Safe at home programs in Australia are relatively new. But early evaluations show they’ve helped women feel safe in their home. This innovation is hopeful because it offers stability to women and children, and sends a societal message to violent men that their behaviour is unacceptable. Instead of “why doesn’t she just leave?” these housing reforms are examples of asking more appropriate questions such as “how can we best support women and children and keep them safe?” and “how can we hold men accountable for such violent acts?” Ensuring women and children’s safety The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness between the Commonwealth and state governments funds a wide range of homelessness prevention and family violence programs, including women’s refuges. But this funding is not ongoing and must be renegotiated in each state every one to three years. And it already falls short of the demand. We need an ongoing Commonwealth/state commitment to increase funding for domestic violence specialist homelessness services. This would ensure resource-intensive programs for women and children, as well as supporting longer-term outreach services to help ensure women and children do not return to violent partners. We need to remember though that a woman’s safety in domestic violence is not just about the perpetrator being removed from the house. Domestic violence requires a well-coordinated, multi-agency response to ensure women and children’s safety. From the article Posted by Greg Oke
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 05:36:00 +0000
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