Everyone has the right to live free from violence, abuse, coercion and fear.
Safety From Violence Is A Right™ exists to make violence easier to recognise, challenge the attitudes and systems that allow harm to continue, amplify lived experience responsibly and connect people with credible information and specialist support.
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Your safety comes first.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Violence isn't always easy to recognise.
Violence can be physical, but it can also be sexual, emotional, psychological, financial, social or technology-facilitated.
It may involve threats, intimidation, surveillance, isolation, humiliation, manipulation or control.
Sometimes there is one obvious incident.
Sometimes there is a pattern that develops slowly until someone's choices, independence and sense of safety have been taken away.
Understanding those patterns matters.
Because recognising violence is often the first step towards responding to it.
WHY SFV EXISTS
People experiencing violence should not also have to carry the burden of navigating systems that fail to connect.
People experiencing violence should not also have to carry the burden of understanding complex systems, finding the right service, navigating fragmented responses and repeatedly explaining what has happened.
Yet too often, they do.
Violence is not only a private problem between individuals. The way communities, institutions, laws, services and justice systems respond can either increase safety or create additional barriers.
Safety From Violence Is A Right™ exists to contribute to that conversation.
We educate.
We advocate.
We challenge harmful assumptions.
We centre lived experience without exploiting it.
And we ask what needs to change so that safety becomes something people can genuinely access — not something they are expected to fight for alone.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Safety is a right
Everyone deserves to live free from violence, abuse, coercion and fear.
Responsibility belongs with the person using violence
People experiencing abuse are not responsible for another person's decision to harm, intimidate, manipulate or control them.
Patterns matter
Violence is not always defined by a single incident. Looking at patterns of behaviour can help reveal coercion, control and escalating risk.
Systems must do better
Responses to violence should increase safety and dignity, not create additional barriers, trauma or responsibility for the people seeking help.
WHAT WE DO
From awareness to change
🎓 EDUCATE
We make complex patterns of violence, abuse and coercive control easier to understand so people can recognise behaviours that may otherwise be minimised, misunderstood or overlooked.
📣 ADVOCATE
We challenge attitudes, policies, practices and systems that compromise safety or place unnecessary burdens on people experiencing violence.
🗣️ AMPLIFY
We centre lived experience respectfully and responsibly, recognising that survivor voices can help expose gaps, challenge assumptions and inform change.
🔗 CONNECT
We point people towards credible information, research and specialist support rather than attempting to replace the services equipped to provide crisis intervention, counselling or case management.
Learn about violence, abuse and coercive control
Violence takes many forms.
Some are visible.
Others rely on fear, manipulation, isolation or control and may be much harder to identify from the outside.
Explore information about domestic and family violence, coercive control, sexual violence, consent, child sexual abuse, stalking, financial abuse, technology-facilitated abuse, post-separation abuse and other patterns of harm.
Explore Violence & Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse & Grooming
Children & Young People
Coercive Control
Consent
Domestic & Family Violence
LGBTQIA+ Communities
Men & Boys
Myths vs Reality
Perpetrator Responsibility
Sexual Violence
Systems, Justice and Survivor Safety
Language Matters
Women & Girls
Legal Abuse
Violence can affect anyone. The experience isn't always the same
Violence occurs across genders, ages, relationships, cultures and communities.
But people's experiences of violence - and the barriers they encounter when seeking safety - can be very different.
Gender, age, sexuality, gender identity, disability, financial circumstances, cultural background, immigration status and social expectations can all influence how violence is experienced, recognised, disclosed and responded to.
Explore information relevant to:
👩 Women and girls
👨 Men and boys
🧒 Children and young people
🏳️🌈 LGBTQIA+ communities
ADVOCACY
Awareness matters. But awareness alone isn't enough.
Violence does not occur in isolation from the systems around it.
Justice systems, health services, police, housing, child protection, workplaces, communities and government policy can all influence whether someone is believed, supported and able to reach safety.
Safety From Violence Is A Right™ examines the systems as well as the behaviour.
Our advocacy challenges victim-blaming, harmful myths, fragmented responses, barriers to disclosure, gaps in policy and practices that place unnecessary responsibility on survivors.
Because preventing violence requires more than recognising that it happens.
It requires asking what allows it to continue — and what needs to change.
Explore Our Advocacy
- victim-blaming
- fragmented systems
- failures in justice responses
- barriers to disclosure
- policy gaps
- harmful myths and stereotypes
- systems that place unnecessary burdens on survivors
- minimisation of lived experience
LATEST ARTICLES
Ideas, evidence and advocacy for change
Our articles examine violence, abuse, coercive control, justice, policy, prevention and the systems that shape people's experiences of safety.
We bring together research, lived experience and public commentary to make complex issues easier to understand and harder to ignore.
She Was Waiting for an Uber. He Was Waiting for an Opportunity.
A woman waiting for an Uber was deceived by a man posing as her driver. Her experience raises important questions about sexual violence, victim-blaming, safety and perpetrator accountability.
Puberty Blockers, Children and the Limits of Consent
Puberty blockers, child consent and gender-affirming care raise urgent safeguarding questions. Are children equipped to make life-altering medical decisions?
Legal Abuse After Separation: How Courts Can Become a Weapon
Legal abuse after separation can extend coercive control through repeated litigation, financial harm and system misuse, trapping survivors in control for years.
If you are experiencing violence or abuse, support is available.
Safety From Violence Is A Right™ provides education, information and advocacy.
We do not provide counselling, crisis intervention or emergency assistance.
Our Get Help page connects you with specialist services and credible support options.
Safety From Violence Is A Right™ is an advocacy, education and awareness project. It does not provide counselling, crisis intervention, legal advice, case management or other professional support services.
The information shared through this project is intended to inform, raise awareness and contribute to public discussion about domestic and family violence, sexual violence, child sexual abuse, coercive control and related issues.
If you are experiencing violence, abuse or immediate danger, please contact an appropriate specialist support service, emergency service, health professional or legal service in your area.