A Perth domestic violence shelter has told the ABC it had no choice but to turn away three women in imminent danger over the weekend because it was overrun and couldn't accommodate them. They're at the coalface of what the Prime Minister has described as a "national crisis"one that saw thousands take to the streets, at rallies across the country, calling for an end to violence against women. In response, a National Cabinet meeting will be held on Wednesday, Premier Roger Cook says he'll be raising the idea of a national register for domestic violence perpetrators so they don't fall through the gaps. But that won't solve the more immediate problem of women’s shelters being full to the brim. If you or someone you know needs help, please contact 1800 Respect by phone or their website.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 The Starik Women's Refuge in Perth is turning away more women than not.
00:06 I think definitely things are getting worse.
00:10 Certainly the statistics we're seeing around the murders of women, they're extremely high
00:16 and represent a national crisis.
00:19 Last weekend alone it was not able to house three women who were in extreme danger.
00:25 They have a number of red flags which show they're really at very high risk of imminent
00:30 harm, serious physical injury, potentially death.
00:34 So it's really important that they receive a service and they're accommodated in a safe
00:39 place.
00:41 She says one of the women they turned away had no choice but to return home.
00:46 We're seeing a lot of problems with the housing affordability crisis.
00:50 So one of the problems is that women come into the refuge and then they can't move on
00:55 into longer term housing because there's no housing options available for them.
01:00 Say it once, say it again, there's no excuse for violent men.
01:05 In the wake of rallies across the country calling for an end to violence against women,
01:10 the Prime Minister has convened a meeting of National Cabinet for Wednesday to workshop
01:15 solutions with state and territory leaders.
01:17 WA Premier Roger Cook is likely to raise the idea of a national register for domestic violence
01:24 perpetrators.
01:25 Creating greater uniformity around laws as perpetrators of family and domestic violence
01:30 move from state to state may be one way that we can all work together.
01:35 The sector has welcomed news the WA Government is investing $90 million to bolster services.
01:42 It's a start.
01:43 It's by far not enough.
01:45 We need to see a lot more investment from the Government, not only through funding but
01:49 initiatives, frameworks, policy, legislative reform in order for us to be able to start
01:54 seeing significant change across the sector.
01:56 I'd like to see more funding dedicated to our crisis response, our women's refuges.
02:01 They're bursting at the seams.
02:04 Back at Starik Women's Refuge, this woman recently escaped her third abusive relationship.
02:10 We need to have more power over some of the men that do this stuff to us and to keep our
02:17 kids safe.
02:18 We just want to feel safe and have the best life that we can have.
02:23 The families don't lose us at all whatsoever because there's too many out there that's
02:29 lost their lives.
02:31 Just outside, children are playing, an antidote to the scourge plaguing the country.
02:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]