Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care
Exploring relevant issues in our Santa Strong Pastoral Care Program
Santa Sabina’s commitment to good quality pastoral care for our students involves the implementation of a research-based, age-appropriate and sequenced pastoral care program. In Years 7-12 this program is known as our Santa Strong Program. Recently our Years 9-12 students have taken part in a pastoral care session around coercive control.
Almost three in 10 of 18-19-year-olds have experienced intimate partner violence in the past year, according to a national study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) conducted in 2023. The research is based on data from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), which has been tracking 10,000 children since 2004. In the 12 months before being surveyed, 25% of 18-19 year olds experienced emotional abuse, 12% experienced physical violence, and 8% experienced sexual abuse in their intimate relationships. A total of 29% experienced at least one form of intimate partner violence. (https://aifs.gov.au/media/three-ten-older-teens-have-experienced-intimate-partner-violence)
In the face of such statistics and in light of the heightened reporting and awareness surrounding the very disturbing statistics of intimate partner violence and murder in Australia we felt that it was timely to support the PDHPE program and revisit this topic of coercive control.
Our pastoral care session on the topic involved discussing definitions, looking at the signs and how to identify an escalation in disturbing behaviours by a partner. We also viewed and discussed a recent episode of Australian Story that covered the experiences of a young Australian, Anna Coutts-Trotter, who has experienced coercive control in her teenage relationship.
When researching for this session the pastoral care staff were heartened to come across research that indicated that teens having healthy relationships with parents and friends at 16-17 years played a critical role in reducing the likelihood of being a victim of intimate partner violence at 18-19 years. Specifically, high trust and good communication with parents during adolescence reduced emotional abuse victimisation by 39% and sexual abuse victimisation by 77%. If a teen had strong, supportive friendships throughout adolescence, the likelihood of being a victim of intimate partner violence was reduced by 36%. (https://aifs.gov.au/media/three-ten-older-teens-have-experienced-intimate-partner-violence)
Such research reassures us all that the values that are being reinforced in our families and homes are the ones that could help to protect our children against the potential damage of a controlling relationship. As pastoral care educators we also have confidence that the content of our programs that helps to strengthen peer relationships and offer support options also leads to the reinforcement of protective behaviours for our young people.
Please see the following resources containing the statistics discussed above. These were used as the basis for our recent pastoral session.
Australian Story – Out of the Chaos
Research from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) Three in ten older teens have experienced Intimate Partner Violence
ABC article, ‘Seven red flags your teen might be in an abusive relationship – and six signs it’s escalating’: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-12/red-flags-your-teen-might-be-in-an-abusive-relationship/102834042
Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care