Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) in the Indo-Pacific
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On 2-3 June 2025, Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) and the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria (AIIA-VIC) hosted the international conference, Justice Denied: Fighting widespread impunity for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
Over 200 delegates attended the first international conference to be convened to specifically address the persistence of systematic and conflict-related sexual and gender- based violence in the Indo-Pacific region (abbreviated as CRSV). The conference brought together speakers from across the region and the globe, with a
strong emphasis on expert voices and lived experience from conflict-affected situations.
Countries represented included: Afghanistan, Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kosovo, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, USA, UK.
Statement of Action
The conference adopted a Statement of Action, identifying the Indo-Pacific as a focal point for CRSV learning, activism, and lived experience.
CEVAW has identified three priority actions to ensure survivor-centred rights, care, dignity, justice and agency across the Indo-Pacific:
- Establish an Indo-Pacific CRSV Collaborative Network open to all, to bridge gaps and share knowledge across research, practice and policy virtually.
- Convene a biennial conference on CRSV in the Indo-Pacific ensuring all aspects of CRSV advocacy, research, practice and policy are included. Next one will be held in June 2027 (Save the date!)
- Create ongoing opportunities for research and publishing with survivors and survivor-advocacy groups.
We encourage survivors, survivor networks, scholars, students, civil society representatives, practitioners and policymakers to join the Network. Meetings will be online. Conference preparation will begin in 2026 so please join to be part of the discussion and research. We strongly encourage members from the Indo-Pacific region.
First Nations Women’s Engagement with the Family Law System in the Context of Family Violence - The Evidence Base
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April 2025
Abstract
This review focusses on First Nations women’s engagement with the family law system, especially in the context of family violence (FV). It consolidates key considerations gathered from existing research about, and by, First Nations people and their engagement with colonial structures and institutions, focussing on the family law system.
In Australia, there has been growing recognition and understanding of the impacts of colonisation and historic and contemporary oppressive and discriminatory policies and practices on First Nations people and communities, both at an interpersonal level and in how systems and services are designed and delivered. This has underpinned efforts to reform systems and services with the aim to improve the accessibility, equity, inclusiveness and outcomes for First Nations women.
First Nations women face a significantly higher risk of FV than non-First Nations women and are also at greater risk of having their children removed from their care by state-based child protection agencies – potentially as a result of FV, institutional racism and other factors. The family law system may offer some protection against child removal. As such, identifying barriers and exploring how these barriers to the family law system can be dismantled for First Nations women is a vital component of Australia’s strategy to reduce FV risks and harm. Targeted consideration of the legal and non-legal drivers and barriers First Nations women experience when engaging, or considering engaging, with the family law system is crucial.
This review finds that there has been limited research specifically on First Nations women’s engagement with family law in the context of FV. Further research to identify and understand the needs of First Nations women in the family law system, especially in the context of FV, is necessary. Further analysis of available data from family courts, family law cases, support services and research with service providers and victim-survivors is needed to better understand the dynamics and drivers of First Nations women’s engagement with the family law system. This is required to continue to enhance accessibility, equity, inclusiveness and outcomes for First Nations people and to prioritise the identification of systemic reform and to highlight required service changes and other reforms as part of this endeavour. Additionally, further research is needed to provide a clear evidentiary basis to understand what is working well and to inform recommendations to reform the ways in which the family law system can best work to meet the needs of First Nations women who have experienced FV.
This review developed out of a partner project between Women’s Legal Services Australia (WLSA) and the Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. WLSA is a peak body for two First Nations Women’s Legal Services, Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre and First Nations Women’s Legal Service Queensland, and other Women’s Legal Services that provide legal assistance and support services to First Nations women. The focus of our review is grounded in what our partner, WLSA, has identified as a key priority area in terms of practically-oriented research that is needed on the ground.
Suggested citation
Douglas, H., and Kerr, K., (2025). First Nations Women’s Engagement with the Family Law System in the Context of Family Violence. The Evidence Base. Centre for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. https://cevaw.org/article/first-nations-womens-engagement-with-the-family-law-system-in-the-context-of-family-violence-the-evidence-base/
DOI
10.26188/28536698
Judicial Officers and Best Practice: Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Experience of Family Violence Protection Order Proceedings. Literature Review.
