Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697636004479.pdf (Australia)
Addressing systemic and structural discrimination for primary prevention of family violence in the context of COVID-19 – a resource for advocacy Contents 1.

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 2.

Purpose of this resource ................................................................................................................ 1 3.
Cross-cutting themes ..................................................................................................................... 2 4.

Advocacy, community voice and participation ................................................................................. 3 5.

Potential advocacy channels .......................................................................................................... 3 6.

7.
7.

Sources and further information..................................................................................................... 3 Suggested advocacy statements on systemic discrimination and inequality contributing to drivers of family violence and violence against women under COVID-19 .......................................................... 5 1.
Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, Respect Victoria has convened a regular forum of agencies whose work involves primary prevention of violence against women and family violence.

This forum has provided an opportunity to share experiences and ideas about the impact of the disaster on the drivers of family violence and how primary prevention can add value in a disaster context.
An early product of these discussions was a set of Guiding Principles for how primary prevention effort should be maintained and refocused in the context of the pandemic.

These principles incorporated a strong concern about diversity, intersectionality and the way in which discrimination and disadvantage play out in this context to increase the risks of family violence and violence against women in both the immediate and longer term.
This prompted further effort to identify the most relevant and concerning types of structural and systemic discrimination experienced in Victoria in the pandemic context, from a violence prevention perspective.

These were in turn linked to opportunities for policy advocacy.

While the immediate focus here is the impact of COVID-19, this also provides the groundwork for responses to other disasters that may occur in Victoria (such as bushfires).
Although disasters will vary in the specific issues they raise, advocacy relating to systemic and structural discrimination will remain important in addressing the drivers of family violence and violence against women in all stages of the disaster cycle.

2.
2.

Purpose of this resource This compendium has been developed to stimulate and support advocacy opportunities as they relate to forms of structural and systemic discrimination, how these have been exacerbated in the COVID-19 context and how they may play out in other disasters.
A key premise here is that primary prevention of family violence needs to be addressed as a whole of community response - across health, justice, police, emergency services, community services, education and other sectors - as well as by dedicated family violence prevention practitioners.
A key task of those COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination D20/141285 1 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 working in prevention is to draw the attention of various government, community and business organisations to the ways in which they can help avoid or reduce the impact of discrimination heightened by the pandemic that is in turn associated with increased family violence.
This resource is intended to prompt and inform advocacy that organisations across a wide spectrum might take on key issues that impact and intersect with the drivers of violence.

Such action might be taken on an individual agency or collective basis and may be focused singularly on family violence, or may address this issue as part of a broader range of concerns facing different communities.
This document should be read in conjunction with the Guiding Principles for Primary Prevention of Family Violence in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Prevention of family violence and intersectionality through the disaster management cycle - framework for planning both available on the Respect Victoria website, www.respectvictoria.vic.gov.au.

3.
3.

Cross-cutting themes Advocacy efforts should incorporate and build from the following core themes: • COVID-19, in common with disasters generally, will exacerbate structural inequalities unless specific actions address these in ways that are relevant to individuals’ needs.

• Manifestations of violence are likely to increase over the medium to longer term, not just in the immediate context of lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Intersectionality is key to understanding how multiple overlapping forms of power and privilege create systemic discriminations that underpin inappropriate control and coercion that are in turn crucial drivers of violence against women and various types of family violence.

• Other forms of discriminatory attitudes tend to be held in conjunction with violence-supportive and gender equality-resistant attitudes.
Hence if discriminatory attitudes generally are on the rise, so too may be violence-supportive and gender equality-resistant attitudes, meaning heightened risk of violence against women and family violence.

• As disasters provide an opportunity to “build back better” recovery, mitigation and revival strategies should address discrimination and disadvantage in their historical and intergenerational context as well as in the immediate context of the disaster.
• In the same way that economic strategies are required to prevent longer term financial hardship for marginalised populations, multifaceted strategies (social, cultural and economic) are needed to help prevent family violence in these populations.

Advocacy may speak to issues at all points of the disaster management cycle, which can be usefully conceptualised as having four key phases: Response, Recovery, Mitigation and Preparedness.
This resource speaks predominantly to issues that have been identified in the more immediate Response phase, as this is where Victoria currently sits with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of these issues will continue as we move into the Recovery phase and will also be relevant to consider in Mitigation and Preparedness for future disasters.

