EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Safe@Home: Experiences, Barriers and Access (SHEBA)
Background
The rise in women becoming homeless due to family violence has prompted interest in a new response model, known as the "Safe at Home" approach, in which women and their children can remain in homes connected with community, work and educational ties, and reduce the risk of poverty and homelessness that often comes with leaving a violent situation.
The "Safe at Home: Experience, Barriers and Access (SHEBA)" project will create a comprehensive knowledge bank to strengthen the Victorian response to family violence, in both policy and practice.
Methods
Through interviews with women with lived experience, as well as practitioners and policy workers, the project will examine the effectiveness of personal safety initiatives (PSIs) and other strategies designed to help women and children stay safely in their homes, while the perpetrator leaves.
Particular attention will be given to women who have been marginalised and experience compounding issues of discrimination, with support for victims and survivors from partner organisations ensured before, during and after interviews. The SHEBA project will also look at the implications of a Safe at Home approach in times of disaster and emergencies.
A broad cross section of expertise will underpin the project, comprising the University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, McAuley Community Services for Women, Good Shepherd Australia and New Zealand, inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence, the Centre for Non-Violence, and the WEAVERs (Women and their children who have Experienced Abuse and Violence) researchers and advisors.