Full Stop, a domestic, sexual and family violence counselling provider held a charity fundraiser this International Women’s Day in a bid to save its national sexual, domestic and family violence counselling line.
NRMA Insurance, Commonwealth Bank, and the Paul Ramsay Foundation are amongst the corporate, philanthropic and community donors that were on the line up on International Women’s Day to help keep the national 24/7 service open for victim-survivors of sexual, domestic and family violence post 30 June this year when the pilot funding for the service comes to an end.
Full Stop Australia chief executive Hayley Foster said while the organisation is heartened to have such strong community support for the national service, she holds serious concerns about the welfare of sexual, domestic and family violence survivors if the service is made to close.
“Sexual assault and domestic violence are the fastest growing serious crimes across the country and more and more victim-survivors are reaching out for help,” she said.
“Reported sexual assaults alone have increased by more than 110 per cent in the last 25 years, and we’re seeing no signs of abatement.
“Thousands of sexual assault and domestic violence survivors now rely upon our service for critical support and short, medium and long-term therapeutic care in circumstances where they don’t have any specialist services in their local area, or they don’t want to access local services for privacy reasons and can’t afford to access a private therapist.”
Sarah, an Aboriginal woman in her early 20s living in a regional area, accessed Full Stop Australia’s national counselling service after being sexually assaulted last year.
She said the service has been a lifeline in her most pressing hour of need.
“Full Stop Australia has had quite a big impact on my life,” Sarah said.
“Without that reassurance and that courage, I wouldn’t have been able to report my story to the police, which, therefore I feel like I wouldn’t really be able to achieve the justice that I deserve.
“I’m pretty thankful that there’s a service out there that you know you can call.”
