Statistics regarding the violence perpetrated against Aboriginal women, children and youth.

The level of contact with Wirringa Baiya by Aboriginal women and youth is very small when compared with the number of reported incidents. Also given the level of unreported incidents, one can recognise that the un-met potential demand for Wirringa Baiya services is extremely large.

In a recent report by the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council (AJAC) "Speak Out Speak Strong" released in August 2003 shows the abuse that Aboriginal women prisoners faced during their lifetime. The report cites:

70% of the women surveyed said that they had been sexually assaulted as children and most had also suffered other types of childhood abuse 78% of the women stated that they had been victims of violence as adults, and 44 of the women said they had been sexually assaulted as adults. Statistics show that large numbers of Aboriginal women prisoners have been sexually assaulted as children and as adults.

In New South Wales, the official criminal and justice statistics state that, based on police data, Aboriginal women are four times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to be the victim of an assault (Fitzgerald and Weatherburn, 2001). Aboriginal women are 4 times more likely to be the victim of an assault.

51% of female Aboriginal homicide victims are killed by their spouse. The Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (1999) cites a national report that found Aboriginal women were more likely to be killed in a domestic relationship than any other women in Australia.

Comparatively, 21% of all homicide victims are killed by a spouse, whereas 51% of female Aboriginal homicide victims are killed by their spouse.

In Western Australia, the recent inquiry into Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Aboriginal Communities (Gordon, Hallahan & Henry, 2002) accepted that “Aboriginal people living in country areas are more than twice as likely as those living in the city, and more than 63 times likely than non-Aboriginal country dwellers to be victims of reported domestic violence” (page 356).

The cycle of violence continues into the next generation.

Violence becomes normalised and acceptable We believe the youngest person to die of domestic violence in Australia was a young 15 year old Aboriginal girl in NSW.

She was killed by her 17 year old Aboriginal boyfriend. Prior to her murder, she had been twice to the local police to get an AVO, twice her request was refused.

While figures are in short supply in Australia there has been research conducted in Western Australia which found:

• Aboriginal women are 10.7 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than non- Aboriginal women;
• 36 times more likely to be victims of abuse or violence from their spouse.

In just one community in the Northern Territory, offences against Aboriginal women represent 18% of the total** number of offences committed in the territory, against anyone Aboriginal or not.

In Queensland more women have died as a result of violence than all black deaths in custody in the entire state. Furthermore, while Aboriginal people comprise 1.5% of the population,

• 16% of all female homicide victims are Aboriginal;
• 13% of female prisoners are Aboriginal.

Which means if you are an Aboriginal woman the likelihood of imprisonment is 20 times that of your non-Aboriginal counterpart.