COVID-19: services gear up to support women at increased risk of violence

Posted on 31 March, 2020

As coronavirus forces people into lockdown, women are bearing the brunt of increased abuse within their homes.

The ACT Women’s Legal Centre and the Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS) have together said it is imperative that Canberra women at risk of abuse and domestic violence know that support is still available and that services were operating to assist them.

Elena Rosenman, Executive Director of the Women’s Legal Centre (ACT and Region) said that while it was still early days, all local and national domestic violence services were preparing for an increase in incidence and risk for women and children as social protection measures forced family units into various states of self-isolation and there was a chance of a lock-down being declared.

This was born out by international experience, showing the pattern of abuse was increasing post-COVID-19 as women endured quarantine with violent and abusive family members from Brazil, to China to Italy and Germany. In Rio de Janeiro reports of domestic abuse had increased by 50 per cent.

Sonia Di Mezza, Chief Executive Officer of the Domestic Violence Crisis Service emphasised that “DVCS remains available to those in the ACT community who have been impacted by domestic and family violence, including those who are at risk of using violence.”

“We continue to provide crisis intervention, advocacy for Family and Domestic Violence Orders, safety planning and referrals during this time. If you are concerned about what is happening for you or worried about a friend or family member, we encourage you to contact us via our crisis line or via our website.”

The Women’s Legal Centre had extended its services so women could speak with a lawyer and get free legal advice about their family, safety and work arrangements as quickly as possible.

“We understand that for some women, these issues will be immediate but we also expect them to emerge over the coming weeks as the current situation extends,” said Elena.

“At the Centre, we are concerned inconsistent messaging is affecting clients and escalating conflict and risk of violence. For example, with borders shutting, does this mean interstate parenting arrangements can’t happen? If a parent is self-isolating with a child, is this a reasonable excuse to breach parenting orders? What about if one parent wants to take children out of childcare as they can’t afford the fees or are concerned about transmission, against the wishes of another parent?”

Elena said her staff were highly concerned about the increased risk to women in the ACT posed by the social isolation measures—both in isolating women from possible sources of support and decreasing perpetrators sense of accountability or scrutiny.

“This is why we’re so keen to get the message out there that DV services are still operating, even in such extraordinary circumstances.”

DVCS’ crisis intervention line continues to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 62 800 900. Alternatively, people are able to make contact via their website at  www.dvcs.org.au

The Women’s Legal Centre’s Legal Advice Line is now open from 9 am-5 pm Monday to Friday and could be contacted directly on 6257 4377.

Clients and community services colleagues can ring this number and speak directly with a lawyer. If you have to leave a message, please note if it’s safe to call back and the Centre will return your call within 24 hours.

The Centre is also still accepting all referrals from other community services and practitioners as normal on referral@womenslegalact.org (full name, telephone number and a brief description of their issue is sufficient).