Ballarat crime: The shocking offence rising in Ballarat

There’s one crime rising in Ballarat that victims say they cannot escape and experts warn is worsening across regional Victoria.

Family violence has skyrocketed in Ballarat since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, the latest Crime Statistics have revealed.

Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said family violence increased at double the rate in regional Victoria compared to metropolitan Melbourne over the course of the year.

Family violence incidents reported in Ballarat rose from 20.9 per cent increase in the year ending 2021 — from 1960 in 2020 to 2369 in 2021.

Shockingly, 79 rapes were also reported in Ballarat.

Michelle, a victim of family violence who asked not to be named, said Covid meant escaping violence had been difficult.

She said her and her son were not able to get out Ballarat because of the pandemic.

“My ex-partner threatened to kill me and my son,” she said.

“We have been shunted from here to there — we weren’t able to get out of town because of Covid.”

The woman said she knew of others in similar situations.

“Not being able to see my friends was really hard,” she said.

“I couldn’t tell them what’s going on with me and my son.

“A lot of fear builds up through isolation.

“He was working and I wasn’t as I was ill — that put a strain on our relationship as I was home.”

According to the latest data, 119 of the most serious assaults in Ballarat were reported as a result of family violence.

The data also showed an 18 per cent increase in breaches of family violence orders, up from 1022 in 2020 to 1210 in 2021.

Domestic Violence Victoria and the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria executive director Louise Simms said family violence was worse in regional areas.

“People experiencing family violence in rural and regional areas, there are further barriers to accessing services anyway, so there are fewer services to access and there are all kinds of particular experiences and barriers that might not apply to people living in cities which can be exacerbated during the pandemic,” she said.

“These statistics refer to reports to police and we know that any increase in reports to police is likely to be amplified when it comes to the actual experience of family violence and the increase in service demand.

“So what we know from specialist family violence services in Victoria is that demand has increased absolutely exponentially and services are extremely stretched.”