New funding has recently been granted by the NHMRC for a Centre of Research Excellence, which aims to transform health systems so that they restore the health and wellbeing of survivors of sexual violence in adulthood and deliver care that is trauma and violence informed and responsive to individual needs.
There is an urgent need to address health issues related to sexual violence earlier and more effectively. Sexual violence affects at least one in six women and one in 25 men in Australia, causing enormous harm to their wellbeing. The health system’s role in supporting victim-survivors of sexual violence is critical, however, to date health system responses have been inadequate.
The research team will use large national datasets to:
- Identify where policy reform and health service investment might be most effective;
- Test emerging therapies to see what works for victim-survivors; and
- Collaborate with victim-survivors to make trauma and violence informed care part of everyday practice in health settings.
Through this innovative program of work, the Centre hopes to create new pathways to healing for victim-survivors by providing evidence for whether therapies like trauma-sensitive yoga, physical activity and music therapy are effective. It will identify how victim-survivors use health services and where there are unmet needs, particularly for LGBTQ+ people. It will explore how a “sense of safety” can be achieved in health settings. These are just some of the many areas the RESTORE CRE will address. The Centre will also build skills and capacity for the next generation of researchers in this area, including researchers with their own lived experience.
The RESTORE CRE is led by Prof Laura Tarzia with DGPPC colleagues Prof Kelsey Hegarty and Prof Victoria Palmer, alongside a stellar team of investigators from The University of Newcastle (Prof Deb Loxton & Prof Liz Holliday), UNSW (Dr Patricia Cullen, A/Prof Simon Rosenbaum), and Monash University (Prof Jayashri Kulkarni) and international collaborators (Prof Lorna O’Doherty, Coventry University UK; and Prof Nancy Glass, John’s Hopkins University, USA).
For more information about the RESTORE CRE, contact us at restore-centre@unimelb.edu.au