Note that the advocacy statements in this resource are organised by distinct strands of discrimination as a way to focus attention on specific issues.
In practice, advocacy to a particular body might draw from several of these strands and draw attention to the way the multiple issues combine to affect particular individuals and communities.

COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination D20/1308342 2 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 4.
Advocacy, community voice and participation The broadest diversity of Victorians – including Indigenous women, migrant and refugee women, LGBTIQ+ people, older people, people with disabilities, children and youth – need to be actively involved in leadership on COVID-19 response and recovery, and indeed in all stages of the disaster cycle for any and all disasters facing Victorians.
This is critical to identifying and addressing the specific needs of those impacted as well as planning to “build back better” for Victoria.
It follows from this that a key element for the success of advocacy on primary prevention is to ensure that diverse voices representing those with lived experience, and leaders from communities who work in the direct line of support for these groups, are represented in the development and prosecution of advocacy messaging and the decision-making fora involved in responding.

With this in mind, the statements in this resource should be seen as a starting point only.
Representing the interests of others through policy advocacy can carry some risk of intended harm.

While a range of organisations representing the views and interests of affected communities have been consulted in the development of the resource, agencies utilising the resource should consider whether further testing with those affected is needed.

5.
Potential advocacy channels Channels for conveying and arguing for the kinds of actions included in the resource fall into several main categories: • COVID-19 specific response, recovery and rebuilding planning bodies across multiple relevant portfolios within government and more broadly • Specific inquiries, commissions and reviews that address social and economic determinants and impact with family violence • Broader emergency and disaster management and preparedness planning processes – Emergency Management Victoria as main state-wide agency together with the local government guidance process • Major peak bodies, commissions and human rights-based agencies that have a strong voice and could help amplify and take forward the issues we are raising • Business and union leadership bodies that have a clear stake in avoiding social disruption and threats to productivity and employment.
• Media bodies, particularly opportunities for issues to be picked up in longer form journalism and interviews.

The advocacy issues outlined at Section 7 may be prosecuted through forums focused on aspects of broader social and economic reform or that address issues or risk associated with population groups.

This may require some effort to identify relevant common issues that span across the key categories of intersectionality indicated.

6.
6.

Sources and further information This resource draws on a range of excellent policy advocacy documents already developed by various agencies with interests in prevention of family violence and violence against women.

While echoing many of the themes and issues raised, the statements in this resource do not quote other documents directly and Respect Victoria does not necessarily endorse these documents in their entirety.
A small selection only of relevant documents is referenced here: COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination D20/1308342 3 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 For advocacy to employers and organisations.

https://www.ourwatch.org.au/resource/promoting- gender-equality-as-you-respond-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic/ For advocacy to governments on gender equality issues.
https://www.genvic.org.au/focus- areas/advocacy/gen-vic-campaigns/gender-equity-womens-organisations-unite-on-covid19-disaster/ For advocacy on women on temporary visas experiencing family violence.

https://intouch.org.au/wp- content/uploads/2020/03/inTouchPositionPaper_WomenOnTemporaryVisasExperiencingViolenceInAustr alia_March2020_website.pdf For advocacy on women with disabilities.
https://wwda.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Submission- to-the-House-Standing-Committee-on-Social-Policy-and-legal-Affairs-Inquiry-into-family-domestic-and- sexual-violence2.pdf COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination D20/1308342 4 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 7.
Suggested advocacy statements on systemic discrimination and inequality contributing to drivers of family violence and violence against women under COVID-19 Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality Gender inequality Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements • Home based lockdown has increased the • We urge government and business leaders to publicly raise public awareness of the • • • opportunities for expression of power and coercion, and the risk of family violence being triggered.
The fear of COVID-19 is itself being used as the basis for coercive control against women in particular.

Increased burden for women at home including stress for mothers supervising home-based learning, contribute to sense of exploitation and reduce women’s sense of agency.

