Using research to reduce violence against women

Prior to joining ANROWS in 2024, Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine was the founding CEO of Health Justice Australia, the national centre for health justice partnership. Originally a criminologist, she has worked in health, criminal justice and human rights organisations in Australia and internationally. She was previously Deputy CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service and was the inaugural Fulbright Professional Scholar in Nonprofit Leadership. Tessa’s PhD looked at the detention and release of mentally disordered offenders. Read on for our interview with ANROWS (Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety) CEO Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine!

Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position.

At university I majored in student politics and scraped through my studies, but it did mean that I graduated with lots of skills in public education. My first job out of university was running a public education program in criminology: a subject I knew nothing about but completely feel in love with. Over time I moved from research to practical roles across mental health, criminal justice and human rights. I’ve always loved quality, rigorous research but what really matters to me is how we make use of good evidence to drive change. That’s what I love about the work of ANROWS, which is unique globally in being an independent, purpose-driven organisation established to build the evidence we need to end violence against women and children. 

What does this role mean to you?

The two things I love about leading purpose-driven organisations are supporting them to achieve their intended impact; and creating a positive working environment for the people who work in and with those organisations. At ANROWS I get to do both. 

This year’s heightened focus on gendered violence in Australia has brought with it questions about the directions and impact of the national policy agenda to end violence against women and children. Our work is part of that national agenda. Since ANROWS’ establishment we have built a strong reputation for developing high quality and rigorous evidence. Now we need to deepen our impact so that, alongside developing trusted knowledge, we are helping people use that knowledge to drive change. Like so many purpose-driven organisations, our people and relationships are key to our impact and we have a really strong focus on how we support the capability of our staff internally to achieve our impact externally.

Take us through a typical day of work for you.

My days are really varied, something I love about my work. I regularly review reports we have produced or commissioned, as well as the resources we develop to translate evidence and support people to use it. These include fact sheets and web content and also submissions to policy processes. There’s often speaking with media or at launch events. And I travel a lot, meeting with government and partners; visiting services; and participating in events where I continue to learn about new and evolving ways of responding to and preventing gendered violence.

It’s a busy role and so its really important to keep some time every day to look after myself. Working in the area of domestic, family and sexual violence, we’re exposed to traumatic material all the time. We can’t change that, but we can be intentional about how we support our people to manage, and ideally reduce, the impact of vicarious trauma. That’s part of the work we’re doing to support the capability of our staff and its something I take really seriously. So, I get regular clinical supervision, I maintain exercise and I follow a daily process to regulate the emotional impacts of this work. 

What is the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in your career, and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge I’ve encountered is that complex problems don’t have a single, neat solution. The impact of domestic, family and sexual violence in people’s lives is a good example, but I’ve this in lots of areas over the years. For example, effective responses to victim survivors are different as a crisis response for someone who is unsafe at home right now, compared to addressing the impact of trauma and helping someone to build trusting, healthy relationships. In addition, there is a growing recognition that we need to be working with men, who are the majority of people committing violence in this context, but who might have their own experiences of victimisation particularly as children. These are not easy problems to solve. 

The attention we’ve seen to gendered violence this year can influence action at the policy level, investment in services, and shifting community attitudes and behaviours that underpin this violence. It will take all those levers and more, to really end violence against women and children. 

If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career? 

I’ve cared about social justice for as long as I can remember, and I never really conformed to ideals about children being seen and not heard – especially girls. But that didn’t always make for an easy time. Going back, I would tell myself to relax about what I want to be when I grow up and instead, to focus on what gives me purpose.

How do you stay motivated to work in this field?

Looking back, I can tell a linear story about my career. Of course, it never progresses that way, but there are things I have always been committed to that really anchor and inspire me in my work. My commitment to social justice is one. Taking time to build relationships that enable strong and effective collaboration is another. Understanding systems and structures is a third; and the way that systemic change can have such significant impacts at a community and population level. Finally, my passion for sharing knowledge and helping people use it to drive change.

How do you unwind after work?

I love going for a walk to unwind or cooking, which is probably my most creative outlet. But my favourite thing lately has been groove therapy, a dance class that’s all about breaking down the intimidation of the dance floor, building community and unwinding through groove.