The international and national evidence is absolutely clear – domestic and family violence escalates during and following natural disasters. A number of the specialist women’s services in Victoria researched this following Black Saturday fires, for example. They were (and are) considered leaders and at the forefront of this ground-breaking Australian research. What they found is absolutely consistent with what happened during and after Hurricane Katrina in the US, the earthquake in Canterbury, NZ and the list goes on.
In my previous role as CEO of EDVOS, I (and members of the EDVOS Education and Training team) developed and facilitated several presentations for local and state government representatives and non-specialist family violence services regarding this very issue and we used the evidence from Victorian women’s health services and international evidence to demonstrate how real and important this issue is. Domestic and Family violence in the setting of natural disasters also became part of the mandatory training for all EDVOS staff. We, and our partners were proactive and ready with a plan to respond in the event of a natural disaster. But we hadn’t imagined that a pandemic would occur and what the appropriate responses might need to look like.
In the setting of a pandemic such as COVID-19, domestic and family violence service responses require collaboration, expertise, a different set of strategies and additional partners. It is literally a matter of life or death.
What’s the difference?
Instead of people fleeing their homes to get away from the disaster, they’re staying home to avoid it. Instead of having increased opportunities to meet case workers face to face (for example, at relief centres etc), they in fact have vastly reduced opportunities as a result of physical distancing and barriers to travel and transportation. This current situation is vastly different and needs a variety of creative responses from those who know what they’re doing and who have the expertise to develop and design what is needed. Of course those who know best are those experiencing the violence themselves and those working in the specialist field – we need to hear from women victim survivors if we are to develop systems which meet their needs and those of their children. Listening to specialist domestic and family violence workers is also vital.
In my time at EDVOS we were already using various online platforms for clients to access interactive services online and it seems, these are more relevant and necessary than ever. It is vital that all agencies consider what it means to be accessible, responsive and relevant in these changing times. In addition, women with disabilities, are likely to be at even greater risk than they already were and specific focus is necessary and important to develop dedicated responses for women with disabilities. The system cannot be ‘one size fits all’, it simply won’t work as those who are already at increased risk or marginalised will be further marginalised and placed at further risk.
Whilst we hope that a crisis like this doesn’t happen again, it is entirely possible that it will. So our systems need to be built not just for COVID-19 but for other such scenarios in the future too. As a community we cannot deny that a dangerous spike in domestic and family violence is occurring right now and will continue for some time, because to do so, puts the lives of women and children (and their pets / animals) in further peril.
There has been vast sums of money channelled in to family violence (of course more is always needed) but my hope is that services will listen to the experts – women, children and those working in this highly specialised field, to do everything possible to get maximum value from these additional resources – not only for now, but for the future. We need to look from inside the homes of victim / survivors and perpetrators to develop meaningful and relevant systems and responses.
Some further reading is available here:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUJlEmMgmt/2013/24.pdf
