Lateral Violence is an Indigenous arts thing

When investigating lateral violence in the Indigenous Australian arts sector, I was struck by three key findings. The first was a confirmation by way of confidential disclosures as to how widespread it is. The second was general reluctance to come forward for fear of retribution primarily in the form of further loss of opportunity and loss of funding. However the third was the lack of knowledge around the definition of lateral violence and the blatant acts of emotional and financial abuse that litter the whole spectrum of the Indigenous arts sector. The third finding also created misunderstanding in that it was felt by some that raising the profile of lateral violence in the Indigenous arts, was in itself an act of lateral violence against the Indigenous community and in effect diminishing the impacts of government, colonisation and racism.