Domestic violence is expected to increase while people remain at home due to the coronavirus but in Orange Housing Plus is ready to meet that spike.
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Housing Plus community services head Penny Dordoy said the orgnanisation was aware of domestic violence increases in other countries due to home isolation and started calling women on its books weeks ago.
"Self isolation can be extremely dangerous for women and children because they are trapped with the perpetrator," Ms Dordoy said.
She said people being confined together with heightened tensions and potentially having bored children in the house created a "pressure cooker" situation in some households.
"We have been watching, we know there will certainly be an increase, we know alcohol will be involved. Alcohol doesn't cause domestic violence but there's a relationship." Ms Dordoy said.
"Some perpetrators are using the virus to trap women and children, using it to control them, tell them 'I've got the virus so now you do', using misinformation and scaring families into not being able to leave the house.
"We're providing an education to women that we work with about what is happening out there so they know what's true and what's misinformation."
We know there will certainly be an increase, we know alcohol will be involved.
- Penny Dordoy
Ms Dordoy said over the past few weeks, workers phoned women about how they could stay in contact, what their circumstances were and reminded them to call police or Housing Plus if there was family violence.
"Every situation is different it's just working with the person. In the end, the women are in the best place to know what will keep them safe," she said.
Ms Dordoy said most services were continuing to operate but to maintain health and reduce the spread of coronavirus they were doing things a bit differently.
"Everything we used to do face to face we're doing on the phone," Ms Dordoy said.
"For us its business as usual, we want people to know our DV services are running," Ms Dordoy said.
"We are prepared, we've got more staff coming on board on standby, we've got people who work in other services who have domestic violence experience so they understand the processes and they can help us."
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She said people experiencing domestic violence should phone the police, who will refer them to Housing Plus or call Housing Plus on 1300 DV HELP (1300 344 357). She is also urging neighbours to be aware of each other, and report situations where domestic violence is suspected.
Ms Dordoy said women and children were the most likely to be victims of domestic violence but there were also male victims who would be referred to Interrelate.
"Men experience domestic violence, they are also more likely to experience domestic violence from other men in the family unit," she said.
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