All of my work is rooted in the intention of preventing harm, supporting people to repair after having been harmed, and taking responsibility for having caused harm.

My specialist focus is harm caused by patriarchal and gender-based violence, whether enacted by individuals or systems. Most of my work responds to men’s use of violence and abuse toward others, particularly women.

I have a diverse but complementary skillset in frontline service, specialist practice, and academic research. My work is grounded in intersectional feminism and a critique of hierarchical systems of oppression.

Read a little more about each of my specialist areas below.

Sexual Violence

In my early twenties I noticed that men’s use of sexual violence is extremely common. So common, in fact, that it is treated as ‘normal’.

I was determined to change that.

I chose to undertake PhD research exploring the routine way men use sexual coercion toward women.

Investigating how young adults communicate about sex and consent, I found that women provide clear refusals, and that men understand these refusals. Despite this, men use sexual coercion to chip away at those refusals, which weakens resolve and creates an environment of defeat.

Today, I draw upon my research to change the culture that normalises men’s use of sexual violence, and seek justice for those affected by it. I do this in my role as a Restorative Justice Practitioner with Transforming Justice Australia, and as an author of journal articles and a book due to be released in January 2025.

It is important to me that my research findings are publicly accessible, and not reserved only for academic audiences. Lizzy Keen and I co-created the Sex and Consent podcast in which we bring my research to life through animated discussions, storytelling, and centring survivor experiences.

Domestic Violence

I have worked in the domestic and family violence sector for eight years, in both frontline service delivery and program coordination and design.

In my frontline role as a Family Advocacy and Support Practitioner, I worked with women and their children who had been subject to violence by their male partners. This involved risk assessment, safety planning, and working closely with other agencies and services. Most importantly, this role required me to connect with and hear survivors, and be led by their needs.

I have worked closely with hundreds of women in a variety of contexts, including while choosing to remain in relationship, while planning to escape, and in their healing journey after having fled.

Support Groups

When women meet in groups to talk about things that they’ve been taught by society to feel ashamed of, or to even blame themselves for, it is powerful. The connection and validation, and the destigmatisation of having been subject to harm, possible within women’s support groups is invaluable.

For the past six years I have co-facilitated support groups for women who have been subject to domestic abuse.

I designed the content for these groups, which ranges from foundational themes like coercive control, the cycle of violence, and victim-blaming, to more in-depth, psycho-educational themes that unpack the socio-political systems and structures that normalise and perpetuate gender inequality and violence toward women and girls.

The feedback from participants has been positive. Women expressed having a greater sense of emotional safety and connection after participating (see testimonials here).

Accountability Work

I have eight years of experience in the accountability space, across a variety of contexts. This includes working for an organisation accredited to run Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCP), which are groups designed for men who are enacting domestic abuse toward their partners and/or families, as well as for restorative justice organisation, and within academic research.

Working with people who cause harm is important to me as it is such a key element of preventing further harm. Supporting people who are subject to harm is – of course – crucial, but without working with those who cause harm I believe there is less hope for change.

I have worked directly with men who have enacted both domestic abuse and sexual harm, and with men regarding their socialisation into sexist and misogynistic attitude and belief systems, whether or not they have explicitly caused harm, or are aware of the harm they’ve caused. Further to this, I have coordinated and designed programs for organisations doing accountability work.

As a Project Coordinator, I worked closely with No To Violence and Monash University to establish a pilot online Men’s Behaviour Change Program (MBCP). My role included staff recruitment and management, participant recruitment, interagency and stakeholder relationship development, budgeting, and reporting.

The online MBCP was designed to service men living rurally, regionally and remotely who otherwise were unable to access in-person MBCP groups. You can read Monash’s evaluation here.