Low support for gender equality (GE) predicts attitudes supporting violence against women (VAW). However, little is known about the influence of attitudes toward different manifestations of GE. This study extends knowledge by assessing the relative strength of attitudes to GE across seven theoretically derived dimensions, and their association with attitudes toward VAW. 17,542 Australians participated in the 2017 National Community Attitudes Towards Violence Against Women Survey. Population means were calculated for the following scales formed from survey questions: the Community Attitudes Supportive of Violence Against Women Scale (CASVAWS), the Gender Equality Attitudes Scale (GEAS) and measures within the GEAS representing the theoretical dimensions. There was variation in support for GE between the measures. The lower the support for GE, the higher the support for VAW. Although all GEAS measures included in regression modelling contributed to variance in the CASVAWS, two accounted for more than half. The study suggests benefits in using a multidimensional model of GE to mitigate cultural | 375 WEBSTER ET al.

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Suicide rates in prisons in England and Wales are high, including those in juvenile detention centers. Previous deliberate self-harm (DSH) is the strongest predictor of suicide in the general population. There is limited information on how many juvenile offenders (15 to 18 year-olds) have a history of DSH at the time of entering custody, or on factors associated with previous DSH. We aimed to determine the prevalence of previous DSH and suicidal ideation in a population of juvenile offenders in custody and to identify factors associated with DSH and suicidal ideation. Seven out of 45 subjects (15.6%) reported an act of DSH in the past. Twelve (26.6%) reported past suicidal ideation. Peer relationship difficulties and sexual abuse were significantly associated with DSH (p < 0.05). Other factors showed a trend toward being more common among those with DSH, but the premature ending of the project by the juvenile detention center prevented full investigation of the extent of DSH and associated factors. Nevertheless, the results indicated a much higher rate of DSH in this population than in young males in the community. A larger joint project with juvenile detention centers is required to confirm the extent of previous DSH at the time young offenders are admitted, and the associated risk factors, in order to assist prevention and intervention strategies.

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In this paper, we identify the influence of formal equality—and more specifically, formal gender equality (that is, treating men and women the same)—in central areas of major Australian family law reform over the past 20 years. Given the influence of formal equality and our concerns regarding this trend, we consider whether equality-based arguments should be abandoned entirely, at least in the family law context, and explore alternative approaches that could reframe the debate.

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This article charts aspects of the engagement by formal law reform agencies with feminist ideas in the context of homicide law reform. This requires, of course, a concentration on violence against women. The article uses law reform work on the provocation defence to map the ways in which violence against women was an apparent driver of reform. It has Victorian law reform as its focus, and concentrates on the various manifestations of independent law reform agencies in Victoria -the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC), and its two predecessor agencies, the Law Reform Commission of Victoria (LRCV) and the Law Reform Commissioner. The article explores the thesis that when law reform, at least homicide law reform, is driven by the social context in which the legal phenomenon of interest occurs, one is more likely to get progressive legal change than where reform is driven by legal categories. However, that social context had itself to be configured and the paper briefly traces the identification of 'domestic violence' as a social phenomenon.