Projects

The Peace in the Pacific project sought to explain why current policies and programs aren’t curbing extreme rates of violence against women of the Pacific Islands.

Australian Research Council Discovery Project: Professor Heather Douglas (University of Melbourne, Law) and Associate Professor Robin Fitzgerald (UQ’s Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences) have received $354,000 to explore the effectiveness of the non-fatal strangulation criminal offence as a response to domestic violence. Many women escaping domestic violence report non-fatal strangulation from their past partners. Their research will review the application and experience of the non-fatal strangulation criminal offence in practice. Expected outcomes include the development of law reform and policy recommendations to improve the operation of the offence, enhance service responses and develop professional education. The research will also provide significant social and economic benefits through better understanding of the legal response to domestic violence.

Testimony of sexual abuse before the current Royal Commission has exposed the historic neglect and coverup of institutional offences. Yet, to unearth the deeper and wider dimensions of sexual offending requires scholarly historical analysis. This project uses qualitative and quantitative analysis to track how and why certain forms of sexual behaviour sparked public concern and provoked legal responses and public inquiries from the 1880s to the 1980s. Our systematic examination of these patterns through archival and published documents will test the relation between shifting community and political concerns and the conduct of criminal trials. Thus, it will make a significant contribution to the promotion of health and wellbeing.

Expressions of interest are sought for contributions to a planned special issue of Australian Feminist Studies (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) on ‘Consent’.

This proposed special issue offers a feminist examination of consent. It considers what consent is and the advantages and challenges offered by the concept of affirmative consent.

We seek contributions from across disciplines to examine theoretical concepts of consent in law, medicine, and other cultural domains.  We are also interested in how consent plays out in practice, including its socio-legal meanings amongst diverse stakeholders. This extends to its place in online environments.

EOI information can be found here. 

'Beyond the Law' is a one-day, free event, aimed at building relationships and sharing knowledge between academics and service providers who work in Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (DSFV). Bringing together theory and practice will assist to further innovative and practical ways to improve our capacity to respond to DFSV in Queensland. The focus of the event is therefore twofold: 1. To build more effective and sustainable relationships between academic work and service provision; and 2. To begin a dialogue about responding to DFSV that moves beyond criminalisation alone.

Registrations for this event have now closed.