Funding for new app to stop domestic violence before it's too late

Dr Schweitzer says the message is also likely to get through when men who have been violent at home realise they've incited fear in someone they love. Photo / 123RF

When Dr Ron Schweitzer stands in front of rows of domestic violence offenders who have reluctantly gathered at the behaviour change meetings he holds in Melbourne, he knows it's unlikely even one of them has come willingly.

The perpetrators have usually been court-mandated to attend the sessions, or partner-mandated, as the GP and his colleagues have come to call it.

That's when they've been given an ultimatum by their partner or another family member to do something about their behaviour.

But even though in the 24 years Dr Schweitzer has been holding these sessions he says there's only been a small handful of men who have come genuinely wanting to change their ways, he still gets results. And, it's almost always at the same point.

"It's difficult to get these men engaged," the Melbourne GP tells news.com.au. "Some of them, usually the so-called partner-mandated cases, at least have a reason for being there - they want to get their relationship back online.

But the really tough ones are the ones who aren't interested in reviving the relationship.

More: Why men's behaviour change programs are working

"They don't think they're doing something wrong and they're mandated to attend. They think it's the justice system gone crazy. They think their behaviour has been excellent."

But Dr Schweitzer says even with abusive men who emphatically believe they don't have behaviour issues that need addressing, when they realise they've incited fear in a child is when they turn the corner.

"When they realise the impact on their kids, that's often the moment," he says.

"This guy in the group at the moment, he's been coming for a few weeks and has been defending his behaviour quite staunchly.

"One of the men started talking about when he was 12 his parents separating, the difficulty of that, and this other guy was able to connect with that.

"From then he seemed to be taking a slightly difference stance and started thinking about how his behaviour might affect his son."

Dr Schweitzer says the message is also likely to get through when men who have been violent at home realise they've incited fear in someone they love.

"The main way we find of moving men is when you ask them 'do you think your partner is frightened of you?'," he said.

"Most of the men can see the look of fear on their partner's face. If they've been a situation where they've experienced fear themselves, they'll recognise that."

Although Dr Schweitzer has developed methods to encourage and enforce behaviour change in violent men through his groups, he's determined to see the numbers of attendants to his sessions go down.

That's why he's thrown his support behind a new app developed by Melbourne University researchers that's just received a share in $1.4 million in funding from the NAB Foundation.

The app, called e-Mate, will encourage self-reflection for men who may be using violence in their relationships, before it escalates to the point where other intervention is needed.

The app's developer, Melbourne University professor of family violence prevention Kelsey Hegarty, tells news.com.au the app will aim to raise awareness and recognition of abusive behaviours and encourage user-led behaviour change early on.

Prof Hegarty said the idea to create such a tool came as the national conversation around dealing with family violence turned to perpetrator intervention as well as assisting victims.

"There are some online intervention tools for women who are experiencing violence, but we've turned our attention to men who used violence," she says.

"We've talked to men from men's behaviour change groups as a way to identify earlier that they're using abuse and encouraging self reflection, and they all thought that the use of technology would be a way through that, and that they would see themselves using an app."

Prof Hegarty says the app - which is still in development and will be tested later this year - will use "innovative" features like digital stories to communicate messages that are known to motivate behaviour change, like the impact of family violence on children.

She admits it will be a tough sell for some blokes who aren't willing to admit they have a problem, and says the app is "not for every man".

"It's not for probably someone who is at the very severe end of the spectrum, but we're aiming this at the mild to moderate family violence where there are men who do realise they're down and they probably realise something wrong, but they've got no where to go," she says.

"There doesn't seem to be an easy service that at the moment."

Prof Hegarty has been working in this space for 25 years, she says, and is surprised she hasn't come across such a service based on addressing men's violence at its early stages.

"We need new solutions for this wicked problem," she says. "We've got a lot of primary prevention, but this is early intervention, and that's what's missing.

Prof Hegarty said the grant from NAB for her project and six others was a brave and essential investment.

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