ANROWS grant success

CJRC member Associate Professor Molly Dragiewicz is a chief investigator on the successful Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited (ANROWS)  grant Constructions of complex trauma and implications for women’s wellbeing and safety from violence under the ANROWS Research Priorities Projects scheme. This interdisciplinary study includes scholars from gender studies, health, criminology, and trauma studies as well as practitioners who work with people who have experienced trauma.Approximately one quarter of women who have experienced gendered violence, present complex trauma involving multiple types of physical and sexual victimisation and mental illness, substance abuse and ongoing victimisation. These women frequently come to the attention of health, welfare and law enforcement agencies. Understandings of complex trauma are, however, inconsistent across these services, which leads to fragmented and sometimes ineffective responses from services and professionals. The guiding question of the study is: “How can agencies and services improve collaboration to meet the health and safety needs of women with complex trauma?” The aims of the project are to:

1.Analyse how complex trauma experienced by women is constructed in public policy at a national, state and territory level.
2. Examine institutional approaches to women’s complex trauma in the mental health, alcohol and other drug and sexual assault/domestic violence sectors in New South Wales and Queensland.
3. Document how women with complex trauma understand complex trauma, and their experiences and encounters with agencies while seeking help.
4. Develop models of improved and collaborative responses to enhance the wellbeing and safety of women with complex trauma and their children.
5. Policy and practice recommendations to enhance the wellbeing and safety of women with complex trauma, developed in partnership with an expert steering committee.