This day to day impacts on women’s mental wellbeing; and serious mental health impacts can also occur, which further undermine independence and control.
Female dominated workforces are among hardest hit (eg tourism, retail, casual workers) and job loss has been significant which compromises women’s economic and social power and agency, putting them at increased risk of abuse.

• Women predominate frontline workers in sometimes tense environments (eg in nursing, aged care, supermarkets) which can expose them to gender based abuse and violence.
In some cases, such as sex workers, women are stigmatised as perceived irresponsible carriers of infection, leading to particular forms of abuse.

entrenchment of gendered inequality during the crisis, including the impact of long-term unemployment, financial hardship and social isolation, and advocate for policy and program change to ameliorate the gendered impacts for those affected.
Redressing these economic inequalities to promote women’s financial security during and emerging from the pandemic is critical to addressing the risk of increased violence against women in the home.

• We call for women’s access to COVID-19 crisis support mechanisms that meet their specific needs (economic, social, legal, health services) and for these to incorporate social, psychological and clinical mental health supports that help maintain women’s independence, self-efficacy and sense of control.
• We advocate that public health information and advice provided to communities make it clear that the pandemic poses equal risk to men and women and that there should be zero tolerance for using the virus as an excuse for imposing greater constraints on women.

• We encourage employers and unions to pay attention to the ways in which female workers are being increasingly exposed to sexist or gender-based harassment as a result of the pandemic situation, including through online channels.
These issues should be incorporated in the way we implement recommendations from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report, and state level work in this area.
• We also encourage employers and unions to pay particular attention to the way in which workplace adaptations to the pandemic (such as working from home, carers leave, flexible roles) can help maintain and further empower women, support shared domestic and child caring duties, and generally promote gender equality and respect.
This may COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 5 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality • The situation increases the difficulty in managing parenting orders and creates added stress over co- parenting arrangements, exposing mothers and children to increased opportunity for ex-partners to exert further control.
take the form of uptake of particular programs (such as the Workplace Equality and Respect program) as well as building relevant practices and policies into pandemic recovery planning.

• We also urge commitment to support women’s continued engagement in public life of paid work through practical recognition and provision for exacerbated demands of unpaid labour at this current time.
This requires increased workplace flexibility and gender equality measures, and encouragement of men to also take up these provisions to support women and ensure that the imbalance in men’s control in households is not exacerbated.
• We call for increased involvement of women’s and specialist violence against women organisations, including organisations working with women affected by multiple kinds of discrimination and disadvantage, in decision-making, is critical, in line with recommendations internationally from the United Nations and from the National Women’s Alliances.
• We call for the maintenance and strengthening of primary prevention efforts to reduce all forms of violence against women in the wake of the pandemic, with capacity to tailor programs to communities and settings most affected by the pandemic.

These efforts should not be forced to compete for resources with response services but seen as complementary and essential to prevent current conditions leading to longer term sustained increases in the incidence of violence.
• We highlight the need to embed explicit attention to issues relating to women’s roles and status in crisis recovery planning as a key way to ensure women’s safety in the long- term.

These issues should be incorporated in a wide range of emergency management policies, guidelines and planning and budgeting tools.

This should also be an important objective in the development of the Second National Plan to Reduce Against Women and Their Children.
• We encourage emergency management authorities to take specific action to increase the representation of women in disaster and emergency management leadership roles, and COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 6 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality Ageism Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements • Older people are particularly vulnerable to COVID- 19 and while society has shown it is making every effort to ensure proper care for all, this can lead to increased ageism, including voices claiming that the economic cost of the lockdown is not worth the lives of the predominantly older people being saved.
• Ageism exhibited in this context impacts on society’s acceptance of violence, mistreatment and neglect of older people.

Women make up the majority of people in older age brackets and they experience the combined impact of ageism and sexism which puts them at greatest risk of abuse.

• The particularly challenging situation of infections in aged care homes creates huge tensions for families and carers.
Moreover, the situation further exposes the underlying prevalence of abuse and neglect within these aged care settings which comes under the formal definition of family violence as they are the person’s home.

Further isolation, lack of decision making and lack of autonomy can be exacerbated in these carer and familial relationships in this context.
to train all emergency workers in gender responsiveness and the ways to support the avoidance of unhealthy exercise of power and coercion in the wake of disasters.

