00:00Anne thought she'd finally escaped her partner's violence a few times, but even after he was
00:08jailed for almost killing Anne, she was still living in fear.
00:12I didn't see how dangerous it could be.
00:15Anne says a friend warned that her ex had given her address to another prisoner who'd
00:20just been released.
00:21He said you need to get out because he's coming.
00:24It just so happens that, you know, as much as being in a small community can be challenging
00:30because everybody knows everybody's business, that was my saving grace.
00:35While some details are extreme, Anne's experience of abuse is anything but unique in regional
00:41Victoria.
00:42An ABC analysis of crime data compared regional and metro family violence rates.
00:48It found regional Victorians are almost twice as likely to experience family violence, with
00:53that gap growing over the past five years as the regional rate continues to rise.
00:59Last financial year, all but one of the 30 worst family violence incident rates came
01:04from a regional area, while regional Victorians are also much more likely to be victims of
01:09specific crimes, especially breaches of family violence orders.
01:14While the statistics hint at the extent of domestic abuse, they don't account for the
01:19violence that remains hidden behind closed doors.
01:22The reason that these statistics do not tell the full picture is because we know that there
01:27is a lot of under-reporting of family violence incidents.
01:31In the regions, Dr Satyen warns complexities around social, cultural and gender norms are
01:37more profound.
01:39For all women who experience family violence in any location, they experience multiple
01:44barriers to seeking help.
01:47But for women living in regional areas, these barriers are absolutely compounding.
01:53After 30 years of working on solutions for domestic violence, Dr Chris Lamming says Victoria's
01:58family violence problem is worse than it was two decades ago.
02:03This is a matter of great shame.
02:05Since the 1990s, Dr Lamming has been at the forefront of one approach to solving domestic
02:09violence in the regions – prevention.
02:12How do we enable men who are not born violent, no child is born violent,
02:17it's learnt behaviour, it can be unlearned, but we've got to give it a go.
02:21Until a solution is found, more people, especially women, will face experiences like Anne's.
02:28I was such an independent, capable person, and I'm not that person anymore, I'm building
02:33back to that person, but I don't know if I'll ever get back to who I used to be.
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