Whittlesea CALD Communities Family Violence Research Report 2012 | Page 35
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more trust in his girlfriend. The boys group also said that more communication from the girlfriend in
terms of where she was going and who she was with would help the boyfriend to develop trust.
The boys group also recognised that ‘put downs’ were examples of ‘emotional hurt’ ‘…and for girls
that’s pretty bad.’ They thought that the girl would eventually break up with her boyfriend if it
continued and the behaviour may even lead to fights with other boys who disagreed with his
behaviour.
The boys group said that the boy’s mates should tell him that he needed to act differently, it was not
a ‘healthy relationship’ and he was being too protective and controlling. They also suggested talking
to the girl to see if she was alright and if there was anything that could be done to resolve the
situation.
If the behaviour continued the boys group suggested the girl either break up with her boyfriend, ask
a friend to talk to him or confide in somebody. The boys group also suggested the girl confide to a
school counsellor and/or her parents. The boys group also nominated fear of what other people,
especially parents, would think about a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship (they commented that it
was generally not acceptable in African culture to be in a relationship before finishing school) as one
reason the girl may be fearful of confiding in others. The boys group were concerned that if the girl
confided in a school counsellor they may notify the police or the girl’s parents.
Consultations with Service Providers
23 individual workers from 5 service providers, both family violence specialist and non-family
violence specialist agencies, participated in consultations either via face-to-face interviews with the
Project Leader (either individually or as a group) or by providing written answers to interview
questions.
Consultations with service providers were conducted from a pre-prepared list of interview questions
(See Appendix 2). Service providers were asked to discuss whether there are differences between
CALD and non-CALD clients in terms of demand for services, referral pathways and the types of
services accessed; identifiable barriers for CALD clients wishing to access assistance for family
violence; how services respond to CALD clients including any special measures adopted to engage
with CALD clients and facilitate access; any gaps in service provision and existing models for
delivering family violence services to CALD clients that are operating in City of Whittlesea or may be
adapted to City of Whittlesea.
Referral Pathways
Service providers identified a number of referral pathways through which both CALD and non-CALD
clients gain access to family violence assistance including direct referrals from Victoria police, courts,
family violence crisis services, child protection services, community and religious leaders and health
services including GPs and Maternal Child Health nurses.
For the two agencies that provide specialist family violence services the most common referral
pathways were Victoria police, after attendance at a family violence incident and (commonly) the
issue of a Family Violence Safety Notice, and the Women’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service.
Secondary referrals were also often received from non-specialist family violence agencies and there
was no noted difference in referral pathways between CALD and non-CALD clients.