• We call for collection and transparent sharing of disaggregated data, to provide a gendered analysis of the impacts of the crisis (along with other demographic factors) with particular emphasis on economic and social burden, loss of opportunities, and other matters that may place women at increased risk of coercive control and violence.
• We urge that government, community and media messaging around the pandemic avoids presenting older people as passive victims or that their illness is a burden for which the rest of society is suffering.

While being transparent about real risks, messaging should avoid undue emphasis on older people’s vulnerability in a way that undermines their sense of control and generates discrimination.
Rather, messaging should highlight the burden that older people are unfairly suffering and the sacrifice that older people are making for the benefit of all.

• We further urge that public health messaging in the context of the pandemic incorporates awareness of the increased risks of elder abuse emerging from changed family situations.
Social and psychological supports should be extended to older Victorians and include a focus on helping older people to recognise signs of ageism, maintain positive outlook and seek support where needed to counter risks of abuse.

• We call on the Federal Government to urgently address staff/patient ratios for older people in aged care facilities to ensure adequate care and support is provided, to mitigate widespread examples of neglect and abuse, particularly in this context.
• We call on employers, unions and governments to maintain efforts to stamp out ageism in the workplace in the wake of the crisis.

Difficult economic circumstances cannot be an excuse for discrimination against older workers.

Loss of job for an older person can lead to premature permanent exit from the workforce, diminished independence and a range of financial and social pressures that expose them to abuse.
• We ask services and governments to acknowledge and resource the increased pressures on many older people in their role as carers for partners, adult children with disabilities COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 7 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality • Older people who have lost their jobs may find employers unwilling to take them on once lockdown has finished, and workplace ageism is less checked.
Increased financial and housing pressures can lead to dependence on family members, as risk factor for abuse.

• Older people often find themselves in the position of supporting adult children who are facing difficulties, as well as being themselves more reliant on their children for support.

Both aspects create increased tension and may drive abuse.
• • Children and young people remain largely invisible in the home-based environment, leaving the subject to greater vulnerabilities above and beyond that usually associated with their age.

Young people are predominantly having to access their superannuation payments early, impacting on their lifelong earnings, impacting on long term- economic security and autonomy.

and friends.

Providing this care under crisis conditions exposes older carers to greater potential exploitation and abuse.
At the same time, family and community carers supporting older people under difficult circumstances may require additional support or training to help protect the older person from potential abuse, identify early risk factors for elder abuse and to raise the alert where required.
• We call on the aged care industry, funders and regulators to use the spotlight created by the pandemic as an opportunity to transparently re-examine the prevalence of coercive, disrespectful and discriminatory behaviours that unfortunately occurs in some aged care homes.

Noting that the carer relationships involved here fall under the definition of family violence, they should be subject to primary prevention approaches well before the risk of abuse emerges.
• We encourage emergency management authorities to take specific action to increase the representation of older people in disaster and emergency management leadership roles, and to train all emergency and recovery workers in the drivers and early warning signs of age discrimination and elder abuse, and in ways to support the avoidance of unhealthy exercise of power and coercion against older people in the wake of disasters.
• We encourage governments and organisations to remain vigilant in their focus on children and young people in a disaster context.

This includes the need to continue driving respectful relationships education in an offline learning environment, and continuing to drive cultures of respect and safety, in any context.
Racism, ongoing impact of colonisation, dispossession and discrimination • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are generally at greater risk of COVID-19 compared to non- Aboriginal Australians due to pre-existing health issues.

This risk is often further exacerbated by overcrowded housing and homelessness.
• We call on governments to resource Aboriginal Community Controlled organisations to provide holistic responses to the risks to Aboriginal health and well-being arising from the pandemic situation, including both primary prevention and early intervention approaches to the risk of family violence.

These responses must be underpinned by the principles of self-determination and respect for Aboriginal concepts of family and kinship.
• Pressures within Aboriginal families are also subject to the high impact of job loss, which is likely to hit harder in Aboriginal communities already • We call on governments and mainstream service providers to address systemic barriers to equal access to the services and supports for Aboriginal women that continue to be crucial for their safety in the context of the pandemic, including housing, health and COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 8 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality for Aboriginal people Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements experiencing lower levels of employment and other forms of disadvantage.
employment support.

