ABSTRACT
There is growing recognition that regulatory change is required to address the high rates of restraint use, and the negative impacts of restraint on service users, in Australian mental health and disability service settings. To date, the gendered dimensions of restraint use and regulation have received relatively little attention. Policies and guidelines in some Australian states and territories mention gender as a relevant consideration when restraint is used but they do not generally provide detailed guidance. This is despite international research indicating that women’s experiences of restraint differ considerably from those of men and that women may be treated differently to men in situations where restraint is used. This chapter reviews the existing research on women’s experiences of restraint and proposes a series of features of policy and legislation that are necessary to create a gender-sensitive approach to regulating restraint and other forms of controlling behaviour. These include maximising relational security, involving women with lived experience of restraint in the design and implementation of alternatives to restraint, improving staff training and, most fundamentally, supporting and obliging services to adopt alternatives to restraint and other restrictive practices in order to avoid their traumatic and counter-therapeutic effects.
