Violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is driven by the ongoing impacts of colonisation, alongside gender inequality. To prevent this violence, we must address these drivers. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience disproportionate rates of violence, and violence that is often more severe and more complex in its impacts, compared with non-Indigenous women. 

But violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is not an ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander problem’. This violence is perpetrated by men of all cultural backgrounds and has its roots in Australia’s history of colonisation. 

Changing the picture shows that while here is no single ‘cause’ of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, there are 3 underlying drivers: 

• the ongoing impacts of colonisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families and communities – including racial discrimination, the intergenerational impacts of dispossession and the forced removal of children, the interruption of cultural practices that mitigate against violence and ongoing economic exclusion  
• the ongoing impacts of colonisation for non-Indigenous people and society – including the ways non-Indigenous Australians benefit from the ongoing impacts of colonisation through their access to power, privilege and resources 
• factors relating to gender inequality. 

Responding to current extreme levels of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is critical. But to prevent this violence from happening in the first place, we need actions that directly address its three underlying drivers. 

Address the legacies and ongoing impacts of colonisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 

To do this, initiatives need to look at: 

• healing the impacts of intergenerational trauma and strengthening culture and identity 
• strengthening and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families 
• increasing access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  

Address the legacies and ongoing impacts of colonisation for non-Indigenous people 

To do this, initiatives need to look at: 

• challenging and preventing all forms of racism, indifference, ignorance and disrespect towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures – including in your conversations with others
• addressing discrimination and oppression our systems – including through advocacy for legal and policy reform
• challenging the condoning of violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, through things like media reporting. 

Address the gendered drivers of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women 

To do this, initiatives need to look at: 

• challenging the condoning of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women by challenging both racist and sexist attitudes and social norms
• supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s participation in leadership and decision making
• challenging gender stereotypes, and the impacts of colonisation on men’s and women’s roles, relationships and identities
• strengthen positive, equal and respectful relationships between women and men, girls and boys.