Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon leads new research on intimate femicide perpetrator risks and points of intervention
This week, in her capacity as a Professor (Practice) at Monash University, Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon and colleagues have released a new report, Securing Women’s Lives.
The report presents the findings from their analysis of 235 sentencing judgments in cases of male perpetrator intimate partner femicide. The study examined risk and system interactions prior to the intimate femicide in order to build better understandings of early intervention and the prevention of the killing of women by men’s violence in Australia. The majority of perpetrators had known histories of violence and in many cases, different points of the system were aware of the violence within the intimate partner relationship. The findings from this research support recent calls across Australia for a greater focus on the perpetrators of violence against women. All Australian state and territory jurisdictions need to develop and embed effective perpetrator risk identification, assessment and management practices.
You can access the report here: https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/Securing_women_s_lives_examining_system_interactions_and_perpetrator_risk_in_intimate_femicide_sentencing_judgments_over_a_decade_in_Australia_/25855543
Journalist Wendy Tuohy wrote a comprehensive article for The Age, which appeared on the Front Page on Tuesday 18th June.
The article included comments from the Victorian Victims of Crime Commissioner Fiona McCormack and Dr Hayley Boxall (ANU).
You can read The Age article here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/what-70-per-cent-of-men-who-kill-their-partners-have-in-common-20240614-p5jlvi.html
On the day of the report release, 18 June, Kate joined ABC Radio National Drive to discuss the new research, including that of the 235 cases, 65% of offenders had a prior criminal conviction and more than a third had a prior conviction for domestic violence.
🎧Listen here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-drive/1605/103993830
On Sunday 29th June Kate was interviewed on the ABC Breakfast Show about the research findings. The findings showed that 1 in 10 male offenders in this study of 235 cases were on bail or parole at the time of the intimate femicide. The study highlights the need for domestic and family violence informed, risk sensitive judicial decision making.
