OPENING DOORS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Each May, the Queensland Police Service, White Ribbon Foundation and other Government and Community Support agencies raise community awareness for domestic violence.

The theme for 2023 is ‘It’s in our control to end coercive control’. The hashtags for social media use are #endDFV, #endcoercivecontrol and #DFVPM2023.

Mount Morgan Police Officer in Charge, Sergeant Christopher Cronin was recently invited to Brisbane to talk with the Domestic Violence Command regarding his approach to domestic violence in Mount Morgan.

Sgt Cronin was a guest participant in a podcast ‘Behind the doors’, discussing the challenges and obstacles provided when investigating domestic violence and highlighted some recent success stories from Mount Morgan.

“Considering that at the time of trauma, a victim survivor is not likely to be thinking straight, or be able to communicate effectively, or provide details for assistance to their needs,” he said.

Sgt Cronin said Mount Morgan police had designed a trauma informed approach to engage with victims and perpetrators of violence.

Mount Morgan police have ongoing support and engagement with community safety groups such as Mount Morgan Branch of the QCWA, DVSafePhone.

Org, Act for Kids (Rockhampton) and Helem Yumba CQ have provided quality outcomes for persons escaping domestic violence.

In terms of results, in the beginning of 2023, Mount Morgan police commenced criminal proceedings and secured positive court outcomes against 20 offenders for 61 domestic violence offences.

There have since been more offenders arrested, however these matters are before the court.

“An awkward conversation is better than no conversation,” Sergeant Cronin said.

“Considering our small community, we absolutely do have an overrepresented rate of domestic violence offending, a trend that can only be solved together as a community, by talking about it and getting the support required to people in need,” he said.

It is known that on average one woman is murdered every week, and one man is murdered every month as a result of domestic violence.

Without the engagement of other agencies, and support from non-government organisations these significant positive outcomes would not have been possible.

Behind the Doors of Domestic Violence, is available for streaming on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.