Harm in the Name of Safety. Victorian Family Violence Workers' Experiences of Family Violence Policing

By Peta Malins and Lauren Caulfield

Harm in the Name of Safety is a damning research report into the harms enacted in the course of  family violence policing, released today by the Beyond Survival Project, Flat Out and RMIT University.

The research documents evidence from 225 Victorian frontline workers about their experiences of police responses to family violence. It finds that harmful family violence policing practices are extremely frequent and widespread across the state, and that alternative community-based response pathways for victim-survivors are urgently needed.

The report details extensive examples of police minimising and dismissing family violence, engaging in racially targeted, sexist and discriminatory police practices, colluding with perpetrators in ways that extend violence and abuse, and misidentifying victim-survivors as perpetrators.

Melbourne: Flat Out Inc.2025. 111p.