According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's most recent
report into
homelessness, 48% of all persons seeking emergency accommodation in
2003/2004 were unable to find help. Many of the women
seeking help had already been seriously injured. Indigenous women, in
particular, remain unable to access the support and services they
desperately need to break the cycle of violence.
Shelters are forced to turn women and, in many tragic
cases, their children, away due to serious and ongoing resource shortfalls.
Almost half of all women trying to escape violence and rebuild their lives
are left without emergency support, and those who can find shelter struggle
to access ongoing help. What can these women do? Sadly, they are
often left facing either homelessness or a return to violent circumstances.
Support workers have for many years pleaded for improved
resource allocation, to little avail. There exists an ever-increasing
supply of damning evidence of the failure of public policy. Regardless
of this fact, politicians still appear unwilling to address the issue of
improving the availability of, and access to, support for women in abusive
and controlling relationships.
WiSH is actively campaigning alongside other groups to
raise awareness of the need for positive action.
The first step in our "Half is 100% Too Many" campaign
is to secure parliamentary acknowledgement of the shameful findings of the
AIHW report. You can help us achieve this -
contact us for further details.
