WEAVERs @ Safer Families

University of Melbourne, Family Violence Experts by Experience Researchers

Introducing the WEAVERs

The WEAVERs are a group of women who have experienced domestic, family violence and/or sexual violence and who play a role in ‘weaving’ lived experience into research and training at the University of Melbourne. The group was established in 2016 by MAEVE with funding from the Melbourne Social Equity Institute (MSEI). The group was established to ensure that the voices of women and children who have experienced family violence shape the work of University researchers and the research agenda.

Since that time, the WEAVERs group has grown and victim survivors are involved as lived experience researchers and as victim survivor co-researchers on a range of co-designed research projects. The group has a particular focus on exploring ways to improve health sector responses to domestic, family, and sexual violence.

The WEAVERs have established their own guiding principles and values which can be found here. Two key frameworks that the WEAVERS have co-designed include:

·         The Family Violence Experts by Experience Framework

·         An Australian Framework for ethical co-produced research and evaluations