Support services

Family and Domestic Violence

Family violence is violent, threatening, scary, abusive or controlling behaviour to another family member. 

It includes financial, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse, fighting, shouting, choking, stalking, cyber stalking, and breaking or damaging things, or threatening to hurt or kill a family member’s pet.

Most actions that make a family member, including kids, feel scared or fearful will be family violence.

If you’re experiencing family violence you can speak to a lawyer for advice on how to apply for a violence restraining order to protect yourself or your children.

There are many different types of Family and Domestic Violence, including:

Elder abuse

When someone an older person knows and trusts is causing harm. Elder abuse is a form of Family and Domestic Violence.

Elder abuse can be:

• Physical violence
• Humbugging an Elder for money when they get pension pay
• Sexual violence

Emotional/psychological abuse

When you say and do things that make someone feel shame, no good, upset or scared. 

This includes when you:

• Blame or jealous someone unfairly.
• Call someone bad names or tell someone they are no good.
• Say and do things because you know it makes another person feel scared or worried.
• Play mind games.

Financial abuse

Financial abuse is when you take someone’s money or stop someone in your family using their money. 

It is when you humbug or make someone feel scared so that they give you money. 

It is when you spend a lot of your family’s money and then someone else doesn’t have money to look after the family and pay for things like food, house and power.

Power and control (Coercive control)

Power and control is when you try to be the boss of another person and that makes them feel no good.

You might:

• Stand over another person and tell them how to do things, like cooking and what to wear.
• Try to control how another person uses their money.
• Try to decide things for another person.

Adverse childhood experiences

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). Examples include:

• Experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect
• Witnessing violence in the home or community
• Having a family member attempt or die by suicide

Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Examples can include growing up in a household with:

• Substance use problems
• Mental health problems
• Instability due to parental separation
• Instability due to household members being in jail or prison

ACEs are common. About 64% of adults in the United States reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18. 

Preventing ACEs could potentially reduce many health conditions. Estimates show up to 1.9 million heart disease cases and 21 million depression cases potentially could have been avoided by preventing ACEs. Preventing ACEs could reduce suicide attempts among high school students by as much as 89%, prescription pain medication misuse by as much as 84%, and persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness by as much as 66%.

Where to get help?

If you don’t know where to get help for your problem, contact Kimberley Community Legal Services on 1800 797 088 or reach out to a local service. There are many servicers in the Kimberley to help you and you can find them through this link:

https://cwsw.org.au/directory/