Giving shelter Donna Cavanagh

Manager of Women’s Community Shelters’ Sanctuary – Hills Women’s Shelter

Twenty minutes into our interview, domestic violence survivor turned shelter manager Donna Cavanagh sheds some tears for the women she knows are now trapped inside a house with their abusers.“I knew we were going to need more rooms,” she says.

Donna and her employer, Women’s Community Shelters (WCS), acted quickly when the government started talking about COVID-19 lockdowns, knowing what it meant for vulnerable women. They tried to create as much space within their existing shelters as possible and support those who were being rehoused with outreach services. They devised programs for traumatised children who would be stuck inside and sought resources for mothers who were going through the most difficult times of their lives in the middle of a global crisis.

“We’re managing mums with trauma but now they can’t do their

normal things, like take the kids to the park or out for an ice-cream,” Donna says. For all her foresight and tenacity, Donna knows there will be women she can’t help. The lockdown has increased demand for services, and she fears that will only grow as the virus subsides and the restrictions are relaxed. Right now, many women can’t escape.

She describes a woman in the type of situation she sees every day: “I don’t think she’s going to be able to go to Woolworths and have her phone and her children and her plan to flee. It’s going to be happening – guaranteed – the escalation of everything … Mum can’t escape.” She wipes her tears and focuses on what can be done. “Support the people who are behind the closed doors and nobody can see.” GG

WCS has had a 25-30% increase in demand since March 23. Support it at womenscommunityshelters.org.au