A Craigieburn forum will help Indian and South-East Asian migrants pinpoint family violence triggers.
The Oorja Foundation, a newly formed support group for migrants living in Craigieburn and surrounding suburbs, has organised the event to foster discussion about the causes of family violence and intergenerational conflict.
Foundation secretary Nayana Bhandari said the forum was needed to address increasing rates of family violence among migrant and refugee families who were unfamiliar with cultural norms in Australia.
“We need to teach people how to find a balance between being born in Australia but with parents and grandparents born in India,” Ms Bhandari said.
“Females haven’t been provided much privilege in India, so when women come to Australia many want to study or want more independence and this is not always considered a good thing [by their parents or husband],” she said.
The forum will bring together leaders from the Indian community, Fawkner police station community liaison officer Ash Dixit, Hume police’s Inspector Lisa Hardeman and solicitors from community legal centres.
Cultural values and customs will be up for discussion, as will the progress of Oorja programs such as an intergenerational Punjabi group that meets fortnightly.
A short movie Ms Bhandari produced with victims of family violence, Brides of Broken Dreams, will be screened to remind women to speak up about family violence.
Senior Constable Dixit said he was keen to be involved in the event because family violence was an issue “we’re confronting on a regular basis”.
He said many newlywed Indian women who arrived in Australia to start anew with their husbands had no social connections aside from their spouses.
“They’re totally dependent on this person and I think that’s why they’re hesitant to approach the police,” he said.
The forum, ‘Way forward to harmony in family’, will be at Craigieburn library, 75-95 Central Park Avenue, Craigieburn, on March 25.
For more information, go to www.facebook.com/oorjafoundationaustralia.
