Cover Journal of Gender-Based Violence
Journal of Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence policy reform: assessing the risks and public value of co-production with survivors

Authors:
Lisa J. Wheildon Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Lisa J. Wheildon in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7795-1275
,
Asher Flynn Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Asher Flynn in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6147-8273
,
Jacqui True Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Jacqui True in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5412-8929
, and
Abby Wild Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Abby Wild in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8617-1887
Article Category:
Research Article
Copyright:
© Centre for Gender and Violence Research University of Bristol 2023
Online Publication Date:
14 Jun 2023
Pages:
450–466
Publisher:
Policy Press
Volume/Issue:
Volume 7: Issue 3
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16842395248135
Restricted access
Get eTOC alerts
Rights and permissions Cite this article
Buy article/chapter (GBP  £25.00)

Governments worldwide are increasingly engaging service users to reform public policies and services and enhance public value. Survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) are one group seeking to be heard by governments and gradually being engaged to improve policy outcomes. However, the history of the victims’ rights movement and feminist scholarship on political institutions indicate significant risks for survivors in these engagements with the state. This article examines the nature of these risks and how they are experienced and challenged, through a case study analysis of the implementation of the Australian state of Victoria’s Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council. Analysing government reports and interviews with survivors and policymakers, the article investigates how the state asserts control over survivors under the guise of co-production, inadvertently compromising public value creation. Informed by a feminist institutionalist lens, our analysis finds that efforts to address the power imbalances and gendered norms reflected in the informal rules of co-production are likely to better realise public value in terms of improved outcomes for all members of society, especially those experiencing GBV. The co-production risks we highlight and the ways to mitigate them we suggest are also relevant to other areas of co-production with other marginalised service users.

  • Alford, J. (2009) Public value from co-production by clients, Public Sector (Wellington), 32(4): 11–12, doi: 10.3316/informit.252794502674020.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Allen, K., Needham, C., Hall, K. and Tanner, D. (2019) Participatory research meets validated outcome measures, Social Policy and Administration, 53: 311–25, doi: 10.1111/spol.12468.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bevir, M., Needham, C. and Waring, J. (2019) Inside co-production, Social Policy & Administration, 53(2): 197–202, doi: 10.1111/spol.12483.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bovaird, T. (2007) Beyond engagement and participation, Public Administration Review, 67(5): 846–60, doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00773.x.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Boyle, D., Clark, S. and Burns, S. (2006) Co-production by People outside Paid Employment, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/co-production-people-outside-paid-employment.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brix, J., Krogstrup, H.K. and Mortensen, N.M. (2020) Evaluating the outcomes of co-production in local government, Local Government Studies, 46(2): 169–85, doi: 10.1080/03003930.2019.1702530.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Caneva, L. (2013) Tackling ‘wicked’ problems: a public policy perspective, Pro Bono Australia, https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2013/07/tackling-wicked-problems-a-public-policy-perspective/.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chambers, M., Chapman, B. and Rogerson, E. (2021) Underemployment in the Australian Labour Market. Bulletin, Sydney: Reserve Bank of Australia, https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2021/jun/underemployment-in-the-australian-labour-market.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chappell, L.A. (1999) Gendering Government, Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=3411993.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Christie, N. (1986) The ideal victim, in E.A. Fattah (ed) From Crime Policy to Victim Policy, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp 17–30, doi: 10.1007/978-1-349-08305-3_2.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cluley, V. and Radnor, Z. (2020) Progressing the conceptualisation of value co-creation in public service organizations, Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 3(3): 211–21, doi: 10.1093/ppmgov/gvz024.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cluley, V., Gale, N. and Radnor, Z. (2021a) Using situated interviews to engage frail older people in the co-production of improved emergency healthcare, International Journal of Public Administration, 44(9): 767–77, doi: 10.1080/01900692.2021.1912088.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cluley, V., Parker, S. and Radnor, Z. (2021b) Expanding public service value to include dis/value, Public Money & Management, 41(8): 656–59, doi: 10.1080/09540962.2020.1737392.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Crow, D. and Jones, M. (2018) Narratives as tools for influencing policy change, Policy and Politics, 46(2): 217–34, doi: 10.1332/030557318X15230061022899.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Davies, S.E. and True, J. (2017) Norm entrepreneurship in foreign policy: William Hague and the prevention of sexual violence in conflict, Foreign Policy Analysis, 13(3): 701–21, doi: 10.1093/fpa/orw065.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dudau, A., Glennon, R. and Verschuere, B. (2019) Following the yellow brick road?, Public Management Review, 21(11): 1577–94, doi: 10.1080/14719037.2019.1653604.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Echeverri, P. and Skålén, P. (2011) Co-creation and co-destruction, Marketing Theory, 11(3): 351–73, doi: 10.1177/1470593111408181.

