Reports of family violence are continuing to rise in Hume and Whittlesea municipalities, according to the government-funded service Women’s Health In the North (WHIN).
Reports of family violence have risen in both areas, by 35 per cent in Whittlesea and 16.3 per cent in Hume.
Every year the organisation uses data from Victoria Police to create Violence Against Women Fact Sheets for each local government area in the northern metropolitan region.
While the figures are alarming, WHIN chief executive Helen Riseborough says they also show the effectiveness of awareness campaigns and the growing confidence in the police force.
“The police have set up family violence response units with dedicated response teams, who are well trained and respectful of the situation and the people involved,” Ms Riseborough said. “It’s well known that [family violence] is under-reported. Now we’re seeing the true picture.”
This year’s figures show that in the Whittlesea municipality, reported family violence incidents rose from 1561 in 2011-12 to 2110 in 2012-13 – up from 973.4 to 1248.08 per 100,000.
In Hume, the number of reported incidents lifted from 2197 to 2555, with the rate per 100,000 up from 1255 to 1429.5.
When Victoria Police release their annual crime statistics in August, WHIN policy and research manager Debra Parkinson receives subsets of the data. She breaks them down to produce the fact sheets for councils and community health organisations, to help develop policies or as a tool for advocacy.
Ms Riseborough said the rise in violence reports was indicative of the work being done at a state level in the northern metropolitan region on violence against women.
“There are more awareness campaigns and there’s a lot of momentum in our region about the fact that violence against women is serious, common and preventable,” she said.
Whittlesea’s police Inspector Robert Dykstra had earlier asked the public to be mindful of the municipality’s expanding population when considering the latest crime figures. But he said: “I make no apologies for our ongoing hard line approach against family violence. Assault, damage, threats and breaches of orders will result in criminal charges.”
