other factors, including drug abuse, ill health and social breakdown. Similarly, many newly arrived migrants refuse to seek help for such problems.

As a means of showing some of the cultural complexities that exist in dealing with this issue internationally, Professor Veena Poonacha has travelled from her Women’s Studies Centre in Mumbai, India, to share her thoughts and experience on family violence for UNIFEM and the Hawke Centre at UniSA.

She will address the topic No Single Path: Cultural Perspectives in overcoming Domestic Violence and among her examples will be the tribal indigenous areas of Maharashtra, India, where conventional solutions have not necessarily led to an appropriate outcome.

"To discuss these issues, I begin with a story of a poor tribal woman, called Dondobai, who lived and died in the heart of the Dandakaranya forest a thousand miles away from the city of Mumbai where I live,” Prof Poonacha says.

“The story is set against the backdrop of the socio-economic and political changes that have affected the lives of this forest community."

Prof Poonacha will explain the challenges and hardships faced by development workers, as well as the pitfalls of interfering with indigenous community life, and shares general insights about the complexities of domestic violence and cultural ways.

This UNIFEM Informs seminar forms part of the Women’s Safety Strategy Conference, November 23-24, being organised through the SA Office for Women.

UNIFEM Australia and the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at UniSA present
No Single Path: Cultural Perspectives in overcoming Domestic Violence
Professor Veena Poonacha
SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai, India
Thursday November 23
4.45pm for 5pm start - refreshments available after seminar
Amy Wheaton Lecture Theatre, UniSA Magill campus (off St Bernards Rd)
$2 contribution to assist UNIFEM will be appreciated
To register, visit www.hawkecentre.unisa.edu.au

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