ONE of the dimensions of domestic abuse is control. As well as the abuse and violence, control over a partner or spouse’s contact with friends and independent finances can have a devastating effect and make it all but impossible to walk away from harm.
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With no friends to call on and no money on which to survive, the victim of domestic violence is very often totally isolated and has nowhere to turn.
That’s why it is vital someone escaping domestic violence has immediate access to some kind of refuge. It’s also important that someone who is at their most vulnerable is not put through the third degree by some remote bureaucrat in their time of need.
The experience of the women outlined on our front page reveals that much work needs to be done to improve how we deal with domestic violence emergencies, as these cases clearly were.
It is unacceptable to have already traumatised victims of domestic violence forced by bureaucratic intransigence to either part with what little cash they have to secure a roof over their heads or, worse, suffer the indignity of having to seek shelter inside a police station because there is nowhere else for them to go.
What is absolutely disturbing in this sorry tale is the question of what became of the woman who camped out in the police station? Did the lack of a prompt and sensitive response to her predicament cause her to return to the situation from which she had fled? Did she suffer a beating and additional abuse from a violent partner because we as a society failed her?
We urge the state government to look into both cases and refine the way it gathers information during these stressful times and to work towards a response to domestic violence that does not make the situation worse for the victims.
