"If Not Here, Then Where?" Churchill Fellowship To Investigate Global Residential Men's Behaviour Change Programs
Tracks
Room 1: In-Person and Online
| Tuesday, November 25, 2025 |
| 1:35 PM - 2:05 PM |
Overview
Melissa Perry
Details
1.How residential men's behaviour change programs can be considered a part of women’s safety services; one intervention of many that can increase the safety for women
and children and change men’s behaviour positively for future generations.
2.How providers of MBCPs can consider an integrated approach to practice that is feminist informed and addresses individual typology of men who use violence concurrently.
3. How the definition of victim/survivor centric interventions can be broadened to consider increased support and advocacy for men who use violence in their intimate partner relationships.
Speaker
Ms Melissa Perry
Churchill Fellow
melissaleeperryconsultancy
"If not here, then where?" Churchill Fellowship to investigate global residential men's behaviour change programs
Presentation Overview
I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate and identify international best practice models in Family and Domestic Violence Men's Behaviour Change Programs (MBCP), specifically in residential settings; as an alternative to women and children fleeing their family home to seek safety.
Why should women and children, upend their lives and leave their homes to find safety from a violent partner/parent?
Why should women and children flee and live in fear?
Why doesn’t the perpetrator leave the family home and take responsibility for his behaviour and the impact his violence has had on the ones he says he loves?
A residential MBCP can provide a period of monitoring of men’s movements and provide a period of safety for women.
Women and children can stay connected to their communities, schools, employment, local resources and support from family and friends. Men can reflect on the impact of their violence on the people they love, understand why they use violence and to learn how to change their behaviours. It can also be a mitigating factor for women and children who can often experience homelessness when they to leave their homes due to family and domestic violence.
In 2003, Communicare, a not-for-profit organisation based in Western Australia opened Breathing Space, the first residential FDV Men’s Behaviour Change Program in Australia, funded by the Western Australian Department of Communities.
It was hoped that by gaining an understanding of residential MBCPs globally that it would support a national alternative and additional approach to traditional models of practice in MBCPs across Australia.
Australia has a unique opportunity to lead the way in introducing integrated, inclusive therapeutic residential MBCPs throughout the country as one way to increase safety for women and children and support men to change their behaviour for future generations.
If not here, then where?
Why should women and children, upend their lives and leave their homes to find safety from a violent partner/parent?
Why should women and children flee and live in fear?
Why doesn’t the perpetrator leave the family home and take responsibility for his behaviour and the impact his violence has had on the ones he says he loves?
A residential MBCP can provide a period of monitoring of men’s movements and provide a period of safety for women.
Women and children can stay connected to their communities, schools, employment, local resources and support from family and friends. Men can reflect on the impact of their violence on the people they love, understand why they use violence and to learn how to change their behaviours. It can also be a mitigating factor for women and children who can often experience homelessness when they to leave their homes due to family and domestic violence.
In 2003, Communicare, a not-for-profit organisation based in Western Australia opened Breathing Space, the first residential FDV Men’s Behaviour Change Program in Australia, funded by the Western Australian Department of Communities.
It was hoped that by gaining an understanding of residential MBCPs globally that it would support a national alternative and additional approach to traditional models of practice in MBCPs across Australia.
Australia has a unique opportunity to lead the way in introducing integrated, inclusive therapeutic residential MBCPs throughout the country as one way to increase safety for women and children and support men to change their behaviour for future generations.
If not here, then where?
Biography
Melissa Perry has an impressive professional career spanning 30 years. As a qualified Social Worker, she has worked across many sectors including homelessness, alcohol and
drug dependencies, mental health, gambling, immigration, education. She has worked with
individuals and families across the life span and addressing family and domestic violence
has always been a focus in her work. Melissa has led the growth of the unique Breathing Space Program, the only residential men’s behaviour change program in the world, for men who use violence against women. It is an
alternative to women and children fleeing their family home to seek safety.
