Research into violent crime memories

A FERNTREE Gully resident has claimed some women are continually haunted by the effects of domestic violence, even years after the crime.
For the past seven years, Ferntree Gully resident Ilsa Evans, 45, has dedicated her time to investigating the longterm effects of domestic violence on women.
A researcher at Monash University, she has recently completed a PhD thesis on the topic with some revealing findings.
Ms Evans’s research, after interviewing 134 women aged between 18 and 83, show that some victims of domestic violence are continually haunted by the effects of the crime because they must continue seeing their perpetrator.
“There is no other crime in our society where the perpetrator has access to the victim in the long term afterwards,” she said.
“It is because of child access, basically; the child has the right in our society to know both parents.
“So after the relationship the male is still very much a part of the woman’s life.”
Ms Evans said continually seeing an abusive husband was detrimental to a victim’s finances, employment, physical health and other relationships.
“We are talking about violent men, abusive men, who use child access to continue to manipulate their partner,” she said.
Ms Evans also found that only 22 per cent of women in the study received child support regularly, while 36 per cent refused to apply for it, fearing it would bring them into contact again with their former partner.
Ms Evans is now only months away from formally receiving her PhD.
For the former emergency teacher, life could not be better.
“I did a bachelor of arts years ago then did a diploma of education and after that went into emergency school teaching.
“If anything turns you off teaching, it is going to be emergency teaching.”
After returning as a mature age student, Ms Evans completed her honours degree and began working on her PhD, with a passion.
“I have always been passionate about the subject, and I think mature age students should have something to be passionate about.”