Mouzos, Jenny --- "New Statistics Highlight High Homicide Rate for Indigenous Women" [1999] IndigLawB 93; (1999) 4(25) Indigenous Law Bulletin 16

New Statistics Highlight High Homicide Rate for Indigenous Women

By Jenny Mouzos

A recent Australian Institute of Criminology study shows that Indigenous women are significantly over-represented in Australian homicide victim statistics. Although Indigenous women comprise only about two per cent of the total female population, they account for approximately 15 per cent of all female homicide victims. The study also highlights the central role of alcohol in the majority of these cases.

Femicide: The Killing of Women in Australia 1989-1998 ¹ examines the circumstances and characteristics associated with `femicide'-the intentional killing of women -over a nine year period. The study explored whether the likelihood of homicide varied according to the race of both the victim and offender, and also whether the race of a woman was associated with an increased likelihood of becoming a victim?

Who Kills Indigenous Women? The Victim-Offender Relationship

• Indigenous women are at far higher risk of femicide than nonIndigenous women. In Australia between I July 1989 to 30 June 1998, Indigenous women; were victims of homicide at an average annual rate of 11.7 per 100 000 compared to an average annual homicide victimisation rate of 1.1 per 100 000 population for nonIndigenous women.⁴
• Indigenous femicide victims were more likely to be killed by intimate partners than non-Indigenous victims. The victim-offender relationship was known in 134 of the above cases; 75.4% (101) of these Indigenous women were killed by their intimate partners, compared to 54% (371) for non-Indigenous femicide victims.
• Only 1.5% of Indigenous femicide victims were killed by a stranger, whereas 17.2% of non-Indigenous victims were killed by a stranger.⁵
• One of the most significant findings is the overrepresentation of Indigenous people as both victims and offenders of femicide. In 16% of all femicide cases, both the victim and offender were Indigenous.
• Overall, Indigenous women accounted for approximately 15% of total femicide victims, even though they comprise approximately 2% of the total female Australian population.⁶
• Indigenous victims of femicide were killed overwhelmingly by Indigenous men, even though Indigenous men comprise only about 2% of the total male population. Approximately 95% of Indigenous women were killed by Indigenous men.⁷

Where are Indigenous Women Killed?

Non-Indigenous women were most likely to be killed in a private residence, whilst Indigenous women were most likely to be killed in a location other than a private residence.

The Role of Alcohol

The study also revealed a very high level of alcohol involvement in Indigenous femicides. In 91.7% of Indigenous femicide cases,8 the offender was under the influence of alcohol, compared to 54.2% in cases where the offender was non-Indigenous.

Policy Implications-What can be Done?

These figures suggest that there are fundamental issues which need to be addressed concerning excessive alcohol use amongst Indigenous people. These issues include empowerment; self-esteem and pride; meaningful occupation; and strengthening culturally-based social control mechanisms;

To say that alcohol is one of the factors that most destroys personal self-esteem and social life in Aboriginal communities is to state the obvious - but it is an obvious fact that requires reiteration.⁹

Unless these core issues are addressed, there may be no real chance of success in combating and correcting violence in Indigenous society. ¹⁰

Education programmes can impart knowledge on the effects of alcohol abuse and can, change attitudes, but they have little direct effect on alcohol consumption. In order to address the vicious cycle linking alcohol abuse and lethal intimate partner violence, and violence generally, it is essential that there are more comprehensive programmes that involve Indigenous Australians themselves in managing and responding to the problem as a community.¹¹

The prevention of intimate violence and consequent lethal violence is a problem in the whole Australian community, and not just the Indigenous community. It will require long-term changes not only in behaviour, but also cultural and social changes across the whole community so that violence is devalued as an appropriate way of resolving conflict in intimate relationships.

However, prevention can never be imposed on a society or culture. If it is tobe successful, prevention must involve people who are willing to listen and become involved.¹² It is therefore essential to provide resources for self-help, such as training for Indigenous welfare workers, to assist Indigenous Australians to help themselves. The most successful prevention has to take place within the community -it is less likely to succeed if imposed from the outside.

Jenny Mouzos is a Research Analyst who manages the National Homicide Monitoring Program at the Australian Institute of Criminology

Endnotes