  • Eisenstein, H. (1991) Gender Shock: Practising Feminism on Two Continents, North Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

  • Faulkner, N. and Kaufman, S. (2018) Avoiding theoretical stagnation, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 77(1): 69–86, doi: 10.1111/1467–8500.12251.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Flemig, S.S. and Osborne, S. (2019) The dynamics of co-production in the context of social care personalisation, Journal of Social Policy, 48(4): 671–97, doi: 10.1017/S0047279418000776.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Franzway, S., Court, D. and Connell, R. (1989) Staking a Claim, Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

  • FSV (Family Safety Victoria) (2019) Valuing the Lived Experience, Report, Melbourne: Family Safety Victoria.

  • FVRIM (Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor) (2018) Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor, Melbourne: FVRIM, https://www.fvrim.vic.gov.au/first-report-parliament-1-november-2017.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • FVRIM (Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor) (2019) Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor, Second Report, Melbourne: FVRIM, https://www.fvrim.vic.gov.au/second-report-parliament-1-november-2018.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • FVRIM (Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor) (2020) Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor, Melbourne: FVRIM, https://www.fvrim.vic.gov.au/third-report-parliament-1-november-2019.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • FVRIM (Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor) (2021) Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor, Fourth Report, Melbourne: FVRIM, https://www.fvrim.vic.gov.au/fourth-report-parliament-1-november-2020-tabled-may-2021.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gannon, Z. and Lawson, N. (2008) Co-production, London: Compass, https://www.compassonline.org.uk/publications/co-production-the-modernisation-of-public-services-by-staff-and-users/.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hastings, A. (2009) Neighbourhood environmental services and neighbourhood ‘effects’, Housing Studies, 24(4): 503–24, doi: 10.1080/02673030902938389.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Henry, N. (2009) Witness to rape, International Journal of Transitional Justice, 3(1): 114–34, doi: 10.1093/ijtj/ijn036.

  • Hirst, P. (1994) Associative Democracy, Bristol: Polity Press, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=1584055.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hounmenou, C. (2018) Engaging anti-human trafficking stakeholders in the research process, Journal of Human Trafficking, 6(1): 30–49, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23322705.2018.1512284. doi: 10.1080/23322705.2018.1512284

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Htun, M. and Weldon, S.L. (2017) States and gender justice, in The Many Hands of the State: Theorizing Political Authority and Social Control, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp 158–77. doi: 10.1017/9781316471586.007

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kearney, R. (2007) Narrating pain, Paragraph (Modern Critical Theory Group), 30(1): 51–66, doi: 10.3366/prg.2007.0013.

  • Kelly, G., Mulgan, G. and Muers, S. (2002) Creating Public Value, London: Cabinet Office, https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20100407164622/http:/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/seminars/public_value.aspx.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Krook, M.L. and Mackay, F. (2011) Gender, Politics and Institutions, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, doi: 10.1057/9780230303911.

  • Lockyer, S. (2020) Beyond inclusion, Journal of Human Trafficking, 8(2): 135–56, doi: 10.1080/23322705.2020.1756122.

  • Loeffler, E. and Bovaird, T. (2016) User and community co-production of public services, International Journal of Public Administration, 39(13): 1006–19, doi: 10.1080/01900692.2016.1250559.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Loeffler, E. and Bovaird, T. (2020) User and community co-production of public value, in E. Loeffler and T. Bovaird (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Co-Production of Public Services and Outcomes, New York: Springer International Publishing AG. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-53705-0_2

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lowndes, V. (2020) How are political institutions gendered?, Political Studies, 68(3): 543–64, doi: 10.1177/0032321719867667.

  • Mackay, F. (2014) Nested newness, institutional innovation, and the gendered limits of change, Politics & Gender, 10(4): 549–71, doi: 10.1017/S1743923X14000415.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McCaffrey, M. and Salerno, J.T. (2011) Theory of political entrepreneurship, Modern Economy, 2(4): 552–60, https://ssrn.com/abstract=2487134. doi: 10.4236/me.2011.24061

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McGarry, R. and Walklate, S. (2015) Victims, Abingdon: Routledge, doi: 10.4324/9780203727379.

  • Miller, K. (2009) Public policy dilemma – gender equality mainstreaming in UK policy formulation, Public Money & Management, 29(1): 43–50, doi: 10.1080/09540960802617350.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Moore, M. (1995) Creating Public Value, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Musekiwa, E. and Needham, C. (2021) Co-commissioning at the Micro-Level, in E. Loeffler and T. Bovaird (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Co-Production of Public Services and Outcomes, New York: Springer International Publishing, pp 249–63, doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-53705-0_13.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Needham, C. and Carr, S. (2009) SCIE Research briefing 31: Co-production, Egham: Social Care Institute for Excellence, http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/briefings/briefing31/.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Nelson, G., Ochocka, J., Janzen, R. and Trainor, J. (2006) A longitudinal study of mental health consumer/survivor initiatives, Journal of Community Psychology, 34(3): 247–60, doi: 10.1002/jcop.20097.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Osborne, S.P., Strokosch, K. and Radnor, Z. (2018) Co-production and the co-creation of value in public services, in T. Brandsen, B. Verschuere and T. Steen (eds) Co-Production and Co-Creation, Abingdon: Routledge, pp 18–26, doi: 10.4324/9781315204956.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ostrom, E. (1990) Governing the Commons, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, doi: 10.1017/CBO9781316423936.

