Support for healing
IGA Western Australia State Board Chairman Greg Rice and Dr Alison Evans (right). Image: Owen Raymond.
From our mothers and sisters to co-workers and friends, it is important to protect the amazing women in our lives.
However, for those facing violence in their own homes with nowhere to turn, the Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing (CWSW) is there to lend a helping hand for victims and survivors to regain their safety and independence.
“The CWSW is the leading voice for women and children affected by gender-based violence in Western Australia,” CWSW CEO Alison Evans said. “Recognising the importance of gender equality underpins our role as an independent representative body for women’s domestic and family violence, community-based women’s health and sexual assault services in Western Australia to reduce violence against women and their children, and to promote their health and wellbeing.
“The centre amplifies women’s collective voice to ensure they have the right to equal access and outcomes for safety, health and wellbeing.”
Recognising the importance of CWSW’s mission, IGA has pledged a heartfelt $25,000 in support of the organisation’s Funds for Freedom project – a grant for victims of domestic and family violence to purchase necessary household goods and re-establish a new home.
For women regaining or even taking their first step to physical and financial independence for themselves and their children, initiatives like this can mean the difference between poverty and a future free from violence.
“The project began in 2010, when survivor Angela Russo came up with the idea of helping women and children who were in refuge buy essential white goods like a washing machine or refrigerator,” Dr Evans said. “Since its launch on International Women’s Day in 2011, the project has gone from strength to strength, helping more than 1500 women and children on their healing journey as they recover from family and domestic violence.”
Many take these simple household chores for granted but having access to fresh and refrigerated food, clean clothing and bedding reduces exposure to health issues and supports wellbeing by building confidence and resilience, according to Dr Evans.
“Fleeing a violent home is not easy and many women and children leave with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” she said. “Limited access to a washing machine or refrigerator can prove incredibly challenging for victim-survivors.
“Reliance on services like laundromats is costly and can expose victim-survivors to further acts of violence if they are frequently needing to leave their home.”
Evidence has also shown children who suffer from violence in the home go on to feel isolated from their peers and have trouble forming connections – something which can be made even more difficult without clean clothes and fresh food in their lunchboxes.
Access to these basic amenities not only reduces the potential for stigma from peers but also gives children victim-survivors the best chance at learning and beginning to heal and rebuild their lives.
Without the generous support of organisations such as IGA, Dr Evans said CWSW would not be able to offer these services to woman and children fleeing family and domestic violence.
“We are thrilled that thanks to our sponsors, we will be able to offer this vital program to more women and children in WA,” she said. “It’s vital we all play our part in ending men’s violence against women and children and supporting victim-survivors on their recovery journey.”
As it appeared in the 2024 October 12 edition of The West Australian’s Icons of IGA liftout.