Domestic violence victims are being forced to decide between returning to a violent partner or becoming homeless, with a report revealing less than 4 per cent have access to long-term social housing. Source: The Australian.
The report, commissioned by social housing advocacy group Everybody’s Home, found that each year more than 7000 Australian women returned to violent partners and more than 9000 became homeless.
The research, conducted by Equity Economics, will be submitted at the end of the month to a national women’s safety summit, which will help shape Australia’s next blueprint to reduce domestic violence.
Everybody's Home campaign spokeswoman Kate Colvin said the economic and social case for investing in social housing should be embraced by the Morrison government. In the wake of a series of assault and harassment allegations that rocked federal parliament, the Prime Minister announced the creation of a cabinet taskforce set up to improve outcomes for women.
The report – titled Nowhere to Go – used economic modelling to show that social housing “pays for itself” through boosting the economy and averted social costs. It found Australia had an urgent need for 16,800 social housing units to ensure women had a safe place to go.
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Social housing gap drives domestic violence victims to abusers (By Adeshola Ore, The Australian)
