Responding to Coerced and Tactical Suicide within the Context of Family Violence

This workshop explores the interplay between suicide and intimate partner violence

This workshop will begin to make sense of the interplay between suicide and inmate partner violence. Through the lens of coercive control and social entrapment, we will explore how patterns of threat and risk posed by perpetrators of intimate partner violence not only leads to potential homicide but also suicide of victims-survivors.

This workshop will provide scaffolding around our practice, to make visible the coercive and entrapping nature of intimate partner violence, to strengthen our risk assessment, safety planning and threat management work. We will also examine the tactical use of suicide by perpetrators and the ripple effects for victims, family, community.

There are critical learnings for us; to not only prevent, but as opportunities for early intervention as research shows that those who take their lives (victims/survivors and perpetrators) have contacted services prior to death.

Learning Outcomes 

• How we might make sense of the interplay and connections between suicide and intimate partner violence.
• New learnings from Professor Jane Monckton Smith who built on the 8 stage timeline to intimate partner homicide, exposing a sequential pattern to coerced suicide for victims-survivors.
• Ways that perpetrators tactically use threats to suicide or actual suicide and what this means for ongoing control and entrapment in the lives of victims-survivors.
• How as systems responding to coercive control we can predict or see patterns in our risk analysis to intervene and disrupt the constraints that intimate partner violence inflicts.

Event Details

Date:  Thursday, 8th August 2024
Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm AEST 
Location: Karstens Brisbane, Level 24/215 Adelaide St, Brisbane City QLD 4000

Who should attend

This session is for Domestic and Family Violence, Sexual Violence and Health and Wellbeing workers who are interested in learning more about responding to coerced and tactical suicide within the context of family violence.

About the facilitator

Tracy Castelino

Tracy has been working to challenge and eliminate injustice and inequality for over 20 years. She has a passion for seeking respectful and innovative ways of working with individuals, organisations and communities to respond to the various issues that cause marginalisation and vulnerability. Tracy, with her ShantiWorks’ team, works to create a reflective, educative space as a way to explore key issues such as domestic violence, whiteness and racism and responding to trauma.

Lisa French

Lisa French is a social worker living in Melbourne and has worked in the field of violence against women in Victoria and Queensland. She has worked in direct practice as an advocate and in community and government organisations. Lisa remains engaged in working directly with women and survivors of violence providing individual counselling.