TRANSCRIPT
A new report has found nearly 1 in 3 refugee women have experienced domestic violence, as high as the general population.
But it's also found they are more likely to remain in abusive relationships, and less likely to report their experiences.
Seblework Tadesse is the director of South Community Hub Incorporated in Brisbane, which provides culturally safe support for diverse communities, including for victims of family and domestic violence.
She says this is a common experience for the women she works with.
"It's not easy for women migrants, especially refugee women to come up and say my partner is abusing me, because as I say, they feel they (have) betrayed their community, some of them they go through a lot of pain together with their partner, so they've been feeling burdened by that."
The report, from the University of Wollongong and Settlement Services International, is the first of its kind in Australia.
It evaluated a culturally-tailored screening process which asked women in new arrival communities about their experience of and responses to domestic violence.
Jo Spangaro is Professor of Social Work at the University of Wollongong.
She says the report shows it must be recognised women from refugee backgrounds have unique needs, and often don't have the same access to support.
"Women who are refugees and who are experiencing abuse don't have the same English skills, they don't know the laws in Australia, they're really fearful of losing their family, losing their community losing their children. They're often on precarious visas. The police may be a very unsafe group of people for them to deal with based on previous experience."
309 women aged between 18 to 80 took part in in-person screenings across four refugee settlement services in New South Wales.
Of this group, 29 per cent said they had experienced domestic violence.
Many were still living with their husbands and partners at the time.
Professor Spangaro says the reasons for women to stay with their partners are "really complex".
"It's never our job to tell a person if they should leave an unsafe relationship, sometimes people are at the greatest risk of being killed when they leave a relationship. They stay because they're fearful of losing their children, they stay because they don't want to deprive their children of a parents, they stay because they don't have the financial means to live on their own."
Dr Dinesh Palipana is a lawyer, researcher and disability activist.
He's also an emergency doctor.
He says his department often sees patients who have experienced domestic violence.
"Some of the things that we've seen are burned into our memories, forever, I think. But on the ground too, in my travels, I've come across that experience domestic violence. And the thing that is striking in both of these situations, (is) that there are people that have a disproportionate level of vulnerability, and that could be due to cultural and language barriers, it could be due to disability."
The women in the report said talking to a female worker, and to someone in their own language were the most important factors to enabling discussions about domestic violence.
Seblework Tadesse says there needs to be more culturally-sensitive support for refugee women.
"We need more bilingual workers, and if that's not necessarily possible, then at least to be educating those frontline workers to be trained enough, to understand, to at least be aware."
A reason domestic violence victims from refugee backgrounds often suffer in silence is because of fears about their immigration status.
Professor Spangaro says the reports shows the onus is on Australia to provide clearer information, and better support for refugee women.
"If they choose to leave that relationship to become safe, they need financial support, they need legal systems and justice systems that are accessible, that aren't onerous or slow or humiliating towards them, and we haven't really got that right in this country yet."
