Affirming Safety: Building Inclusive Therapeutic Frameworks for LGBTIQA+ Victim-Survivors of Family Violence
Tracks
Room 2: In-Person Only
| Monday, November 24, 2025 |
| 4:10 PM - 5:10 PM |
Overview
Carolyn Self & Alina Thomas, Engender Equality
Details
- Enhanced understanding of the unique dynamics of family violence for LGBTIQA+ people, and the need to provide specialised support for this community.
- Greater awareness of the barriers LGBTIQA+ communities face in accessing support, and how we can dismantle them.
- Practical skills in providing LGBTIQA+ affirming responses to family violence and identifying the predominant aggressor using the LGBTIQA+ Predominant Aggressor Indicators Tool.
Speaker
Carolyn Self
Training & Business Development Manager
Engender Equality
Affirming Safety: Building Inclusive Therapeutic Frameworks for LGBTIQA+ Victim-Survivors of Family Violence
Presentation Overview
As Australia faces a family and domestic violence epidemic across communities, the distinct experiences of LGBTIQA+ people are too often overlooked. Despite being disproportionately affected, LGBTIQA+ victim-survivors frequently encounter barriers to support within systems shaped by cisnormative and heteronormative frameworks that lack the understanding and insight needed to respond effectively to the experience of family violence for LGBTIQA+ people.
As a sector, we must reshape our response to family and domestic violence to centre inclusivity, affirmation, and the lived experiences of LGBTIQA+ communities. This includes recognising the unique dynamics of abuse in LGBTIQA+ contexts, dismantling barriers to support, and creating services that are truly safe, affirming, and effective.
In this presentation, Engender Equality will introduce our newly developed LGBTIQA+ Family Violence: Guidelines for Family Violence Workers, a resource designed to support practitioners in responding more effectively to LGBTIQA+ victim-survivors. We will examine how identity, power, and systemic discrimination shape the experiences of family violence within LGBTIQA+ communities and demonstrate how tools like the Engender Equality LGBTIQA+ Predominant Aggressor Indicators Tool can support inclusive, trauma-informed practice.
Through three unique case studies, participants will explore the complex dynamics of abuse for LGBTIQA+ people and apply the tool in a hands-on, practical session that brings the guidelines to life, providing the following learning outcomes:
- Enhanced understanding of the unique dynamics of family violence for LGBTIQA+ people
- Greater awareness of the barriers LGBTIQA+ communities face in accessing support
- Practical skills in identifying the predominant aggressor using the LGBTIQA+ Predominant Aggressor Tool
We are proud to share this presentation with our colleagues in the family and domestic violence sector. Through critical reflection and deeper understanding, we can strengthen inclusive practice and ensure LGBTIQA+ victim-survivors receive the affirming support they need to move toward safety, empowerment and healing from family and domestic violence.
As a sector, we must reshape our response to family and domestic violence to centre inclusivity, affirmation, and the lived experiences of LGBTIQA+ communities. This includes recognising the unique dynamics of abuse in LGBTIQA+ contexts, dismantling barriers to support, and creating services that are truly safe, affirming, and effective.
In this presentation, Engender Equality will introduce our newly developed LGBTIQA+ Family Violence: Guidelines for Family Violence Workers, a resource designed to support practitioners in responding more effectively to LGBTIQA+ victim-survivors. We will examine how identity, power, and systemic discrimination shape the experiences of family violence within LGBTIQA+ communities and demonstrate how tools like the Engender Equality LGBTIQA+ Predominant Aggressor Indicators Tool can support inclusive, trauma-informed practice.
Through three unique case studies, participants will explore the complex dynamics of abuse for LGBTIQA+ people and apply the tool in a hands-on, practical session that brings the guidelines to life, providing the following learning outcomes:
- Enhanced understanding of the unique dynamics of family violence for LGBTIQA+ people
- Greater awareness of the barriers LGBTIQA+ communities face in accessing support
- Practical skills in identifying the predominant aggressor using the LGBTIQA+ Predominant Aggressor Tool
We are proud to share this presentation with our colleagues in the family and domestic violence sector. Through critical reflection and deeper understanding, we can strengthen inclusive practice and ensure LGBTIQA+ victim-survivors receive the affirming support they need to move toward safety, empowerment and healing from family and domestic violence.
Biography
Carolyn Self (she/her) has a Bachelor of Communications with a specialisation in the not-for-profit and social impact space alongside postgraduate studies in the Prevention of Gender and Family Violence with Monash University. Carolyn has worked in the family law and family violence sector for several years, and advocates for victim-survivors of family violence across several sector advisory panels, committees and boards in a professional capacity, while also acting as a lived experience advocate within the media, research projects and in consultancy. Carolyn is passionate about community education regarding family and gendered violence and it's ability to create impactful social change.
