Women’s Cottage Appeals for Help Amid Surge in Domestic Violence

The Women’s Cottage, a cornerstone support service for vulnerable women and children in the Hawkesbury region, is urgently seeking council funding to expand its facilities amidst a dramatic rise in domestic violence cases. The Women’s Cottage current provides over 1,000 occasions of service related to domestic violence each year.

A motion set to be presented at the Hawkesbury Council Meeting tonight urges councillors to approve funding for extensions to the council-owned premises in Richmond. The expansion aims to enable The Women’s Cottage to “meet ongoing increasing needs of women and children escaping domestic violence and other forms of distress and trauma.”

Maria Losurdo, Manager of The Women’s Cottage, detailed a series of setbacks that have hampered the organisation’s expansion plans. “In 2020, we had enough funding – about $450,000 – to extend the building,” she said. “This came from government grants, our own funds, and community donations.”

However, protracted delays in obtaining Development Application (DA) approval from the council, significant costs from Council required conditions, escalating construction costs, and an unforeseen financial blow have derailed these plans. “After three years of toing and froing with the council, the builders went into receivership in February, taking with them a deposit of over $250,000 that was supposed to be held in trust,” Losurdo revealed. “The project was also supposed to be insured (by the builder) but it wasn’t.”

These complications have ballooned the estimated cost of the project to between $600,000 and $700,000, a figure now beyond the organisation’s reach. “We’re asking the council to accept financial responsibility for the work to its own building in support of women’s safety.”

The need for expansion is underscored by a surge in demand for The Women’s Cottage’s services. “Since the bushfires in 2019, the level of need around domestic violence has gone up every year,” Losurdo said. “Add to that the seven floods we’ve had, COVID-19, cost of living pressures, mortgage stress, and a lack of social housing, and it’s a perfect storm that’s increasing both the incidence and severity of domestic violence.” 

Louise (name changed) a young woman in her 20’s with a postgraduate degree has experienced the invaluable work of The Women’s Cottage first-hand when she left a long-term abusive relationship. “In my darkest moments, The Women’s Cottage was a guiding light, helping me reclaim my strength and hope,” she said.

Currently, the organisation’s limited space forces them to rent external venues for group programs – an unsustainable expense. These group sessions serve as crucial “soft entry points” for women who may not initially feel comfortable disclosing abuse. “Group work is really important for women to realise that they’re not the only ones,” Losurdo said. “To do some of that healing with other women is vital.”

The proposed expansion would add two counselling rooms, additional worker offices and dedicated spaces for group programs, enabling The Women’s Cottage to accommodate more clients and specialist counsellors.

Relocating or decentralising services isn’t a viable option due to the specialised security requirements inherent in providing domestic violence support. “It’s not safe for the workers, the clients, or other people in shared office spaces at other locations.” Losurdo noted. The current premises offer the necessary security infrastructure, a critical factor in ensuring safety and respectful service provision.

The Women’s Cottage has explored alternative funding avenues, including appeals to organisations like Rotary, but these entities are reluctant to invest in improvements to council-owned properties. With a 30-year lease on the building and 25 years remaining, the organisation views the council’s support as essential.

“The Women’s Cottage has done extraordinary work for 40 years, helping women and children when they have been at their most vulnerable. Now they need us. I’m hopeful that Council will support the Cottage with the money needed to fund their much-needed extension. There is plenty of room for the community and businesses to get involved with donations or labour, but first we need Council to provide enough security to get the project started. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a lot of money to help women and children get safe and stay safe,” Hawkesbury Councillor Danielle Wheeler said.

As the council prepares to vote on the motion, Losurdo recalls the terrible statistics confronting women of domestic violence with one woman dying every week from domestic violence. “It’s just a matter of time until (a domestic violence-related death) actually happens in the Hawkesbury,” Losurdo warned.