In recognition of the role the Primary Health Network plays, a new federally funded pilot program is launching in the ACT to support GPs on the frontline to recognise and respond to domestic and sexual violence. It's hoped the program will mean safer avenues for support for survivors.
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00:00For Dr Anita Hutchison, seeking help to escape a violent relationship was hard.
00:07Can't you just forgive him? Can't you just get over it?
00:10It really does leave an impression that you're not worthy,
00:15that your problem isn't big enough to tackle.
00:18A decade on, the impact of those words still lingers.
00:21Second guess, delay things, not do things,
00:25really put it to the back of my mind because it's too hard to deal with.
00:31Now a GP, Dr Hutchison is part of a two-year pilot program
00:35intended to teach doctors to recognise and respond
00:39to domestic, family and sexual violence
00:42and then refer their patient to a support service.
00:45We know that for many victim survivors,
00:47often the first person they may speak to about the violence that's occurring
00:52is their GP or an allied health worker.
00:55It's estimated a GP sees at least five women a week
00:58who have been victims of intimate partner violence in the past 12 months.
01:02The federal government is putting $4.3 million into the ACT program,
01:07out of a total of $45 million that's funding others like it around the country.
01:12The pilot will be run by the Domestic Violence Crisis Service
01:16and the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.
01:18For many people, a GP is a constant source of connection
01:23and it is a legitimate source of connection,
01:25particularly those who may be experiencing significant amounts
01:28of coercive control or technology stalking and the like.
01:32Both doctors and the support services warn this program
01:35could add extra pressure on already strained services.
01:39It's not actually helping to buffer the backflow into the service sector.
01:44But all agree new approaches need to be tried.
01:48For more UN videos visit www.un.org