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MEDIA RELEASE

13 June 2025

WOMEN WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE OF FAMILY VIOLENCE AND INCARCERATION TO SPEARHEAD ADVOCACY

Family violence service, Engender Equality is inviting women with a lived experience of family violence and incarceration to join their lived experience Advocates for Change program and help drive systemic, community and social change.

Chief Executive Officer, Engender Equality, Alina Thomas said,

“Engender Equality prioritises the voices of victim-survivors in all activities related to the Advocates for Change program.

“Women who have experienced incarceration deserve the same support, respect, and opportunities as all women affected by family violence.”

“To reflect this, we are extending our existing Advocates for Change program to better support this part of our community.”

“The factors leading to women entering and returning to prison are deeply complex and often rooted in repeated and intergenerational experiences such as violence, homelessness, poverty and child removal.” she said.

“These issues are even more pronounced for First Nations women and girls, who remain disproportionately represented in the prison population.”

Advocates for Change is a volunteer program, where participants are trained and supported to share their lived experience and expertise to improve outcomes for all victim-survivors and ultimately end family and sexual violence. Opportunities include, public speaking, talking to the media, contributing to law amendment submissions and providing input into policy and activity design.

Women who have been incarcerated and survived violence bring valuable expertise about how the criminal justice, legal and support services systems operate, and often fail. They can see problems and injustices that others might overlook.

When victim-survivors speak up and take on roles to advocate for change, they directly influence the way laws, services and the justice system work. Their insights can push for fairer, trauma-informed responses for people who have been harmed.

Lived-experience advocate and Coordinator of the Advocates for Change Program, Sneha Sapkota explains, “At Engender Equality, we are passionate about supporting social change and advocating for the rights of women, mothers and victim-survivors. We believe that sharing our platform with victim-survivors leads to more just and effective outcomes for everyone.”

“Of course, the program prioritises the emotional and personal safety of all advocates. This includes assessing potential risks, their individual readiness, and offering professional counselling as well as ongoing peer support,” Ms Sapkota said.

The new intake includes a four-day training program designed to build understanding about the drivers of violence and current statistics. It provides practical skills such as engaging with the media, identifying and crafting effective messages, writing and delivering a speech, and using lived experiences to influence decision-makers.

Currently, the Advocates for Change team includes more than thirty diverse victim-survivors from across Tasmania. Together, they have meaningfully contributed to key initiatives, including feedback to Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Three essential elements of an effective Tasmanian Child Sexual Abuse Reform Strategy and Action Plan‘; influencing change to Tasmania’s strangulation laws which now identify it as a crime in itself; Participation in preparation of A statement from victim-survivors in the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032; and presentations to the Disability Royal Commission during its 2022 Tasmanian hearings.

Ends.

Media Contact: Alina Thomas 0438 788 291

For interviews or further photos please contact Alina