By CASEY NEILL
FAMILY violence incidents are still on the rise in Greater Dandenong.
The Crime Statistics Agency on Thursday 1 October released crime statistics for Victoria for the year ending 30 June.
They showed there were 2123 family violence incidents in the Greater Dandenong Police Service Area (PSA) during the period.
This was up 0.3 per cent from the previous 12 months and up almost 30 per cent from 2010-’11.
The figure is well below neighbouring Casey, which recorded 3775 incidents, but well above the 608 incidents recorded in Bayside, the lowest in the Southern Metro Region.
Holly Gordon from Dandenong education and welfare service Wellsprings for Women said family violence had always been prevalent among its users.
“I think they’re very scary statistics, and I think it’s sad that it’s still increasing despite what’s happening the media to try and bring those statistics down,” she said.
“It doesn’t seem to be making a difference at the moment.
“It’s very heartbreaking when our participants have to leave the area due to domestic violence and break their own education to take their families to safety.
“I guess it’s hard for people to talk about here.
“I think they come here for safety and sometimes it’s the only place that their husbands might allow them to come as well because it’s a women-only environment.”
Ms Gordon said not all family violence victims who visited Wellsprings disclosed their ordeal.
“We can support women who do disclose what’s happening to them. We can refer them to the right services,” she said.
“It’s not really our core business to support domestic violence issues, but it’s still something that definitely comes up.
“There needs to be more funding in those areas. It does put a strain on other organisations.”
Ms Gordon said Wellsprings focused on education, particularly for new arrivals.
“We’ve had local police come and speak to our Learning to Live in Australia group about what is and isn’t okay in Australia, what domestic violence is, what to do if there are any issues … ” she said.
“We want them to be familiar with the police and that there’s somewhere safe to go in Australia.”
