Gender, context and constraint: Framing family violence in Victoria

Domestic and family violence is a controversial policy issue, especially regarding the role of gender in the causes and solutions. This is further complicated in jurisdictions employing a ‘family violence’ approach, where the problem is defined as violence between any family members. The 2015–16 Royal Commission into Family Violence had a powerful effect on family violence policy in Victoria, Australia. It was thus an important site for contestation over family violence framing, which I explore using an interpretive problem framing approach, situating relevant texts along a continuum of problem frames according to their gendered content. I investigate how, in offering solutions to the broadly framed problem of family violence, the Commission and contributors to it were potentially influenced or constrained by national and international framings of domestic and family violence as a subset of violence against women. I also consider the risks and benefits of ‘family violence’ problem framing.