1. Women Igniting Change Research Collaboration

2. Overview Domestic violence in Aotearoa Domestic violence research Women leaving Collaborative Research 2

3. Domestic Violence (DV) in Aotearoa On average 14 women, 6 men & 10 children die from family violence every year Between 2002-2006 there were 74 couple- related homicides –77 adult victims (60 women) –79 perpetrators The number of recorded “male assaults female” offences for 2008 was 9630. In 1999 it was 6949 (NZ Police 2010) 3

4. Domestic Violence Research DV has received more research attention than other forms of family violence (Lievore & Mayhew 2007) However, there are gaps in our understanding about –Financial abuse –Same sex partner violence –Resilience & protective factors Paucity of research about how women move away from domestic violence 4

5. 5 Funded by the Lottery Community Research Fund Te Awatea Violence Research Centre

6. 6 Project Aim To build collaborative relationships between the Christchurch Women’s Refuge, the Family Help Trust and Te Awatea Violence Research Centre for the purpose of enhancing the community’s capacity to respond to domestic violence.

7. Research Aim To understand the decision-making process for women in addressing violence in their relationships and to develop an empowerment resource that is useful for other women in similar situations. 7

8. 8 Research Participants Recruited from Women’s Refuge & Family Help Trust (historical cases) Women who have been living violence-free in their relationships for 2 years or more N = 30 (15 from each agency)

9. What we know about women leaving DV Women who stay –Emotional investment: loved him (26.1%), forgave him (11.8%), he would change (14.5%) –Children: couldn’t leave them (21.3%) –Marriage sanctity (15.5%) Fanslow & Robinson (2010) 9

10. Collaborative Research That higher education is “society relevant” Benefits for academics Benefits for industry A challenging endeavour 10

11. Steps to Collaboration –Build the relationship –No hidden agenda –Negotiate at every step –Set clear goals and objectives –Share and assign responsibilities –Talk about data sharing –Discuss as much as possible how conflict will be resolved. 11