Christmas sees rise in family violence

THE scourge of family violence does not stop during Christmas, with police called to more incidents over the festive period than any other time.

Police are bracing for the increase in family violence call-outs, which will come on the back of a more than 10 per cent jump in family violence incidents in the Geelong region during the past year.

“While the end of the year is a great time to get together and celebrate with family, police certainly see an increase in trauma that happens during the festive season,” Family Violence Command Assistant Commissioner Dean McWhirter said.

“The latest statistics show that police responded to 83,775 family violence incidents in a 12-month period — one call for help every six minutes.

“Over the past five years, December and January have consistently seen the highest number of family violence reports compared to the rest of the year.”

In 2018-19, police responded to an average of 227 family v violence incidents every day.

This figure jumps by 11 per cent in December and January to just over 250 incidents.

December 2018 was Greater Geelong’s worst month for family violence in five years.

Family violence rose in the Surf Coast by 9 per cent with breach of family violence order offences driving the rise, following a state-wide trend.

The Geelong region’s police chief, Superintendent Craig Gillard, has labelled the trend “disturbing” and said that police across all divisions would ramp up their efforts to curb family violence.

Victoria Police has released a video urging the community work together to help stop family violence.

If anyone is concerned about their safety, support is available through Safe Steps, Victoria’s 24/7 family violence support service, by calling 1800 015 188 or 1800 RESPECT.