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December 2024
Introduction
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s experience of the judicial system is shaped by intersecting factors. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience high rates of family violence, alongside structural forms of violence and racial inequality through incarceration and the criminal legal system. This intersection influences how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience mainstream legal systems, including the judicial system. Although Aboriginal sentencing courts exist (see Appendix A), the scope of these courts is limited. The vast majority of legal matters involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are being heard in mainstream courts (Cunneen, 2018). As Langton et al. (2020, p. 70) affirm in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s engagement with legal and social support services, commenting on systems abuse specifically:
It is likely that there are further compounding factors for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders engaging with the judicial system, such as cultural approaches and understandings of justice. However, this gap in the literature is another area requiring further investigation.
In this literature review, we highlight areas of investigation in relation to these ‘compounding factors’, by examining both secondary and grey literature. In so doing, we echo Langton et al.’s (2020) call for further research on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who are victim-survivors of family violence, and their engagements with the judicial system.
We will first provide a brief overview of scholarship that examines family violence and the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. We will then explore literature that focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s experience of mainstream courts, paying particular attention to family violence protection order proceedings. We group this literature under three key themes. First, we consider the barriers to access and participation in court proceedings. Second, we explore the role of judicial officers. Third, we examine existing literature on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Court Support Officers. In exploring this scholarship, we outline limitations in our current understanding of best practice and the role that judicial officers can play in improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s experience of family violence protection order proceedings.
In engaging what Tynan and Bishop (2023, p. 498) describe as ‘relationality’ when writing this literature review, we focus on particular literatures. As non-Indigenous settler researchers, we prioritise the voices and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics, and we also draw on submissions to key inquiries (see Appendix B2) from Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. We recognise that any research on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s experience of the judicial system must be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led. As Ms Wendy Anders, Chief Executive Officer of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance (‘NATSIWA’), emphatically notes in a recent hearing for the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs: Inquiry Into Family Violence Orders (‘Family Violence Order Inquiry’): …for any system change, Aboriginal women—or Aboriginal people—have to be at the centre of it. They have to be the ones who are saying, ‘This is what we want; this is what we need,’ and I think there are a lot of things happening that just don’t include Aboriginal women’s voices.
Having a system that is culturally appropriate and culturally respectful would be a huge step towards healing their trauma. (House of Representatives Committee, 2024a, p. 39)In this literature review, we centre Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and consolidate literature that provides insight into both the potential avenues and barriers towards a culturally responsive and respectful family violence protection order system. We conclude this literature review by affirming that any research on this topic must be led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and centre their voices and experiences. We also highlight that this research is only one part of a broader picture and call for consideration to be given to structural change and responses that sit outside of settler legal systems.
Suggested citation
O’Donnell, S., and Douglas, H. (2024). Judicial officers and best practice: Improving Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander women’s experience of family violence protection order proceedings. Literature Review.
Centre for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. https://cevaw.org/article/judicial-officers-and-bestpractice-
improving-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-womens-experience-of-family-violence-protectionorder-
proceedings-literature-review/
DOI
10.26188/27898494
Sexual Harassment in Higher Education Report: The Indo-Pacific
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November 2024
Executive Summary.
This report explores how sexual harassment in higher education settings is understood, addressed and responded to in 28 Indo-Pacific countries: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam.
Of the 28 countries:
• Three had national policies specifically addressing sexual harassment in higher education
institutions (Australia, Indonesia, Philippines).
• Four had special procedures in place addressing sexual harassment in higher education
institutions (Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines).
• The majority of universities within the focus countries (21 of 28) had some form of institutional
policy in place addressing sexual harassment.
Key challenges relating to the implementation of institutional policies included:
• Knowledge and ease of access to reporting and support procedures.
• Lack of confidentiality for victim-survivors in reporting.
• Fear of reputational damage to institutions impacting on the effectiveness of procedures.
• Disconnect between policies/procedures and what happens in practice.
• Perceived lack of institutional prioritisation of victim-survivor needs and interests.
Promising elements of the institutional policies included:
• Developing specialised sexual violence committees or taskforces to handle reports.