  • Pemberton, A., Mulder, E. and Aarten, P.G.M. (2019) Stories of injustice, European Journal of Criminology, 16(4): 391–412, doi: 10.1177/1477370818770843.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Plé, L. and Cáceres, R.C. (2010) Not always co-creation, The Journal of Services Marketing, 24(6): 430–37, doi: 10.1108/08876041011072546.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Prahalad, C.K. and Ramaswamy, V. (2000) Co-opting customer competence, Harvard Business Review, 78(1): 79–79, Harvard Business School Press, https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=00178012&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA59023943&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Premier of Victoria (2016) We will put family violence survivors at centre of reform, 22 March, https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/we-will-put-family-violence-survivors-centre-reform.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Reinelt, C., Ferree, M.M. and Martin, P.Y. (1995) Moving onto the terrain of the state, Feminist Organizations: Harvest of the New Women’s Movement, 105: 84–104.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Roberts, N.C. and King, P.J. (1991) Policy entrepreneurs, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1(2): 147–75, doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037081.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sandhu, B. (2017) The value of lived experience in social change, http://thelivedexperience.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/The-Lived-Experience-Baljeet-Sandhu-VLE-full-report.pdf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sawer, M. (1990) Sisters in Suits, Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

  • Solnit, R. (2016) Hope in the Dark: Untold Hisotries, Wild Possibilities, Edinburgh: Canongate.

  • State of Victoria (2016) Royal Commission into Family Violence: Summary and Recommendations, Parl Paper No. 132, http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/RCFV_Full_Report_Interactive.pdf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • State of Victoria (2018–19) Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, Interim Report, Parl Paper No. 87, http://rcvmhs.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/interim-report.html.

  • Steen, T., Brandsen, T. and Verschuere, B. (2018) The dark side of co-creation and co-production, in T. Brandsen, B. Verschuere and T. Steen (eds) Co-production and Co-creation, Abingdon: Routledge.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Taylor, J. (2020) Why Women are Blamed for Everything, Derby: VictimFocus.

  • Thomson, J. (2018) Resisting gendered change, International Political Science Review, 39(2): 178–91, doi: 10.1177/0192512116677844.

  • True, J. (2020) Violence Against Women, Oxford: Oxford University Press, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=6352027.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (2020) Managing support and safety hubs, https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/report/managing-support-and-safety-hubs.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Voorberg, W.H., Bekkers, V.J.J.M. and Tummers, L.G. (2015) A systematic review of co-creation and co-production, Public Management Review, 17(9): 1333–57, doi: 10.1080/14719037.2014.930505.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Walklate, S. (2012) Courting compassion, The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 51(2): 109–21, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2311.2011.00698.x.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Walklate, S., Maher, J., McCulloch, J., Fitz-Gibbon, K. and Beavis, K. (2019) Victim stories and victim policy, Crime, Media, Culture, 15(2): 199–215, doi: 10.1177/1741659018760105.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wallin, P., Nordin, A., Petersson, C. and Josefsson, K.A. (2021) Exploring co-production in residences with special services for children and adolescents with intellectual disability in Sweden, Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 23(1): 247–60, doi: 10.16993/sjdr.789.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Walzer, M. (1988) Socialising the Welfare State, in A. Gutmann (ed) Democracy and the Welfare State, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp 13–26, doi: 10.1515/9780691217956-004.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Waylen, G. (2011) Gendered institutionalist analysis, in M.L. Krook and F. Mackay (eds) Gender, Politics and Institutions, London: Palgrave Macmillan, doi: 10.1057/9780230303911_9.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Weldon, S.L. and Htun, M. (2013) Feminist mobilisation and progressive policy change, Gender & Development, 21(2): 231–47, doi: 10.1080/13552074.2013.802158.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wheildon, L.J., True, J., Flynn, A. and Wild, A. (2022) The Batty effect: victim-survivors and domestic and family violence policy change, Violence Against Women, 28(6–7): 1684–707, doi: 10.1177/10778012211024266.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
Lisa J. Wheildon Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Lisa J. Wheildon in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7795-1275
,
Asher Flynn Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Asher Flynn in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6147-8273
,
Jacqui True Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Jacqui True in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5412-8929
, and
Abby Wild Monash University, Australia

Search for other papers by Abby Wild in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8617-1887

Lisa.Wheildon@monash.edu
Asher.Flynn@monash.edu
Jacqui.True@monash.edu
Abby.Wild@monash.edu

Content Metrics

May 2022 onwards Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1140 1140 0
Full Text Views 517 516 341
PDF Downloads 440 440 213

Altmetrics

Dimensions

You are not currently authorised to access the full text of this chapter or article.
Access options
To access the full chapter or article then please choose one of the options below.
Purchase
Pay to access content (PDF download and unlimited online access)
Buy article/chapter (GBP  £25.00)

Click here to view Terms and Conditions

Other access options
Redeem Token
Institutional Login
Log in via Open Athens or Shibboleth. Please contact your librarian if you need any help.
Login with Institutional Access
Personal Login
Login to your BUP account with your individual credentials.
Login with BUP account

Institutional librarians can find more information about free trials here