Learn about the issue

Violence against women and children is one of the most widespread violations of human rights worldwide.  

Common Grace longs for all households and churches to be places of nurture, safety and healing, and where violence against women and children is eliminated. But the reality is, far too many of our relationships are not only broken, but are experienced as coercive, oppressive, manipulative and abusive. For far too long, too many men have been raised to believe that they are entitled to dominate and have power over others, especially women, in both private and public settings.

While there has been many improvements in the prevention of violence against women, including a significant reduction in intimate-partner homicide in the last 30 years, and the majority of Australians agree that gender equality is important (Our Watch, Tracking Progress in Prevention), we know there is still a long way to go in our homes, churches and wider society. 

Domestic and Family Violence remains a national epidemic.

• 1 in 4 women have experienced violence by an intimate or family member (ABS, 2023). 
• On average, one woman is killed by an intimate partner or former partner every 10 days. 
• 1 in 6 women experienced childhood abuse (18%) (ABS, 2023)
• Women with disability are nearly twice as likely as women without disability to have experienced violence by a partner (Action to End Gendered Violence, DVNSW, 2023). 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are eight times more likely to be murdered from intimate-partner violence than non-indigenous women. (The Guardian).

Women and victim-survivors bear the brunt of the cost of Domestic and Family Violence. 

• DFV costs the country $26 billion each year, with victim-survivors bearing approx 50% of that cost. 
• Intimate partner homicide is the most preventable homicide type in Australia.  
• DFV is the single biggest risk factor contributing to disease burden for women aged 18 - 44 - more than smoking, drinking or obesity. 
• DFV is the leading driver of homelessness for women. 

And the church, not immune to this cultural norm, can be a place that either perpetuates and harbours violence against women or can be instrumental in offering justice, healing and transformation. 

When churches were only beginning to uncover the extent of intimate partner violence that was occurring in our society and churches, Common Grace began equipping churches, leaders, and victim-survivors to better understand, identify and respond to domestic and family violence through a free online resource called SAFER. 

The need for a continued and wide-scale societal transformation is clear. Common Grace believes that the call to obey and follow Jesus is to embody his love for justice, and to speak into this transformation both in the contexts of the church and wider society. The church can and should be a place of safety for all people, and a voice bringing good news for those who suffer oppression of any sort.