Left helpless

By Bridget Cook
HOW can a battered woman – bloodied and alone – be left on the streets of Dandenong with no-one to care for her?
That’s what Endeavour Hills resident Tom Gilic has been asking himself after an encounter with a beaten, homeless woman outside the Dandenong Plaza last week.
Mr Gilic said he couldn’t ignore the woman who was sitting on the ground, curled up in a ball, crying and with blood all over her face.
“I went up and asked her if she was alright, she told me she wasn’t,” Mr Gilic said. “She said she had escaped bad beatings in another state … she had all her teeth knocked out, they were still bleeding. She also hadn’t eaten in days.”
Mr Gilic said the woman had contacted many women’s shelters and refuge centres, but could not get into any without paying an up-front fee.
“She didn’t have a dollar for food, let alone $50 to get her into a shelter,” he said.
Mr Gilic contacted a local Dandenong women’s shelter and arranged to meet with the manager.
Despite being on a disability pension, the humble Mr Gilic offered to pay the $50 rent to help get the woman back on track.
While the woman is now in a better state, Mr Gilic said the encounter has had a lasting affect on him.
“You have no idea the effect this had on me,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep that night and I still think about it everyday. If you saw her face and the state she was in, it would break you heart. It’s just left me thinking, how can a woman be in this state and not be able to get any help?
“She had visited the police and a hospital, but was still lying on the street crying and covered in blood.”
Mr Gilic said he was concerned about the welfare of other people in the woman’s situation and what could be done. “I think something needs to be done on the government’s behalf,” he said. “People need to be able to find out what they are entitled to, if anything, and where they can seek help.”
The women’s shelter manager, who did not wish to be named, said they had now assisted the woman.
“We’ve helped her go down to Centrelink and to the doctors to help get her head in a better place,” he said.
He said while it was unfortunate that they couldn’t take people without an up-front fee, it was necessary.
“Otherwise we don’t get paid and at the end of the day we need to pay the bills,” he said.
He agreed that more needed to be done to help people in the same situation.
“This man had to help out of his own pocket, which is really sad,” he said.
“It’s not fair on many of the people in that position, it may be their fault due to drug or alcohol abuse, but in many cases it’s not. It can be hard for these people to get help from organisations such as the Salvation Army as in many cases you need a home address, which obviously they don’t have.
“There is a housing crisis situation and something needs to be improved. But it would also be great if the government could help sponsor or fund these people, it shouldn’t have to come out of individual’s pockets.”