Domestic violence increasing—Refuge

Press, 29 January 1988, Page 5

Domestic violence increasing—Refuge

By

DEBORAH MacPHERSON

An increasing number of pregnant and rural women in Canterbury have become victims of domestic violence during the school holidays.

A spokeswoman for the Christchurch Women's Refuge said that since December 20, staff at its two city safe houses had been “desperately busy” dealing with more that 34 women and 56 children, including several abused pregnant and country women. Staff had counselled a higher than usual number of pregnant women, said the spokeswoman. Holidays were often particularly stressful for women, as they had to cope with the violence as well as tending to the children all day, she said. Women also were likely to keep the family together over Christmas, but often took the opportunity to escape their domestic violence with the children during the

holidays. No farmer’s wives had sought shelter, but several women from small Canterbury townships such as Rangiora, Kaiapoi, and Ashburton, had sought refuge. The women probably chose Christchurch because smaller towns often did not have women’s refuges or the support networks, and often the woman was trying to hide from her violent partner, said the spokeswoman. “Often the women leave all their family support and friends to go to another town because of one violent man,” she said. A spokeswoman from the Battered Women’s Support Group, said staff received an average of about one call a week from women in country

areas. Sometimes calls even came from as far afield as the North Island, and in one case from Australia. Most of the women who called were former Christchurch residents who had known support group counsellors, or had heard of the group and had no one else to turn to. Violence did not seem to have a preference for occupations, and the women at the rfuges came from a variety of backgrounds, rich and poor. Sometimes the women were physically, sexually or mentally abused, or a combination of all three. While financial troubles often added to a family’s stress, unemployment did not seem to be the main trigger in a violent rela-

tionship, as most of the women at the refuges had partners who were employed. Men were violent because of their inability to' handle their stresses and frustration, rather than because of economic circumstances. She said staff had had to find accommodation for many women recently, but had dealt with a lot of queries from women who were not sure what they should do about violence, or “in which order to do it.” Most women who called needing accommodation stayed only for two or three days, while they started legal proceedings for non-molestation or non-violence orders before returning home.