Only women's empowerment will stem domestic violence crime wave

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Louisa L

There was one sign for each murdered woman. Twenty in all, one for every woman  murdered in Australia since the beginning of the year. They sent a stark message to bystanders at Sydney's International Women's Day rally on March 14.

Addressing the crowd, Dr Anne Summers spoke of “a crime wave of domestic violence”.

Dr Summers was one of a group of women who in 1974 established Elsie, the world's first refuge run for women by women. That action was an incredible act of empowerment, for those who led and staffed it, those who sought its services, and those who were inspired by it to follow in its footsteps. The women who set up Elsie didn't wait for help. They saw a desperate need, and marched in to occupy an empty Department of Housing building in inner city Glebe.

Elsie has stood as symbol of the empowerment of ordinary women for decades. For that very reason, Elsie and other refuges and services like it, are a threat to corporations that want all power to reside in their own hands.

So in 2014, its fortieth anniversary, Elsie Women's Refuge was handed to St Vincent de Paul Society following the introduction of the NSW Government's cutely named 'Going Home Staying Home' competitive tendering policy on homelessness.

Eighty women-operated refuges defunded

According to WEL, Women's Electoral Lobby, “The NSW Government's competitive tenders have destroyed women's refuges, favouring large-scale charities over smaller, specialist women's services.” Eighty women-operated refuges have been defunded. 

While St Vinnies and its leaders now do many good things, they have never dared do what that group of women did. In '74 charity was disempowering and often humiliating. What these women did was an assertion of human rights, not charity. Its danger to the ruling class was that it showed, in a small way, that ordinary people could build a better world when they took matters into their own hands.

WEL states, “One woman in Australia dies every week as a result of violence committed by their current or former partner...Every week hundreds of women and children flee their home to escape domestic violence.”

On February 15 Australian of the Year, Rose Batty, spoke out. “ Domestic violence services must be staffed by specialists who understand the gendered nature and complexities of domestic violence. The NSW Government reforms need to be revisited.”

According to Michelle Hoogesteger, from 'No Shelter', speaking last August at a rally outside Elsie, Elsie's staff, trained in the specific issues facing women, have been replaced by those trained in “generalist homelessness”. According to Alt Media, Ms Hoogesteger highlighted the danger of allowing men and women to be housed in the same generalist services, when many women and children using these services were doing so to escape domestic violence.

Meanwhile, the Abbott government has also cut $240 million from community sector women's services which provided help including legal support, financial counselling, emergency relief of food and clothing, all essential to women and children experiencing domestic violence.

 “We have a voice!”

At the Women's Day rally, Natalie Lane of the Australian Services Union slammed a system run by “nice guys and experts”. She spoke of being ready to deal with “thinly veiled devastation”. She made clear that once the new disempowering system was in place, it would be easy for corporations  to take over.

She spoke of a system based on collaboration replaced by one allowing businesses to make profits from vulnerable women.

Rather than disappearing, the struggle is growing. “We have a voice,” Ms Lane said. “Our voice is not for sale.”

Further background information:
http://www.altmedia.net.au/glebe-community-rallies-as-sydneys-oldest-womens-refuge-closes/97489
http://www.annesummers.com.au/2014/07/nsw-government-closes-doors-to-women-fleeing-violence/

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