“Risk and abolition: perspectives of front-line domestic violence workers supporting refugee and migrant women on safety and policing”

Abstract

ABSTRACT Anti-violence advocates continue to criminalise new gender-based violence offences, despite the evidence of unintended consequences for marginalised groups. Using an intersectional framework of risk, this article aims to understand what drives front-line domestic and family violence workers to engage the law for the protection of the women they support. The data draws from a study examining responses in domestic violence policy and service interventions to refugees in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Thirty-one interviews were conducted with front-line workers supporting refugee women experiencing domestic violence. Two-thirds of the interview participants are from refugee and migrant backgrounds themselves. Interview data analysis shows a combination of governing and managing actuarial risk across three themes: 1) Why a preference for the law? 2) Autonomy or discourses of responsibility? and 3) The mutual constitution of risk and inequalities. Highlighting the differences between those who address domestic and family violence on the front-line, the findings reveal that front-line workers are both constrained by and contribute to various assemblages of risk in the carceral nation state. I suggest key steps towards engaging front-line workers in an abolitionist agenda that centre on knowledge translation and research partnerships.