Technology-facilitated domestic violence is an emerging issue for social workers and other service providers. The concept of Digital Coercive Control (DCC) is introduced to highlight the particular nature and impacts of technology-facilitated abuse in the context of domestic violence. While practitioners have become more adept at working with women experiencing DCC, there is still little known about its dynamics and whether this violence requires a change in current service responses. This article explores findings from survey research conducted with 546 Australian domestic violence practitioners about the ways perpetrators use technology as part of their abuse tactics. The findings demonstrate that DV practitioners believe perpetrator use of technology is extensive and has significant impacts on the safety of clients. A major dilemma faced by practitioners is how to promote and facilitate client safety from DCC while still enabling safe use of technology so clients can remain connected to family, friends, and community. IMPLICATIONS. The use of digital technology in domestic violence creates a significant practice issue for Australian domestic violence practitioners.. The development of a practice framework for responding to digital coercive control may assist practitioners to highlight the risks posed by this abuse, while still enabling women and children the freedom to participate in the digital realm.

Young women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are most likely to turn to their friends for help. Although friends can play a critical role in providing support, there is little research that examines friends’ experiences. In this qualitative study, we explored how friends of young women experiencing IPV perceived their role in responding to IPV in the context of friendship. We held in-depth interviews with 15 friends of young women who had experienced IPV and used reflexive thematic analysis to develop key themes from the data. We developed two overarching themes that reflected participants’ perceptions of the roles they had played or considered as a friend in responding to IPV: “taking action” (which included “providing an outsider’s view,” “being an advisor or coach,” “being a protector,” and “taking a stand”); and “being there” (which included “being a listener,” “being a companion” and “being an ally”). Their perceptions were shaped by friendship expectations, as well as by understandings of IPV. However, deciding what role to play in supporting their friend was constructed as challenging due to conflicting expectations that arose in the context of friendship. It involved balancing a perceived responsibility to do what they thought was best for their friend’s well-being, a need to promote honesty and mutuality in the friendship, along with a competing obligation to respect their friend’s choices, maintain her trust and ensure equality in the friendship. Being friends with the abuser as well as with the victim created additional complexities. Based on our findings, we identify key areas to address in developing interventions to assist friends to respond to young women experiencing IPV. These could guide friends on how to play an effective support role while also maintaining the friendship and managing the significant emotional impacts of providing help.

This article examines the impact of legislative reforms enacted in 2005 in Victoria, Australia, on legal responses to women charged with murder for killing their intimate partner. The reforms provided for a broader understanding of the context of family violence to be considered in such cases, but we found little evidence of this in practice. This is partly attributable to persistent misconceptions among the legal profession about family violence and why women may believe it necessary to kill a partner. We recommend specialized training for legal professionals and increased use of family violence evidence to help ensure women's claims of self-defense receive appropriate responses from Victorian courts.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major global issue with huge impacts on individuals, families, and communities. It is also a gendered problem, with the vast majority of IPV perpetrated by men. To date, interventions have primarily focused on victim/survivors; however, it is increasingly recognized that men’s use of violence must also be addressed. Despite this, there remain limited options for doing this in practice. In most high-income countries, men’s behavior change programs (MBCPs) or their equivalent are the typical referral pathway, with men often mandated to attend by the criminal justice system. Yet, these programs have limited evidence for their effectiveness and recidivism and dropouts are major challenges. Moreover, an entire subset of men—those uninvolved with criminal justice settings—remain under-serviced. It is clear that a critical gap remains around early engagement with men using violence in relationships. This study explores the potential for digital interventions (websites or apps) to fill this gap through qualitative analysis of data from focus groups with 21 men attending MBCPs in Victoria, Australia. Overall, we interpreted men’s perceptions of digital interventions as being able to facilitate connection with the “better man inside,” with four sub-themes: (a) Don’t jump down my throat straight away; (b) Help me realize what I’m becoming; (c) Seeing a change in my future; and (d) Make it simple and accessible. The findings of this study suggest that there is strong potential for digital interventions to engage early with men using IPV, but also some key challenges. Websites or apps can provide a safe, private space for men to reflect on their behavior and its consequences; however, the lack of interpersonal interaction can make it challenging to balance non-judgmental engagement with accountability. These issues should be considered when designing digital interventions for men using violence in relationships.

This article explores identity as a relational phenomenon and focuses on how identity is constructed in the context of friendship. The article draws on interview data from eight young women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) and examines how their friends' responses to the IPV influenced the young women's perceptions of themselves. It also demonstrates how the relational construction of identity may be analyzed using the Listening Guide method, which explores the use of voice in constructing the self. Our analysis identified four voices that young women used to speak of themselves in relation to their experiences of IPV: voices of self-blame, voices of agency, voices of vulnerability and powerlessness, and voices of solidarity. These voices were shaped by their friends' responses, intersecting with dominant cultural narratives about how women are expected to respond to IPV. When speaking of how friends had expected and encouraged them to leave the abusive relationship, the young women used voices of self-blame or voices of agency, which constructed themselves as foolish for staying or strong for leaving. Yet, when friends recognized the complexities of ending the abuse and thereby countered cultural narratives about expected responses to IPV, young women spoke with a voice of solidarity. Using this voice, young women positioned themselves as disempowered and constructed a collective identity shared with others who had experienced IPV. The findings highlight the significance of friends in shaping young women's self-perceptions and the benefits of friends telling a counter story about the challenges of ending IPV.