Dr Naomi Pfitzner

Graduated in 2017

Project Description

Intimate partner violence is a global phenomenon with significant social, economic and health costs. The importance of engaging men in preventing intimate partner violence is well established with strategies that engage men as fathers through parenting programs showing some promise. Australia’s world first national primary prevention framework identifies gender inequality as the central driver of intimate partner violence. The transition to parenthood is a critical moment in the production of gender inequality and often leads to a retraditionalisation of gender roles for heterosexual couples. This life transition presents a prime opportunity to promote gender equality and engage fathers in interventions that seek to prevent intimate partner violence from ever occurring. While policies and programs are increasingly seeking to engage men in violence prevention, engagement frameworks in the primary prevention field are underdeveloped. Current research focuses on the manner in which men are drawn into prevention work rather than the engagement process itself. Existing Australian primary prevention programs tend to focus on engaging boys in school-based respectful relationships programs with little attention paid to reaching adult men. This study sought to fill these gaps by developing an engagement model for fathers and exploring its application to intimate partner violence primary prevention strategies. Aligning with the gendered lens of our national framework the research explored how gender impacts on service providers’ engagement with new fathers in respectful relationships programs delivered in health settings.

Supervisors

Professor Kelsey Hegarty, Department of General Practice 
Professor Cathy Humphreys, Department of Social Work