PREVENTING family violence among Vietnamese migrants will be the focus of a new Footscray-based program.
Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association (AVWA) project officer Kim Thien-Truong says family violence, poverty, unemployment and drugs are major issues facing the migrant community, with women and children the silent victims. “In Vietnamese culture, women tend to hide away from problems inside their home. Family violence happens, but women shut the door and don’t let people know about it. They are isolated, alone and scared in a new place where they don’t know many people.”
Data from the 2011 census reveals that 6778 Vietnamese migrants live in Maribyrnong. A further 1334 call Hobsons Bay home.
Ms Thien-Truong said low rates of family violence being reported spurred the AVWA in Footscray to create a women’s focused program. “We come from a country where there aren’t the same rights for women that there are here.”
Ms Thien-Truong said the AVWA would encourage women to come together and be empowered through activities like swimming lessons, cooking classes, language and literacy seminars. “We don’t think it is effective to simply narrow it down to family violence seminars . . . by encouraging women to come together to do something they love it will strengthen their ties with one another and encourage them to open up about their own experiences.”
Women’s Health West also runs programs for migrant women. Health promotions officer Kirsten Campbell said: “We have a financial literacy program in the west which focuses on Vietnamese women and helps them understand money and government systems.”
The new AVWA program begins next month.
Details: 9396 1922
