The Intersections of Family Violence and Sexual Offending

Often examined separately, this timely volume provides a detailed exploration of the nexus between family violence and sexual offending. Recognising family and sexual violence as highly interrelated issues, it uncovers the challenges and paradoxes of addressing them as separate versus coinciding problems. What is lost and gained when we treat family violence and sexual offending according to the same framework?

Light is shed on the nature and dynamics of offending; various terminology (e.g., domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, grooming, coercive control); political and policy contexts; myths and misconceptions; policing and investigative responses; children as overlooked victim-survivors; and the punishment and treatment of offenders. Drawing on international literature, case studies, and stakeholder interviews, the book encourages critical consideration to inform future policy, practise, and research, ultimately prompting stronger approaches to reflect victim-survivors’ realities and needs.

The book is relevant to the work of professionals in the social service and criminal justice sectors (e.g., police, policymakers, social workers, advocates, and counsellors), and will be of key interest to researchers and students in diverse academic fields such as criminology, forensic psychology, social work, and socio-legal studies.

Gemma Hamilton is a lecturer in criminology and justice studies in Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on violence against women and children, with expertise in family violence, sexual offending, policing, and investigative interviewing.

Patrick Tidmarsh is a criminologist and forensic interview advisor, who has worked in the field of sexual offender treatment, with both adults and adolescents who sexually offend, for 20 years. He took the knowledge gained from that work into policing, developing the Whole Story methodology of sexual crime investigation. He trains and lectures on understanding and investigating sexual crime, in Australia, and worldwide.