Goya Dmytryshchak and Alesha Capone
Family violence referrals from Victoria Police to Women’s Health West reached record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WHW, which services Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay, Brimbank, Wyndham, Melton, Moonee Valley and Melbourne, received 13,272 police referrals between March 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021 – the most it has ever received in a 12-month period.
This was an increase of 12 per cent from the same period in 2019-2020, when WHW received 11,830 family violence referrals from police.
The month of May last year was the worst, with 1251 referrals. Previously, the service had never received more than 1200 in a single month.
WHW chief executive Robyn Gregory said it was important for people experiencing family violence to know they could seek help during the pandemic.
“Violence is never acceptable in the home and a pandemic is not an excuse for violence,” she said.
Laverton Community Integrated Services chief executive Michael Pernar said his charity, which provided crisis intervention services, had been overwhelmed with family violence reports.
“What we’re really seeing is a lot of domestic violence that seems to just be scrubbed under the carpet,” he said.
“When someone’s in a domestic violence [situation], they know that we’ll be compassionate, that we’ll walk them through it, link them to the appropriate agencies – but the sad thing is those agencies are inundated.”
Family violence incidents reported to police for the year to March rose from 917 to 933 (1.7 per cent) in the city of Maribyrnong and dropped from 1102 to 1064 (3.4 per cent) in Hobsons Bay.
Hobsons Bay recorded 459 breaches of family violence orders, the municipalities fourth most frequent crime.
For 24-hour support, call the Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre on 1800 015 188, email safesteps@safesteps.org.au or visit safesteps.org.au
