Why Cairns needs a men’s domestic violence crisis shelter

The Cairns region is in desperate need of a men’s domestic violence shelter, says the head of a leading support service that’s been helping women escape abuse for four decades.

The Cairns region is in desperate need of a men’s domestic violence shelter, says the head of a leading support service that’s been helping women escape abuse for four decades.

Warringu Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation has recently been awarded a state government contract to run a two-unit crisis shelter for women and children in Mossman over the next four-and-a-half years.

Warringu general manager Karen Dini-Paul said while there was no doubt that service would be crucial, there was also a need to open a men’s shelter in the Cairns region.

“Once upon a time there would have been some doubt about whether men would actually go to those shelters but now, when police are called out to DV, somebody often has to go,” she said.

“Too often it’s the woman and their children that are displaced through these events.

Karen Dini-Paul, general manager of Warringu. Picture: Emily Barker

“It would be far less destabilising to the family if they could stay in the family home and the one that is using violence is the one that is removed.

“If the man was taken to a place to cool down, have people talk to him about what’s going on and to help him de-escalate … that’s probably a really good point to have some therapeutic intervention right then and there.”

Ms Dini-Paul said she understood there were no domestic violence crisis shelters for men or perpetrators in Cairns, despite the concept becoming more common in other Australian cities.

She said such a service would go a long way in making sure violent behaviour is addressed before it has a chance to reoccur or escalate, rather than solely focusing on the aftermath of abuse.

Cairns Police Superintendent Monique Ralph. Picture: Emily Barker

Superintendent Monique Ralph, who oversees the Cairns specialist domestic violence police unit, agreed there needed to be a greater service response for perpetrators.

“It can’t just always be that we’re helping the person who’s the victim, we also need to stop the behaviour,” she said in a recent interview with the Cairns Post, reflecting on a yearly increase on the number of domestic violence orders breached.

“Unfortunately when young people grow up, seeing this from their families, it becomes the norm.

“So when they’ve never seen action taken, they think that’s the correct behaviour.

“We need more programs for perpetrators, to say you behaviour is unacceptable and to wrap some help around them as well.”

One in four women will experience violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime, compared to one in 14 men according to Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Personal Safety Survey.

Originally published as Why Cairns needs a men’s domestic violence crisis shelter