Record demand at refuge
Violence:
DUNEDIN’S deepening housing crisis and the impact of methamphetamine have contributed to record demand for the city’s Women’s Refuge.
Manager Wenda ParataMuir said bednights provided in the the organisation’s Dunedin safe houses jumped 14% in the past financial year, from 2554 in 201617 to 2910 in 201718.
Ms ParataMuir said demand for refuge services in Dunedin was at its highest level since she started working with the organisation in 1991, and the number of calls to its crisis line had increased to an average of about two a day.
She believed the proliferation of methamphetamine in the city had increased domestic violence, as had Dunedin’s chronic shortage of rental housing, leaving families living in temporary accommodation for long periods.
The intensity of domestic violence had also increased.
‘‘Definitely things are getting worse in the community, with the intensity of the violence and its triggers, like the methamphetamine.’’
However, Ms ParataMuir said the increase in people calling the crisisline or being referred to the refuge was also due to women being more likely to come forward.
‘‘They’re not having to hide it under the carpet. I think more people are talking about it now.’’
While the new Government’s announcement of increased funding for Women’s Refuge nationally had been welcomed by all in the movement, the organisation continued to rely heavily on donations, she said.
‘‘We’re already overcontracting, overdelivering, worked to full capacity.
‘‘I must say we’re really lucky in Dunedin; people are
very giving.’’
Ms ParataMuir said the refuge was funded $1.42 per person, per day to support women seeking its services, which paled in comparison to the $249.26 it costs daily to keep a single inmate in prison.
Its annual power bill was about $13,000.
The refuge had recently picked up a new Ministry of Social Development contract where, based on referrals from the Ministry, it provides 12 weeks of emergency housing and support services for homeless families.
Ms ParataMuir said since taking up the contract she had been shocked by the extent of homelessness in the city.