This means embedding both cultural safety and gender equality in service delivery.

• All these issues expose Aboriginal Victorians, particularly Aboriginal women, to potential heightened family violence as isolation requirements cut against the operation of normal kinship relationships.

• Discrimination against Aboriginal Victorians can arise when community services are stretched and efforts to ensure culturally safe service provision are not given priority.
This discrimination results in reduced access to supports that help prevent potentially violent situations.

• We urge disaster management authorities at national, state and local levels to create more culturally safe and responsive approach to disaster planning that incorporate Aboriginal family violence prevention, drawing on the Dhelk Dja family violence framework.
Indigenous women leaders and family violence primary prevention specialists must be engaged in key planning and decision-making roles at all points in the disaster cycle.

A strong emphasis on gender equality, respectful relationships and avoiding family violence from emerging must be a key part of this work and cannot be separate from ongoing efforts to address historical and intergenerational harm.
Ableism • It is more difficult for people with disabilities to access support services under COVID conditions.

The gaps in support created can leave individuals with reduced independence, mobility and control, hence more open to coercion and abuse in their own homes.

This may be by families, co-residents or informal carers.

Women and girls with a disability are at particular increased risk of violence in the home due to the overlay of sexism.
• We ask that the NDIA and providers of disability support services pay increased attention at this time to the potential risks of violence and abuse in the home faced by NDIS participants in the crisis context, and take this into consideration in adapting support plans and service provision arrangements.
• We urge all organisations that provide support services for people with a disability to guard against intentional or unintentional use of the particular risk the virus poses to people with a disability as an excuse to exercise heightened levels of control and coercion.

• Increased rates of physical and sexual violence have been documented in this context, in a context of already overwhelming rates of violence, in particular sexual violence, experienced by women and girls with a disability.
• We urge all government agencies, organisations and businesses – including retailers - that interact with people with a disability to exercise zero tolerance for discriminatory actions that might reduce the dignity and independence of these individuals as a result of the pandemic situation.

This may require positive action to increase access to the social security safety net, health and human services, accessible information and assistive technologies that facilitate participation in the community.
COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 9 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality • • • • • This can also take the form of “microaggressions” or covert forms of violence that can be unintentionally conveyed by individuals, processes and systems, including by disability and mental health support workers, carers, medical and disability professionals, policy makers and service provider policies and practices.
• We call on employers, unions and governments to maintain efforts to stamp out disability discrimination in the workplace in the wake of the crisis.

Difficult economic circumstances cannot be an excuse for discrimination against workers with a disability.

Loss of job for a person with a disability can lead to permanent exit from the workforce, diminished independence and a range of financial and social pressures that expose them to abuse.
• We encourage emergency management authorities to take specific action to increase the The very challenging situation in disability group homes exacerbates this situation and creates huge tensions for families and carers of people with a disability who, despite best intentions, may add to the risk of abuse and neglect.
representation of people with a disability in disaster and emergency management leadership roles, and to train all emergency and recovery workers in the drivers and early warning signs of disability discrimination, and in ways to support the avoidance of unhealthy exercise of control and coercion against people with a disability in the wake of disasters.
People with a disability are often immuno- compromised, creating increased stress and anxiety about infection, which can in turn be used against them in the exercise of control and coercion.

People with a disability who have lost their jobs may find employers unwilling to take them on once lockdown has finished, and workplace discrimination is less checked.

Increased financial and housing pressures can lead to dependence on family members, as risk factor for abuse.
Isolation and remote learning for children with disabilities presents challenges for families and carers.

In some cases, this can escalate tensions and increase risks of abuse and violence between family members.

COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 10 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality Ethnocentrism , xenophobia and racism.
Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements • • • • • Expression of racist/xenophobic attitudes and behaviours have increased in a context of suspicion and monitoring of others, lockdown of borders and migration, combined with anger over perceived origins of COVID-19 pandemic.

