Toowoomba-based TASC National granted $150,000 to roll out DV program across Darling Downs

The project is designed to break the cycle of domestic violence across the region. Here is how it will work.

The Toowoomba-based TASC National has received a $150,000 state government grant to work on a project aimed at breaking the cycle of domestic violence across the region.

TASC National, a legal and social justice centre which offers legal and advocacy services across southwest Queensland, was one of 24 organisations statewide to receive the grant under the state government’s $3m Keeping Women Safe from Violence program.

TASC CEO Frances Klaassen OAM said the project would initially engage mothers.

“The statistics around intimate partner violence are alarming,” Ms Klaassen said.

“Nationally, more than one in three women over 18 have been subjected to violence or abuse in their relationships during their lifetime.”

A woman’s child-bearing period had been identified as high-risk for domestic violence, with 22 per cent of pregnant women subjected to intimate partner violence, she said.

TASC National CEO Frances Klaassen (left) discusses the pilot project with Beth Wagland who will be designing and rolling out the program across the Western Downs.

“Of these women, for a quarter of them the first time they encounter violence in the relationship is during pregnancy,” Ms Klaassen said.

“What we’ve seen and what the research shows is that violence during and after pregnancy is not only an appalling denial of human rights, it also has a lasting, damaging impact across the entire community.”

TASC aimed to break that cycle through an intervention and educational approach based on research showing the impact violence had on parent-child attachment and how that negatively affected children throughout their lives.

The pilot program would focus on increasing the agency of women who are of child-bearing age, Ms Klaassen explained.

“Society in general has tended to devalue the impact and work of mothers and caregivers, which in turn leads to increased vulnerability for those women when it comes to gender based violence,” she said.

“We will combat this by increasing the agency and connectedness of women through group work, community connection and demonstrating the importance and impact of the mother-child relationship across a person’s life.

“Our goal is to work with women, families and communities to help heal some of the trauma behind the violence and bring lasting change.

“While the initial focus will be on women and their supports, we will also build an education program for men we hope to roll out in the area.”