Burn-related violence against women in Australia: Findings from the BRANZ

Yvonne Singer^1,2,3, Lincoln Tracy³, Bronwyn Griffin², Lisa Martin⁴, Mike Peck⁵, Claudia Malic⁶, Heather Douglas⁷,
¹Victorian Adult Burn Service, Prahran, Victoria, Australia
²School of Nursing & Midwifery, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
³School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne Australia
⁴Burn Injury Research Unit, University of WA Western Australia,
⁵Arizona Burn Center, Valleywise Health Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona, United States
⁶Division of Surgery, University of Ottawa Ontario, Canada
⁷School of Law, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Introduction
Burn-related violence against women (BVAW) is an extremely confronting form of physical violence. Limited evidence has been published in the scientific literature. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency, demographic, injury and outcome characteristics of women admitted to Australian burn centres who have experienced BVAW and determine if these characteristics are different to women admitted with unintentional burns.

Methods
Data were extracted from the Burn Registry of Australia and New Zealand (BRANZ) for women, ≥ 18 years old, admitted to Australian Adult Burn Centres between 2009 and 2022. BRANZ injury intent variables identified women who sustained BVAW or unintentional injury. Women who experienced self-harm were excluded. All BRANZ ‘intentional’ injury intent variables were collapsed into one. Descriptive and simple comparative statistics were used to describe and compare groups.

Results
There were 6262 women who met study inclusion criteria, 157 (2.5%) experienced BVAW. Women who experienced violence were younger, more frequently Indigenous and socially disadvantaged than women who experienced unintentional injuries. They also sustained more facial burns, more severe burns and a greater proportion died.

Conclusions
Whilst the frequency of BVAW in adult Burn Centres appears small, women who experience BVAW arrive already socially disadvantaged, suffer severe injuries and experience poor outcomes. Burns can be easily explained as unintentional, especially when women can’t tell their stories. To protect women, adult burn centres require robust and standardised processes to identify BVAW, so Australian women who want help, can be connected to local and state Family Violence frameworks.

Biography

Yvonne works part time as the Quality Program Coordinator at the Victorian Adult Burn Service, and is completing her PhD through Griffith University. Yvonne’s PhD research work will contribute to an implementation science research project funded by the US Department of Defence to translate 20 minutes of cool running water (within three hours of injury) scientific evidence into clinical practices of Sacramento County Emergency Medical Services and the UC Davis Medical Centre Emergency Department.
Yvonne is also fond of burn registries, human factors, patient safety, and understanding the complexity of recognising and responding to deterioration in burn patient populations.