04/11/2025
Stepping Out was pleased to participate last Friday in Lucy’s Project’s National Roundtable on Domestic and Family Violence Perpetrated against People and Animals.
With a magnificent harbour view from fifty floors up, the event was well-attended with diverse representation of both people and animals. Anyone with a pet understands them to be a sentient being and cherished family member but this close connection is exploited in abusive relationships characterised by coercive control. Here are some of the shocking statistics:
🐈⬛ 73% of Australian households include animal/s.
🐩 DFV perpetrators often threaten, harm and kill animals to intimidate and control women and children (AIFS)
🐴 Cruelty and harm directed to pets/animals can indicate risk of future and more severe violence (ANROWS National Risk Assessment Principles for DFV)
🐇 48% of practitioners report working with DFV victims who stay with perpetrator for more than a year due to fear or threat of an animal being harmed (DVNSW)
🐕 A huge barrier to leaving violence is a lack of animal-inclusive accommodation, both in refuges and the private market.
Included are slides, the view and Spiegel, a tuxedo cat rescued from torture and violence in a youth refuge by Melissa, our CEO. He was on his last legs, utterly traumatised, but lived another eight years, thriving in a safe and loving environment. He died aged 20, a metaphor for the right to safe housing and a life free of violence, for both humans and animals alike.
For more information, check out Lucy’s Project at https://lucysproject.com/
