Family violence crimes soaring
THE head of Geelong’s family violence unit is constantly horrified by the prevalence of family violence in this city.
Every day police are inundated with calls for help from women and children who are victims of violence in their own homes.
Worryingly, more women are being abducted by abusive partners than ever before. Geelong abduction offences jumped from 15 in 2017 to 36 last year.
Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Uebergang says the community’s confidence in reporting acts of violence has led to more and more people coming forward. Since 2009 family violence offences have soared. Last financial year alone the rate of family violence serious assaults in Greater Geelong rose from 140.9 to 154.7 per 100,000 people.
Sen-Sgt Uebergang expects these figures to continue to rise for at least 12 months before assaults start to plateau.
He says the past 12 months have marked a significant shift in the way police investigate cases. The 2018 opening of the multidisciplinary unit means investigations focus on victims of violence.
Sen-Sgt Uebergang said that historically family violence cases were investigated by uniformed police who lacked the resources to dedicate the time needed.
He said family violence cases were hard to investigate because there was often little evidence. Sen-Sgt Uebergang said this was sometimes made harder as victims moved to support the offender in court. Having the new unit was changing this, he said.
“We are just encouraging people to come forward to be more confident to report family violence,” he said.
“Since July we’ve got more time to investigate the offences more thoroughly.”
Family violence comes in many forms and affects all postcodes. “We investigate the more serious assault, abductions, kidnaps, sexual assaults,” Sen-Sgt Uebergang said.
These are often committed in tandem with aggravated burglaries, stalking and social media offending. “It’s very rare that there is someone who just commits one offence,” Sen-Sgt Uebergang said.
There are also certain times where offending is more prevalent — “Labour Day and Boxing Day see spikes, as does Sunday afternoon,” Sen-Sgt Uebergang said.
Phone 1800 RESPECT for help.