Local DV crisis laid bare (6 July 2024)
WA Police statistics show that domestic violence is rising across the western suburbs. In most suburbs, assault by a family member is far more common than assault by a nonfamily member. And there has also been an increase in people being charged with threatening behaviour by a family member.
Figures released by WA Police cover crimes committed between July 1 last year to March 31 this year. Over the state, there was an increase of 41% in family related offences from the five-year average. Subiaco had 62 family assaults and 27 non-family assaults.
Mosman Park had 57 family assaults and 40 non-family. Floreat had 22 family assault cases and two non-family assault offences. Daglish had no non-family assaults, but had 12 family offences.
The only western suburb that did not have a family assault offence recorded was Peppermint Grove.
The figures also show a rise in breaches of restraining orders. One of the highest numbers was Wembley, with 54. Curtin MP Kate Chaney said the figures showed that family and domestic violence did not discriminate by postcode.
"In recent months a number of women have told me their personal stories they are living down the road from you and their kids might go to school with your kids but they are experiencing violence in their homes and are often bearing the weight of it in silence because of the shame, stigma and the difficulty of finding a path out," Ms Chaney said.
Local DV crisis laid bare Front line services were turning women away because of lack of funding, and police responses were often not supportive, she said. "There's appetite for change at a state and federal level, but we need to ensure that this doesn't get lost in the bureaucracy."
