It is damning that one woman dies every week from horrific violence inflicted by a partner or someone they know, Ms Devins, program manager of St Vincent’s Open Support Program in Parramatta, said.
The Parramatta Open Support is currently providing 164 women victims and their children with crisis support and recovery assistances to get back on their feet.
The program was initiated to “help empower these women find their new independence with assistances that often goes far beyond the immediate help,” Ms Devins said.
“There are so many women who don’t know that there’s help like us available. We need to continue to talk about domestic and family violence, educate each other and call out inappropriate behaviour when we see or know about it,” Ms Devins said.
“The more we talk, the more people we can reach and help them out of dangerous situations.”
Last year, Open Support helped 113 women and their children through a unique support model assisting them sort their finances after fleeing from their perpetrator, understand the court process on resolving family and sexual violence, and along the way reskilling them for employment stalled consequently as victims.
Rachel Stoddart, also an experienced DV worker who manages the entire program in Western Sydney, said their program is focusing heavily on making their services visible and quickly accessible to women so they can save more lives.
“When you are in crisis, your brain goes into ‘flight or fight’ mode as you instinctively try to protect yourself and the people you love.
“During this time, your complex decision-making ability disappears, and your attention narrows to make us feel safe.
“This is why they need the urgent support of skilled professional staff to assist in navigating what is a very complex system.
“At Open Support, our specialist case managers provide a recovery model of trauma informed intensive case management to every woman and child that walks through our doors.
“We provide them immediate financial support, food, bedding, school uniforms for the children, medical treatment, legal support, and childcare.”
For victims who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents, and not eligible to receive services from government agencies, Open Support picks up the tab providing them assistances to include visa applications and rental bonds, Ms Stoddart said.
Open Support also offers help to all women from any postcode with crisis accommodation in Western Sydney, and specialist expertise in working with women and children from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
Beyond those support services, Open Support case managers make their environment welcoming, creating “family experiences where a mum and her children can bond over a fun outing rather than [feel they are in a situation] trying to protect each other [from being hurt],” Ms Stoddart said.
“What each of our staff does is not easy and is resource intensive, but it saves lives and empowers families to have a future filled with hope, safety and independence,”
“Most of the women that walk through our doors have lived through years of gaslighting, a form of psychological manipulation that hinges on creating self-doubt and often takes away a person’s ability to make decisions.
“They were made to feel like what they’re experiencing isn’t real and that no one else will believe them and this makes them dependant on their perpetrator.
“Others have experienced coercive control an ongoing and repeated pattern of behaviour used to dominate another person.
“It involves behaviours which scares, hurts, isolates, humiliates, harasses, monitors, takes away another person’s freedom or unreasonably controls their day-to-day activities.”
The St Vincent’s crisis accommodation facility with eight furnished units can house up to 106 women and their children each year, and it is over-stretched. .
Since the facility was opened in October 2023 taking in referrals from the NSW DV Line 1800 65 64 63.
Open Support have been in full capacity ever since.
“Our clients can come from any postcode, as this is a centralised system with information on all crisis accommodation vacancies across NSW and the specialisation of each location,” Ms Stoddart said.
“We let them know when we have a vacancy or when we know a vacancy is coming up. We clean the room and bring in a new family within hours of someone exiting.”
Open Support has been running a social media awareness campaign to reach out to as many women and families at risk.
At schools, businesses and communities, St Vincents offer educational programs for women to recognise the signs of domestic violence and how to access support services.
“Our Community Development and Program Managers are connected to other support and health services in the community so that frontline workers know who we are and how we can support,” Ms Stoddart said.
“We also have a working relationship with the local police who call on us if they have an immediate need or concern.”
To know more about St Vincent’s Open Support Program, visit https://opensupport.org.au/our-programs/
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or sexual violence and abuse, contact the following helplines available 24/7 for all genders.
NSW Domestic Violence Line – 1800 656 463
1800 RESPECT for sexual assault, domestic violence and abuse – 1800 737 732
Kids Helpline for aged 5 to 25 – 1800 551 800
