, Ms Ristic said it meant support workers were putting in long hours, outside of the “normal nine to five working zone”, to ensure they were available whenever a survivor isolating with her abuser was able to make a call.
Naomi Pfitzner, a researcher at Monash University who has been studying the impact of COVID-19 on domestic and family violence, said many support workers were also impacted by lockdowns, listening to women detail traumatic experiences from their bedrooms or living rooms. “The fact that the abusive partner didn’t really know that we represented a domestic and family violence support program gave them a little bit more flexibility to talk to us,” she said.
In one instance, Ms Mathieson said a woman in her 80s who only spoke Cantonese called the service for help after spotting an in-language poster in a shopping centre in Melbourne's east. “So what we think will likely happen now is more women and children who were experiencing family violence during lockdown will seek support.”
Cruption NSW Government! We are residents of Kingsgrove near bus depot. A mad woman screaming through loud speaker every day; We can't sleep rest well. Waste water leaking to street; We complained to Andrew, Gladys many years; woman screaming,black water still running.
When do we start targeting certain demographics instead of accusing everyone? It's not healthy
This is the secondary devastating effect of having lockdowns. Governments seemed solely focused on locking down COVID, not taking into account knock-on effects it has on domestic violence, mental illness & other serious diseases going undiagnosed. Where’s the data on these issues