A Bendigo-based research project has found country communities are failing to respond to reports of sexual violence and abuse in a way that would stop it continuing.
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When Emily Corbett first told people about the sexual violence she'd experienced, she didn't get the reaction she needed.
"Often the first response I had from people was, 'Well, you were drinking alcohol,' or 'You were doing this,' or 'Why didn't you go to the police?'," she says.
"There was a lot of disbelief, there was a lot of questioning.
"It was a really difficult time."
Ms Corbett, who grew up in Benalla, relocated to Melbourne, where she worked with some sexual assault support organisations and graduated from university with a PhD in gender studies.
In 2020 the now researcher moved to Bendigo to start a project looking at sexual violence and "victimisation" in regional and rural Victoria.
The three-and-a-half-year project, initiatied by the Centre Against Sexual Violence Central Victoria and funded by CASA-CV and La Trobe University, involved in-depth interviews with 11 women from regional and rural Victoria, ranging in age from 20 to 70.
There is a normalisation of violence, a 'slow violence' occurring
As well as identifying the role of "structural disadvantage" like lower levels of income and limited support services in enabling violence to continue, the research found "families, community members and service systems didn't respond effectively when women came forward as children, and sometimes as adults".
"So what happens is there is this normalisation of violence, or this 'slow violence', that's occurring," Dr Corbett said.
"If the trusted adults and communities around you don't respond, or they fail to act to protect you from violence and harm, then it's not surprising that women come to accept this behaviour as normal and they go on to experience further violence."
In terms of why people failed to respond, there were "a lot of different things going on," she told the Advertiser.
Fear of disrupting relationships a factor in failures to respond
These included a fear of losing relationships, particularly a fear that "disclosing children's experiences of sexual assault could disrupt family or community bonds".
Another obstacle was people's often staunch belief in the good reputation of perpetrators.
"Still today, we see this narrative of the good community man [leading to people] completely dismissing the possibility that he would cause sexual harm," the researcher said.
The issue was made worse by victim-blaming attitudes - found even among health professionals - which diminished the credibility of complainants.
Other factors playing a part in the situation included the "overwhelming" lack of housing and financial help for women needing it and insufficient education for people to be able to recognise disrespectful behaviour.
More funding, cooperation and attitude changes the way forward
The way forward, Dr Corbett said, was in a combination of more funding for cash-strapped services like CASA and more multi-organisation initiatives targeting the problem, together with changes in community attitudes.
The CEO of CASA-CV, which counsels 1300 children and adult survivors of sexual abuse every year, said the research had documented issues her organisation dealt with on a daily basis.
"People are not believed when they disclose their abuse," Kate Wright said.
"They are often scared due to confidentiality, and they fear they will be blamed for what happened to them or for ruining the perpetrator's life."
In the country there was less access to services, which were more expensive to run, Ms Wright said.
But the community could "turn the tide and change the culture" by people questioning their our own unconscious biases and "calling out" attitudes that diminish women.
Ms Wright will be one of the speakers at a rally calling for action on the "national emergency" of violence against women in Bendigo on Sunday. The rally, organised by the group What were you Wearing, will be held at 11am at Rosalind Park.
