Information for Service Providers


The University of Sydney is conducting research into female defendants in domestic violence proceedings where the alleged victim is a male. This research is being led by Professor Rita Shackel, The University of Sydney Law School.

We are interested in interviewing women who have been identified as perpetrators of domestic violence particularly in circumstances where there is a power imbalance between the parties or ongoing patterns of abuse and where they may actually be the primary victim of abuse.

We are also interested to hear generally about the experiences of female defendants with the police and legal system in these circumstances.

We would be very grateful if you could let us know if your service is willing to assist in this research. This would involve displaying and distributing the attached flyer in relation to our study. Women who are interested in participating in our study can contact us directly to participate in an interview or directly access the study survey online.

Participation is entirely voluntary and identifying details will be removed from any information provided by participants.

We would appreciate if you could please respond by 15 July 2019 advising whether your Service is available to facilitate this research. If you require any further information about this research before then please do not hesitate to contact Rita Shackel.

Thank you kindly for your consideration.