• Integrating well-executed support systems for victim-survivors across the reporting and
investigation processes.
• Widening the definition of sexual harassment to include the full range of sexually harmful
behaviours, such as technology-facilitated sexual violence.
• Updating and revising policies regularly, including conducting audits and reviews.
• Sexual consent training for students and staff to help shift problematic cultural and gendered
attitudes around victim-blaming, harm and sexual violence.
Background
Sexual harassment in higher education can involve any unwelcome and/or threatening sexual conduct which makes a person feel intimated, offended or humiliated, such as non-consensual sexual advances, sexual comments or jokes, relational or sexual pursuit, and sending sexually explicit communications (WHO, 2024a). These behaviours can occur in-person, online or using digital technologies within the university context, on or off campus, and before, during or after normal university operating hours (Flynn et al., 2024; Heywood et al., 2022). For example, sending sexual comments or sexually explicit images to a student using their university contact details, or making an unwelcome sexual advance at a social or professional occasion arranged or supported by a university, or where students or staff from the university are present in a university context (Heywood et al., 2022).
In the last five years, there have been growing concerns around the prevalence and challenges of sexual harassment in higher education settings across the Indo-Pacific region. While prevalence rates vary across countries and institutions, and in some cases are not recorded (e.g. Fiji), a systematic review across low and middle-income countries found higher rates of sexual harassment in higher education institutions than other settings, including the workplace (Ranganathan et al., 2021). This pattern seems to correspond with the higher prevalence of sexual violence among the 15–25-year age group across countries in population-based surveys–the same age group predominantly in higher education (WHO, 2018).
Higher education settings are a formative part of many young people’s social, cultural and career development. This environment thus warrants increasing action from within higher education institutions and from governments to prevent, reduce and provide appropriate responses to combat sexual harassment in higher education.
Aims and Methods
The primary objective of this report is to understand how experiences of sexual harassment in higher education settings are understood, addressed and responded to in 28 focus countries across the Indo-Pacific: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam. These countries were selected because they are all United Nations (UN) member states situated in the Indo-Pacific region, as defined by the UN Economic and Social Council.
They also had national level data available. The report summarises findings on the state of government and institutional legislation, policies and special procedures relevant to sexual harassment in higher education settings across these 28 countries, informed by a desk review of relevant literature and policy data. It also presents a discussion on the practical implementation of these policies, drawing on interviews with ten stakeholders working in six higher education institutions in the Indo Pacific.
Findings
Of the 28 countries included in the review, only three had evidence of national policies specifically addressing sexual harassment in higher education institutions (Australia, Indonesia, Philippines), and four had evidence of special procedures in place addressing sexual harassment in higher education institutions (Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines). Indonesia and the Philippines have legislation that guides sexual harassment policies and responses specifically in higher education institutions. Australian universities have been operating under the Universities Australia’s (peak body) Charter on Sexual Harm (2023) and the Primary Prevention of Sexual Harm in the University Sector Good Practice Guide (2023), but in 2024, further changes were made through the National Action Plan Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Higher Education (2024).
Sixteen of the 28 countries have national legislation that criminalises sexual harassment (six only criminalise this in the workplace), which offers some protection for students and staff, but it does not necessarily address the prevention of this form of sexual violence. Overall, the majority of countries had an institutional policy which in some way addressed or defined sexual harassment (21 of the 28 countries), but the depth and extent to which these policies captured all forms of sexually harassing behaviours and appropriately responded to them, varies greatly among institutions.
Implications
The effective implementation of institutional policies and processes relating to sexual harassment varied across countries and institutions with a range of implementation failures identified in the reporting and investigation processes, in supporting victim-survivors and in general sexual consent education training. The absence of information on how to report sexual harms was also a common finding. While some institutions were identified by participants as leading the way in their development of effective programs, processes and reporting procedures, there remains much to be learnt and shared among the Indo-Pacific to improve the prevention of, and responses to, sexual harassment in higher education settings.
Suggested citation
Flynn, A., Carrea, K., True, J., Davies, S. E., Quilty, E., Ballangarry, J. & Puspita, S. (2024) Sexual Harassment in Higher Education Report: The Indo-Pacific. CEVAW: Melbourne.
DOI
10.26188/27850302