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‘Hidden’ form of DV rampant

Indigo Lemay-ConwaySound Telegraph
Family & domestic violence conference held at Murdoch University's Rockingham campus
Camera IconFamily & domestic violence conference held at Murdoch University's Rockingham campus

A local women’s refuge is highlighting a rampant, but “hidden” form of domestic violence, with hopes more awareness in the community will lead to policies that protect victims.

The Lucy Saw Centre partnered with SCALES and South Coastal Health & Community Services to hold a family and domestic violence conference addressing the issue of coercive control, bringing together many of the local services including police, justice, education, health and youth.

Lucy Saw Centre CEO Anne Moore said coercive control was “a pattern of behaviours” that deprived victims of their “basic rights”, but was often unseen as it’s usually confined to the home.

Ms Moore said high-profile incidents of domestic violence such as the murder of Hannah Clarke and her children at the hands of her husband in Brisbane last year, had put the issue in the public eye and now was the right time to highlight less obvious, but still destructive, types of violence.

“It was good to be able to do the conference when the issues are so prevalent and everyone's awareness is heightened,” she said.

Guest speaker Jess Hill at the Family & domestic violence conference
Camera IconGuest speaker Jess Hill at the Family & domestic violence conference

Ms Moore said the refuge was hoping to increase awareness among police officers.

“We wanted people in leadership roles to attend so they can feed the information back down,” she said.

Social media was also described as a reason for why people in DV relationships struggled to leave.

Ms Moore said women often “find it hard to separate from their partners” because of how intertwined their life was with their social media.

The Lucy Saw Centre hopes the feedback from the conference will be able to inform policies to help protect victims from coercive control.

“Not any one of us can do it on our own, no service, we need the collaboration and community involvement and the conference just proved that,” Ms Moore said.

Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Simone McGurk said WA had one of the highest rates of family and domestic violence in the country, and there was a potential link between that and coercive-control behaviour.

“Some of the warning signs that a person may be experiencing coercive control include becoming increasingly isolated from family and friends because they are being prevented from contacting them, having their location monitored, receiving repeated calls and messages to check on their location, and not having any control of their own finances,” Ms McGurk said.

If you or someone you know is experiencing family and domestic violence, contact 1800RESPECT or 1800 737 732.

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