The Glen Innes Salvation Army has commended the Federal government’s $100 million family violence package which will focus on establishing Community legal centres in regional areas.
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The federal government announced last week that $15 million of the package would fund free legal and other practical help for family violence survivors at community legal centres and other providers in rural areas.
Glen Innes Salvation Army spokeswoman Kate Symens said it is very hard for women who are victims of domestic violence to come forward and seek help and when they do they should be given assistance.
“For us to find out about a case usually a family member seeks us out and then we set about helping the victim and her children get out of town to a safe place,” she said.
“We try to work with local police and we’d like to foster a closer relationship with them so we can better help victims in Glen Innes because we know it is very prevalent in our town.
“It is an issue very close to my heart as I was a victim in my first marriage; thankfully my second marriage is very loving and full of faith.”
Glen Innes has seen a significant rise in the number of reported domestic violence cases over the last three years.
In 2014 there were 72 reported incidents, an increase of nearly 200 percent over the previous year according to a recorded Crime Statistics report released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Glen Innes Family and Youth Support Service Committee member Christine Kiehne said a collaborative and united approach can result in a reduction of family and domestic violence within the Glen Innes community.
“Tackling domestic violence should be a community initiative across all facets of our society, we should have a culture which has zero tolerance of abuse and violence within families,” she said.
“Glen Innes society has had a tendency to sweep the scourge of domestic violence under the carpet and we want to raise awareness and try to get community participation to help victims.”
A spokesman for the New South Wales Police Force said that police are happy to collaborate with a number of domestic violence organisations, both government and non-government, in relation to domestic violence.
"Domestic Violence has been a hidden crime in society and we believe –due to media attention and increased awareness of violence against women – society is getting to see a truer picture of what is happening in homes across the country,” he said.
"Domestic Violence has no boundaries and exists across all demographics, including small towns like Glenn Innes.”
