By I. Hansana, Jadetimes News
Domestic Violence Burns Found More Severe Than Accidental Burns Australian Research
Burns suffered by women in domestic violence incidents tend to be more severe, deeper, and result in worse outcomes than burns from accidents, according to new research. The Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand (BRANZ), the leading burns data center in Australia, reported that nearly 100 women had been admitted to specialist units due to domestic violence from 2009 to 2022. However, researchers believe this number significantly underestimates the true scale of the issue.
The BRANZ data covers adult women who required surgery or overnight stays at eight major burn units in Australia during the study period. The figures include women who died from their injuries while in these units, but not those who died before reaching the hospital or did not seek treatment. This research is among the first major studies examining burn violence against women, highlighting the urgent need for more studies on the use of fire as a tool of violence.
The study, which will be included in a forthcoming publication, found that 6,262 Australian women were admitted to hospital burns units for stays longer than a day or required surgery between 2009 and 2022. Of these cases, 157 were believed to be the result of burn related violence, with 60% of these incidents involving a current or former partner or family member as the suspected perpetrator.
Yvonne Singer of Monash University, who led the research, emphasized the likely underreporting of these incidents due to victims' fear of further injury and lack of support. She noted that domestic violence victims suffered more severe burns in terms of size and depth, and faced worse outcomes, including higher rates of death, surgeries, and longer hospital stays, compared to women who experienced accidental burns.
Delia Donovan, CEO of Domestic Violence NSW, stressed the importance of coordinating efforts among agencies to ensure that fire is included in domestic violence responses. She called for collaboration between fire services, the health system, and other relevant agencies to support burn victims effectively.
Between 2019 and 2021, four women, one man, and two children died in fire related domestic violence incidents in NSW, according to the state's Domestic Violence Death Review Team. However, researchers argue that these statistics do not fully capture the issue, which includes threats of burns, property damage, and injuries not categorized as domestic violence.
Heather Douglas, a law professor at the University of Melbourne, published research in 2022 linking fire related threats and injuries to domestic and family violence. She noted the need for further research to understand the true extent of this issue, describing the use of arson in domestic violence as a "neglected space."
Douglas highlighted the powerful and harmful nature of fire as a weapon in domestic violence cases, citing high profile incidents such as the murders of Hannah Clarke and her children in 2020 and Doreen Langham in 2021. She pointed out that fires can often be misinterpreted as accidents, allowing them to go unnoticed more easily than other forms of injury.
Dr. Joseph Lelliott, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Queensland, co authored a 2022 paper discussing the prevalence of copycat behavior among perpetrators of domestic violence following high profile cases like those of Clarke and Kelly Wilkinson on the Gold Coast. His research emphasized the need for increased awareness and intervention to address this growing issue.
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