This has led to a greater likelihood of vulnerability to violence including against women.
Cultural norms and practices in relation to gender in some migrant communities increase the chance of COVID-19 being used to heighten coercive control against women.

Lower paid migrant women are particularly exposed to job loss in the pandemic context and this will reduce the independence and sense of control that is an important protection against the exertion of coercive control within some ethnic communities.
Language, cultural and literacy related barriers to some services (including those associated with use of technology) have opened up in the pandemic context, making access difficult to supports that also help give migrant women independence and control.

People living on temporary visas do not qualify for federal government support through Job seeker/keeper.
This places women who are already marginalised and exposed to exploitation at even greater risk of abuse and violence, particularly as their movement between regions is restricted.

• We call on community and business leaders to reinforce zero tolerance for expressions of racism and xenophobia, with particular emphasis on the unacceptability of linking the pandemic with any specific ethnic community.
Any tacit condoning of discrimination and violence perpetrated on this basis has dangerous flow-on impacts for violence against women more broadly.

• We urge governments, welfare organisations and emergency management authorities to resource and draw on ethno-specific agencies and community groups to provide advice on and direct support to migrant communities most impacted by the pandemic.
This should include seeking critical insights into the build-up of gender-based control and coercion that may be associated with certain communities as they experience isolation and financial hardship.

• We call on the federal government to ensure adequate financial support and social support for women on temporary visas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is especially critical for women who are unable to participate in paid work and who, without a capacity to support themselves, are likely to be forced into situations of coercion and control.

Access to healthcare, especially preventive sexual and reproductive care and mental health care, is also crucial to maintain independence and avoid exploitation.
• We encourage emergency management authorities to take specific action to include people from migrant communities in disaster and emergency management leadership and planning roles, and to ensure that all emergency and recovery workers understand the cultural and linguistic challenges facing people in this environment, including the potential for further marginalisation and discrimination.
COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 11 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 Form of systemic discrimination and structural inequality Homophobia, biphobia, transphobia • • Aspects of exacerbated risk associated with COVID-19 to which attention could be drawn Advocacy statements There is potential conflict in homes for families isolating with LGBTIQ members whose sexuality or gender identity is not supported by parents or other family members.
• We call on government authorities, media and community agencies responsible for producing and promoting well-being advice and support for families in the context of isolation to incorporate recognition and positive validation of non-traditional families and family members of diverse sexuality and gender identity.
• We call on governments and service providers to pay specific attention to the stresses and risks experienced by the diversity of LGBTIQ people in the wake of the pandemic, including the importance of support from specialist service providers who can help maintain a sense of connection to community and assist individuals to cope with difficult family relationships.
• We urge law enforcement authorities enforcing pandemic related restrictions to be sensitive to the experiences of those in the LGBTIQ community who may have an historically based fear of over-policing, and to apply the good practice in LGBTIQ relationships established by Victoria Police and other bodies over many years.
• We encourage emergency management authorities to take specific action to include people from LGBTIQ communities in disaster and emergency management leadership and planning roles, and to ensure that all emergency and recovery workers understand the specific issues facing LGBTIQ people in this environment, including the potential for conflict within families to escalate.

We advocate use of the GAD Pod’s Gender in Emergency Management Guidelines which address LGBTIQ people.
Individuals in same-sex domestic relationships subject to coercive and controlling behaviours may experience heightened anxiety and distress as these behaviours become more pronounced under the pressure of isolation and are less visible to external scrutiny.

• Many older LGBTIQ people are especially sensitive to perceived over-policing associated with the pandemic, given histories of surveillance, stigma and criminalisation of their communities (including in association with the HIV epidemic).
This concern also adds to anxiety about potential coercion and control within families.

• • LGBTIQ communities experience poorer mental health and higher rates of depression, suicide and self-harm and, as a result, could be at greater risk of harm in relation to real and perceived discrimination during the crisis.
Same-sex couples and families can experience a sense of exclusion and marginalisation if they do not see themselves reflected in pandemic support and promotional materials, despite often being positive role models for non-gender-rigid sharing of roles and equality within families at this difficult time.
COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 12 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2 COVID-19 Advocacy Resource on Systemic and Structural Discrimination CM: D20/1308342 13 OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 163 - Attachment 2