00:00 The Starik Women's Refuge in Perth is turning away more women than not.
00:06 I think definitely things are getting worse.
00:10 Certainly the statistics we're seeing around the murders of women, they're extremely high
00:16 and represent a national crisis.
00:19 Last weekend alone it was not able to house three women who were in extreme danger.
00:25 They have a number of red flags which show they're really at very high risk of imminent
00:30 harm, serious physical injury, potentially death.
00:34 So it's really important that they receive a service and they're accommodated in a safe
00:39 place.
00:41 She says one of the women they turned away had no choice but to return home.
00:46 We're seeing a lot of problems with the housing affordability crisis.
00:50 So one of the problems is that women come into the refuge and then they can't move on
00:55 into longer term housing because there's no housing options available for them.
01:00 Say it once, say it again, there's no excuse for violent men.
01:05 In the wake of rallies across the country calling for an end to violence against women,
01:10 the Prime Minister has convened a meeting of National Cabinet for Wednesday to workshop
01:15 solutions with state and territory leaders.
01:17 WA Premier Roger Cook is likely to raise the idea of a national register for domestic violence
01:24 perpetrators.
01:25 Creating greater uniformity around laws as perpetrators of family and domestic violence
01:30 move from state to state may be one way that we can all work together.
01:35 The sector has welcomed news the WA Government is investing $90 million to bolster services.
01:42 It's a start.
01:43 It's by far not enough.
01:45 We need to see a lot more investment from the Government, not only through funding but
01:49 initiatives, frameworks, policy, legislative reform in order for us to be able to start
01:54 seeing significant change across the sector.
01:56 I'd like to see more funding dedicated to our crisis response, our women's refuges.
02:01 They're bursting at the seams.
02:04 Back at Starik Women's Refuge, this woman recently escaped her third abusive relationship.
02:10 We need to have more power over some of the men that do this stuff to us and to keep our
02:17 kids safe.
02:18 We just want to feel safe and have the best life that we can have.
02:23 The families don't lose us at all whatsoever because there's too many out there that's
02:29 lost their lives.
02:31 Just outside, children are playing, an antidote to the scourge plaguing the country.
02:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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