12 March 2008

VU's Research Professor Jill Astbury was one of 30 women inducted onto the 2008 Victorian Honour Roll of Women on International Women's Day - recognised for her research in gender, human rights, and family violence.

Professor Astbury is a leading international and Australian researcher in the area of gender and human rights, with a particular focus on violence against women. She has played a central role in making significant changes to policies, systems and service provision in the area of violence prevention.

Her work has significantly contributed to understanding: the cause of violence against women; how violence against women can be reduced or prevented; the health impacts of violence on women; and meeting the needs of women who have experienced violence.

She is committed to ensuring that the experiences of women are accurately represented and translated in research and into policy, and to creating relevant, lasting and meaningful change, for the benefit of women.

On the basis of her research, Jill recently made recommendations about services for survivors of sexual assault, for the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, called 'Working with Survivors'.

The World Health Organization; VicHealth, the Australian Family Institute; and the Department for Victorian Communities are just a few of the organisations for which she has undertaken research, or been a leading research and policy advisor. Currently Jill is the co chair of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, an initiative of the Global Forum for Heath Research.

Jill recently contributed to the development of the Family Violence Risk Assessment and Risk Management Framework (2007), developed by the Office of Women's Policy, Department of Victorian Communities.

Jill has been a central figure in establishing, documenting and publicising information about violence against women. Such as, the fact that almost one-quarter of Australian women experience violence from a partner or ex-partner at some stage in their lives and that such violence is the leading risk factor for death and disability for women aged 18-44, with the most severe impact being on women's mental health.

Professor Astbury's current PhD student at Victoria University, Heather Young said: "Jill has supported and inspired a new generation of women committed to working to improve the health and wellbeing of victimised women and to promote justice and dignity for all women."

Jill Astbury, is Research Professor in the School of Psychology at Victoria University, based at St Albans Campus.

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