control, abuse, bullying and family violence in tourism industries
Why did I write this book?
I decided to write this book after journeying through three different court matters related to untangling myself and my four children from family violence. I had been a tourism academic for about the same amount of time I was married to an abusive and controlling man. I never really thought about my experiences of tourism until after I separated from living with family violence.
Why was it that I did not like to travel places? Why was it I could not remember much about the trips? Why was it that I would look at the view but not see it? It is only with the clarity of thinking after separation that the pieces of the puzzle start to connect.
As the title suggests, this book is about control, abuse, bullying and family violence. These are matters that might impact any person and take place in any industry, although in some cases these may be especially heightened in times of celebration and events. Many businesses that serve tourists rely heavily on young casually employed workers, which can present as a more vulnerable group and as such sometimes more problems can arise in those workplaces. This book outlines how these problematic components impact the tourism system. Whilst tourism is viewed as a time for “happy holidays”, family violence happens behind lots of different closed doors – not just the ones at home.
I spent more years living with family violence than I wanted to, as I stayed until the youngest two (twins) of my four children were almost 12 years of age. As much as I was longing for freedom, I had researched enough to know that the children may very well be worse off if I separated too early. That may make no sense to many people, but as my book explains, many people are left with harmful court orders forcing children to have significant contact with a perpetrator of family violence. Such orders can result in some victims regretting separating and feeling things are worse.
I did a lot of planning and strategising for my three separate court outcomes. I spent every night for so very many months reading the Family Law Act and case law. For my third court journey, I took 6 weeks off work to plan how to change the children’s names through court. The outcomes from the three court journeys resulted in me being awarded sole parental responsibilities, a five-year intervention order, and the children’s names changed. These outcomes were better than what so many other victims are handed down, although were far from a smooth passage as is explained in my book. And so, I thought – all that learning had to be for a bigger reason than just me and my children.
That was the seed for this book. To grow the seed, more thinking was done, and I started thinking more about tourism experiences for people who live with family violence, or with harmful court orders. Tourism is supposed to be for rest, relaxation, and escape; but family violence does not go on a holiday. There is no break from it. In fact, it often gets worse. The more I wondered and talked to people the more I realised that the tourism models were flawed and were an illusion that did not include a major segment of society – those living with family violence. I realised that some children cannot even see maternal families who reside overseas because the perpetrator doesn’t allow it, and in some cases, the family court doesn’t either (to “be fair” to both sides). The data for family violence incidents at times such as Christmas and sporting events are nothing short of alarming.
And so, the seed of an idea for this book grew to maturity. I hope this book provides useful information to further our understanding of control, abuse, bullying and family violence around the globe. We also need to be mindful of the duality of abuse whereby some people endure abuse at work and then go home to endure it at home. There is no time to feel safe. We need better systems at work and in the court. Can a person who is abusive to their partner be a good parent? That should be at the front of the minds of anyone making decisions in the child’s best interests.
I decided to write this book after journeying through three different court matters related to untangling myself and my four children from family violence. I had been a tourism academic for about the same amount of time I was married to an abusive and controlling man. I never really thought about my experiences of tourism until after I separated from living with family violence.
Why was it that I did not like to travel places? Why was it I could not remember much about the trips? Why was it that I would look at the view but not see it? It is only with the clarity of thinking after separation that the pieces of the puzzle start to connect.
As the title suggests, this book is about control, abuse, bullying and family violence. These are matters that might impact any person and take place in any industry, although in some cases these may be especially heightened in times of celebration and events. Many businesses that serve tourists rely heavily on young casually employed workers, which can present as a more vulnerable group and as such sometimes more problems can arise in those workplaces. This book outlines how these problematic components impact the tourism system. Whilst tourism is viewed as a time for “happy holidays”, family violence happens behind lots of different closed doors – not just the ones at home.
I spent more years living with family violence than I wanted to, as I stayed until the youngest two (twins) of my four children were almost 12 years of age. As much as I was longing for freedom, I had researched enough to know that the children may very well be worse off if I separated too early. That may make no sense to many people, but as my book explains, many people are left with harmful court orders forcing children to have significant contact with a perpetrator of family violence. Such orders can result in some victims regretting separating and feeling things are worse.
I did a lot of planning and strategising for my three separate court outcomes. I spent every night for so very many months reading the Family Law Act and case law. For my third court journey, I took 6 weeks off work to plan how to change the children’s names through court. The outcomes from the three court journeys resulted in me being awarded sole parental responsibilities, a five-year intervention order, and the children’s names changed. These outcomes were better than what so many other victims are handed down, although were far from a smooth passage as is explained in my book. And so, I thought – all that learning had to be for a bigger reason than just me and my children.
That was the seed for this book. To grow the seed, more thinking was done, and I started thinking more about tourism experiences for people who live with family violence, or with harmful court orders. Tourism is supposed to be for rest, relaxation, and escape; but family violence does not go on a holiday. There is no break from it. In fact, it often gets worse. The more I wondered and talked to people the more I realised that the tourism models were flawed and were an illusion that did not include a major segment of society – those living with family violence. I realised that some children cannot even see maternal families who reside overseas because the perpetrator doesn’t allow it, and in some cases, the family court doesn’t either (to “be fair” to both sides). The data for family violence incidents at times such as Christmas and sporting events are nothing short of alarming.
And so, the seed of an idea for this book grew to maturity. I hope this book provides useful information to further our understanding of control, abuse, bullying and family violence around the globe. We also need to be mindful of the duality of abuse whereby some people endure abuse at work and then go home to endure it at home. There is no time to feel safe. We need better systems at work and in the court. Can a person who is abusive to their partner be a good parent? That should be at the front of the minds of anyone making decisions in the child’s best interests.
Book Summary
This book explores the roles that control, abuse, bullying and family violence can play within the tourism system. While it is generally understood that such behaviours are significant issues in society, the correlation between these types of behaviour and tourism has not been assessed in scholarly circles. The volume sets out to explain each of these behaviours within tourism industries using autoethnography as its method. This book reveals the heightened risk of family violence during family events, sporting events and in the tourism system, and explains that risks continue and can even increase after separating from a perpetrator of family violence. This is an important and under-researched area in the tourism and events literature and will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in these fields, as well as family violence, social work, health and law.
This book explores the roles that control, abuse, bullying and family violence can play within the tourism system. While it is generally understood that such behaviours are significant issues in society, the correlation between these types of behaviour and tourism has not been assessed in scholarly circles. The volume sets out to explain each of these behaviours within tourism industries using autoethnography as its method. This book reveals the heightened risk of family violence during family events, sporting events and in the tourism system, and explains that risks continue and can even increase after separating from a perpetrator of family violence. This is an important and under-researched area in the tourism and events literature and will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in these fields, as well as family violence, social work, health and law.
