Support services struggling to cope with upsurge in domestic violence
Wednesday September 01 2010
FROM FRONT PAGE WEXFORD WOMEN'S Refuge has four 'units', which provide a total of 22 bed spaces and there are invariably families in each of the units at any given time. Some might stay for days, others for weeks, depending on their circumstances.
Betty revealed that between April 12 and August 13 of this year the refuge has had 498 'contacts'. 329 of these were helpline calls, 124 were women dropping into the refuge itself for support and information and workers from the refuge also made 45 outreach calls, where they went to meet women.
It is from the 124 drop-ins that families ended up staying at the refuge. ' We're the smallest refuge in the region, but we're constantly full,' said Betty.
' The overflow goes onto the sofa. A pregnant woman with two children was on that sofa for a week,' she revealed, adding that she was just one of many women who has slept on the sofa lately.
Betty pointed out that once a woman flees her home due to domestic violence she is deemed to be homeless and Wexford County Council's housing department are hugely helpful in securing temporary accommodation, mainly in B&Bs, when they have an 'overflow'.
However, Betty pointed out that a lot of women who come to them do not feel safe and are not comfortable with this idea, preferring to stay in the sitting room in the refuge as they are afraid to leave.
Betty said they have had no less than 12 or 13 children staying there with their mothers since last February and in the last two days eight children currently staying there have started the new school term - the rest are not of school going age yet.
She pointed out that the children are just as much victims of the ' human tragedy' they encounter at the refuge as anyone else. ' When you see children looking at you and they have that blank stare in their faces, it's awful,' said Betty.
The increasing number of cases of domestic violence that they are encountering is a major cause for concern, Betty said. 'It's more prevalent now than it was, even though it was always there,' she said.
She said the recession is fuelling the problem in some cases as families struggle for money and many more men are now unemployed, which is leading to problems in the home.
'If they are not good within themselves, they won't be good with their families,' said Betty, pointing out that losing their job can be 'demeaning' for many men.
However, despite being so busy the refuge on Distillery Road is on a constant knifeedge due to ongoing cutbacks in HSE funding and it relies heavily on the generosity of its many supporters and fundraisers.
' We've had cuts and we'll heard there will be more - some refuges around the country have had their funding cut by as much as 30 per cent,' said Betty.
