Working with Men: Identifying the Predominant Aggressor in Family Violence Presentations.

Misidentification of the predominant aggressor in family violence presentations has become a significant issue across the family violence landscape in our communities, particularly in the context of the justice response and pervasive instances of systems abuse across our community services.

Misidentification of the predominant aggressor occurs when a professional may align or collude (intentionally or unintentionally) with the narrative of the person who is using violence and abuse within a relationship, disadvantaging the genuine victim-survivor via this alignment and unexamined bias.

Misidentification can occur in any service interaction and is known to occur in health services, counselling services and other human service interactions.

Misidentification most commonly occurs in the justice response to violence, which has seen victim-survivors not presenting as a ‘perfect victim’ or having defended themselves against acts of violence from their partner mistakenly being identified as the predominant aggressor, often leading to them being subject to protection orders and being charged with assault offences. This has a devastating impact on the victim-survivor, who can face a criminal record, lose custody of her children, and face insurmountable barriers to receiving the support they need and deserve to access safety. Often, misidentification becomes a powerful tool of the abuser to continue to maintain power and control over his victim.

Misidentification is also frequently occurring across all service systems, as we witness an increase in perpetrators presenting to services as faux victim-survivors, often to further limit the genuine victim-survivors access to the services they require to ensure their safety and opportunities for support and healing, and perpetuate an ongoing campaign of systems abuse that the victim-survivor may face for years to come.

Delivered over a 6-hour training workshop session, the Identifying the Primary Aggressor in Family Violence Presentations workshop has been developed to:

· Update and resource those working within the family violence sector who are, or may come into contact with, those who are predominant aggressors of family violence

· Train participants in the use of Engender Equality’s Predominant Aggressor Screening Checklist that can be used during family violence risk assessments to identify the predominant aggressor in family violence presentations

· Address professional gaps in knowledge and skillset of participants, while increasing practitioner confidence in screening practices where there are challenges in identifying the predominant aggressor or where misidentification has occurred.

We invite professionals from the family violence sector who work with families and individuals experiencing family violence to attend this important professional development and training opportunity.

Please note this training is a masterclass workshop, and requires participants to have either attended the Recognise, Respond, Refer workshop, or have extensive experience within the family violence sector and knowledge of the types and presentations of family violence.

A digital copy of Engender Equality’s Working With Men Guidelines and Predominant Aggressor Screening Tool for personal professional use will be provided as part of the ticket cost (valued at $50).

This training has been capped at 15 participants, per best practice for online adult education and training. We do have a waitlist arranged and will consider an additional workshop if required.

Engender Equality Professional Development & Training

For almost 40 years, Engender Equality has worked with and on behalf of individuals, families and communities affected by family and domestic violence in Tasmania. We provide free and ongoing therapeutic support to victim-survivors across our state, while enacting a high degree of systemic advocacy, primary prevention and community education to fight to create a community free of violence against women and children.  

Engender Equality's training and leadership team possess a high level of expertise and experience in the fields of gender equality and family violence, guided by research evidence and knowledge enriched through our work across the family violence sector.

Our profound understanding of all forms and presentations of family violence, coupled with insights into the unique experiences of victim-survivors, has driven the development of our evidence-based training and professional development workshops, which we deliver to organisations, government departments and community groups across Australia.

Delivering training as part of our social enterprise, all profits gained from these workshops go directly back to supporting the victim-survivors of family violence who attend our service across Tasmania.