Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia have no place in Victoria. Yet hate-crimes remain a real fear and reality for LGBTIQA+ communities. Respect Victoria is alarmed and disheartened by the rise in violence against the LGBTIQA+ community in Victoria. This includes a recent increase in targeted attacks against gay and bi+ men lured through fake profiles on dating apps, as well as ongoing and intensifying anti-LGBTIQA+ backlash internationally and across Australia which is causing profound harms to LGBTIQA+ communities, particularly trans and gender diverse people who have been targeted through hateful social and political discourse, direct violence and in some cases legislation and policies that can cause harm.
Respect Victoria's submission to this inquiry highlights the shared and overlapping drivers of violence against LGBTIQA+ people and violence against women. It explores the importance of primary prevention as a fundamental shared solution to addressing harmful gender norms and attitudes and preventing all forms of gendered violence. Drawing on our recent report Maintain the Momentum, we discuss opportunities to strengthen existing primary prevention efforts to address violence against LGBTIQA+ people and communities, including:
- supporting and disseminating research and practice evidence
- ensuring dedicated and sustained investment in primary prevention
- supporting workforce development and capacity building
- delivering targeted resourcing and support for LGBTIQA+ community-led organisations
- including the perspectives and priorities of LGBTIQA+ communities in prevention policy and programs
- governments, agencies and sector working together to address misogynistic radicalisation and gendered disinformation in online spaces.
Key Considerations
In response to this inquiry, we offer six key considerations to support the Committee’s discussions:
- Support and disseminate research and emerging practice evidence on men and masculinities, particularly considering how heteronormativity and cisnormativity contribute to violence against LGBTIQA+ people, particularly homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. This should include monitoring and evaluation of online environments, harms and rates of experiences of violence against all LGBTIQA+ communities.
- Dedicated and sustained investment in primary prevention of all forms of gendered violence. Including for:
(a) initiatives that address the drivers of violence against LGBTIQA+ communities
(b) embedding intersectional and gender-transformative approaches in mainstream organisations and programs
(c) partnerships between mainstream primary prevention organisations and LGBTIQA+ community organisations
(d) increased meaningful visibility of LGBTIQA+ people who are representative of the diversity of communities in all state and national strategies and action plans, including reportable, defined actions and goals to normalise and embed inclusive practice design and resourcing. - Support workforce development and capacity building to ensure that prevention efforts include effective and evidence-informed, strategies and programs that address the drivers and impacts of violence against LGBTIQA+ communities, particularly trans and gender diverse people, across justice, community, health and mainstream family, sexual violence and prevention organisations.
- Targeted resourcing and support for LGBTIQA+ community-led organisations that work with and support the diversity of communities experiencing harm to enable sustainability and long-term planning and create pathways into the prevention workforce for LGBTIQA+ people.
- Require and resource inclusion of the perspectives and priorities of LGBTIQA+ communities in relevant government-funded prevention policy and program design.
- Implement Recommendation 15d of Respect Victoria’s Three Yearly Report to Parliament 2022-2024, work with and advocate to the Australian Government and other Australian state and territory governments and agencies to address misogynistic radicalisation and gendered disinformation in online spaces. This should include increased responsibility of technology platforms to prioritise user safety.
Download our submission.
Respect Victoria acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples and Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands and waterways. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. We proudly acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and their ongoing strength in being the world’s oldest living cultures. We acknowledge the significant and ongoing impacts of colonisation and commit to working alongside First Nations communities to effect change. We recognise the ongoing leadership role of these communities in addressing and preventing family violence and violence against women, and will continue to work in collaboration with First Peoples to eliminate these forms of violence from all communities.
Respect Victoria is the state’s dedicated organisation for the prevention of family violence and violence against women. Our vision is a Victorian community where all people are safe, equal and respected, and live free from family violence and violence against women.
Respect Victoria is alarmed and disheartened by the rise in violence against the LGBTIQA+ community in Victoria.
There is significant overlap between the drivers of violence against LGBTIQA+ people and violence against women, and thus we encourage a focus from the Committee on primary prevention in addressing the shared norms, practices and structures that allow violence against LGBTIQA+ people and gendered violence to occur.
It is important to consider that there are many communities of LGBTQIA+ people, and violence manifests in different ways. Any efforts to address harms must be inclusive of differing contexts, experiences and identities. Of note, and one that Respect Victoria is particularly concerned about is the rising tide of trans misogyny, and many cases of public discrimination and harm directed to all trans and gender diverse people.
Continuing and strengthening efforts to address harmful gender norms and attitudes is fundamental in preventing all forms of gendered violence, including violence against women, children and all LGBTIQA+ people and communities.
Primary prevention offers a shared solution to achieving a Victoria where everyone is safe, equal and respected - free from discrimination and violence, and where people of all genders and sexualities are accepted and supported. While this is our primary motivator, we acknowledge that efforts to achieve this goal must be nuanced, safe for, and inclusive of all LGBTQIA+ communities.
In the following submission, we directly respond to the Terms of Reference for this inquiry and provide a series of key considerations, that align with the recommendations previously presented to government in Respect Victoria’s report Maintain the Momentum: Three Yearly Report to Parliament on the Progress of Prevention 2022-2024, to support the Committee's deliberations.
Key Considerations
In response to this inquiry, we offer six key considerations to support the Committee’s discussions:
- Support and disseminate research and emerging practice evidence on men and masculinities, particularly considering how heteronormativity and cisnormativity contribute to violence against LGBTIQA+ people, particularly homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. This should include monitoring and evaluation of online environments, harms and rates of experiences of violence against all LGBTIQA+ communities.
- Dedicated and sustained investment in primary prevention of all forms of gendered violence. Including for:
(a) initiatives that address the drivers of violence against LGBTIQA+ communities
(b) embedding intersectional and gender-transformative approaches in mainstream organisations and programs
(c) partnerships between mainstream primary prevention organisations and LGBTIQA+ community organisations
(d) increased meaningful visibility of LGBTIQA+ people who are representative of the diversity of communities in all state and national strategies and action plans, including reportable, defined actions and goals to normalise and embed inclusive practice design and resourcing. - Support workforce development and capacity building to ensure that prevention efforts include effective and evidence-informed, strategies and programs that address the drivers and impacts of violence against LGBTIQA+ communities, particularly trans and gender diverse people, across justice, community, health and mainstream family, sexual violence and prevention organisations.
- Targeted resourcing and support for LGBTIQA+ community-led organisations that work with and support the diversity of communities experiencing harm to enable sustainability and long-term planning and create pathways into the prevention workforce for LGBTIQA+ people.
- Require and resource inclusion of the perspectives and priorities of LGBTIQA+ communities in relevant government-funded prevention policy and program design.
- Implement Recommendation 15d of Respect Victoria’s Three Yearly Report to Parliament 2022-2024, work with and advocate to the Australian Government and other Australian state and territory governments and agencies to address misogynistic radicalisation and gendered disinformation in online spaces. This should include increased responsibility of technology platforms to prioritise user safety.
