The Commissioner for Children and Young People Leanne McLean today welcomed the release of new research from Anglicare Tasmania, which paints a disturbing picture of violence and abuse in teenage relationships in Tasmania.
The research, ‘Young, In Love, and In Danger’, was led by Anglicare researcher Dr Carmel Hobbs and delved deeper beneath Tasmania’s extremely concerning teen domestic abuse statistics where 40 percent of young Tasmanians aged 18 to 19 may have experienced violence in their relationships in the past 12 months – a figure well above the national rate of 28.5 percent.
“Up till now, very little research had been done in Australia, and particularly in Tasmania, into domestic violence and abuse by partners of teens. It’s hard to tackle a problem if you don’t know it exists or you don’t know the extent or nature of it,” Ms McLean said.
“By going to the young people to listen, understand and share their stories, the research team have helped give a human face to the statistics so as a community we can understand the real nature of the problem and the long reaching impacts the abuse and violence can have into adulthood.
“I commend the young people who so generously and bravely shared their stories with the research team to bring about this understanding and help bring about change.
“I fully support all recommendations made by Dr Hobbs and her team, including mandatory education on respectful relationships, trauma-informed specialist teen domestic violence services, and better support for those experiencing violence and abuse.
“It is also imperative, as recommended in the report, that governments review and, if necessary, reform legislation to ensure children and young people protected from violence and abuse in their intimate partner relationships.
