‘The way he tells it ...’ Relati onships aft er Black Saturday A research report in four volumes Vol. 1 Executi ve Summary and Recommendati ons Vol. 2 Women and Disasters Literature Review Vol. 3 The Landscape of My Soul — Women’s Accounts Vol. 4 A Gut Feeling — The Workers’ Accounts Narrati ve reinventi on The way you tell it we had an infallible plan your foresight arming us against catastrophe and your eff orts alone prepared our home against calamity The way you tell it your quick thinking saved the day you rescued us and we escaped ahead of the inferno while you remained defi ant Unashamedly you reinvent the narrati ve landscape Your truth is cast yourself in the starring role the shrieking wind paint me with passivity hurled fl ames through the air render me invisible you fl ed, fought and survived fl esh seared mind incinerated You weave a fantasti c tale by which you hope to be judged inside is just self-hatred and in seeking to repair your tatt ered psyche brush me with your loathing I understand, even forgive but this is not the way I tell it Dr Kim Jeff s (The ti tle of this report is adapted from ‘Narrati ve Reinventi on’ with sincere thanks to Dr. Kim Jeff s) Acknowledgements Our heartf elt thanks to the women who shared their experiences, hoping — as we do — to positi vely change the experiences of women in the aft ermath of future disasters. They have survived a bushfi re unprecedented in its ferocity in Australia’s recorded history and each morning, face another day. Their honesty and courage is inspirati onal. ‘I died for a while. I was wandering, and the world I touched turned into sand. I could hear wind, but the sand did not fl y. For ten years I lost my way. I almost forgot about you; there was so much work leading to other work and another life — like picking up coins in a dream. (From, The Woman Warrior, Women’s Health Goulburn North East, 2011, p. 70) Our sincere appreciati on to the workers who took ti me out of their pressing workloads to inform our approach to this work. Their selfl essness was apparent in each consultati on. Working in the aft ermath of disaster takes its toll. Without excepti on, the workers’ own deep concern — and someti mes distress –was apparent. Their thoughtf ulness and commitment to the communiti es within Mitchell and Murrindindi shires are evident in their comments throughout this Volume. Vision Our vision for women and children in Australia is to live free from family violence aft er a disaster in their community because: • Community members and service providers openly recognise and respond to the risk of increased family violence aft er a disaster • Policies and protocols are in place in disaster planning and recovery to enable agencies to fulfi l their role in preventi ng family violence aft er a disaster • The appropriate range and number of services are in place to prevent family violence in communiti es aff ected by a disaster • Families — and especially men — have the skills and awareness to recognise and access the appropriate help when there is a risk of family violence Commitment to caring for the environment In considerati on of the environment, this document is online for free download at www. whealth.com.au/environmentaljusti ce. A series of ‘Snapshots’ have been printed to capture the key points and are available upon request to WHGNE 03 5722 3009. Contents Vol. 1 Executi ve Summary and Recommendati ons ...................................................................1 Introducti on ......................................................................................................................1 Background .......................................................................................................................2 Internati onal and Australian research fi ndings .................................................................2 Aims of the research and this report ................................................................................3 Methodology .....................................................................................................................4 How to read this report .....................................................................................................9 Finding ............................................................................................................................12 Lack of family violence data ............................................................................................12 Family Violence ...............................................................................................................14 Impact of fi res on men and women ................................................................................17 Impacts of family violence on women ............................................................................19 Denial ............................................................................................................................20 The narrati ve of disasters — hers and his .......................................................................27 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................32 Recommendati ons ..........................................................................................................33 Appendices ......................................................................................................................36 Vol. 2 Women and Disasters literature review ........................................................................47 Introducti on ....................................................................................................................47 How gender is implicated in disasters .............................................................................47 Violence against women and disaster .............................................................................52 Women in disaster management ....................................................................................58 Research gap in disaster and gender ...............................................................................60 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................61 Vol. 3 The Landscape of my soul — Women’s Accounts ..........................................................67 Introducti on ....................................................................................................................67 Experiences of Black Saturday.........................................................................................68 Aft er the fi res — loss and demands ................................................................................80 Longer term manifestati ons of grief, loss and stress .......................................................84 Previous trauma ..............................................................................................................90 Relati onships ...................................................................................................................92 Relati onship violence ....................................................................................................101 Support services ............................................................................................................112 System failure for women aff ected by family violence..................................................118 Vol. 4 A Gut Feeling — the workers’ accounts .......................................................................127 Introducti on ..................................................................................................................127 Impact on workers ........................................................................................................128 The context ...................................................................................................................130 Family violence response aft er disaster ........................................................................136 Stereotyping of men and women..................................................................................150 Interventi ons — providing a community with alternati ves ...........................................155 References .....................................................................................................................160 The way he tells it Relati onships aft er Black Saturday Vol. 1 Executi ve Summary and Recommendati ons challenging inequity, embracing diversity Women‘s Health Goulburn North East (WHGNE) was established in July 2000. Previously known as NEWomen, Women‘s Health Goulburn North East is the government funded, specialist women‘s health service for the Goulburn Valley and north east Victoria. PO Box 853, Wangaratt a, Victoria, 3677. Phone: 03 5722 3009 Fax: 03 5722 3020 [email protected] www.whealth.com.au The informati on contained in this publicati on is copyright. When copying or reproducing any part of this document, please acknowledge Women‘s Health Goulburn North East as the source and include the ti tle, year and page number. Writt en by Debra Parkinson, and based on interviews by Debra Parkinson and Claire Zara from 2009 to 2011. © Women‘s Health Goulburn North East, 2011 ‘The Blackened Trees are Greening’ painti ng by Ona Henderson & S.Tunn © (03) 9712 0393 Introducti on Australians have a 1 in 6 esti mated lifeti