“We worked out of a little shed in our safe house which was unlined and leaky, it was incredibly cold in the winter.”
Today there is a team of four full-time advocates and two after-hours employees, which is the most workers the Whanganui Women’s Refuge has ever employed to address family violence.
“It’s not for the faint-hearted, it’s really hard if someone comes to the front door to ever say no,” Wade said.
Voice said the work was an “incredible privilege”.
“Those people who started the refuge in Whanganui 35 years ago are incredibly brave, and some of the risks they must have taken to give support to women is incredible, at a time when it wasn’t at all easy to do that.
“We’ve come a long way in terms of how we talk about family violence in this country.”
Advocates at the Whanganui Women’s Refuge can help women access support from family violence by caring for their healthcare needs, helping them through family court, or assisting them with work and income entitlements.
“It could be supporting a woman with opening a bank account because they might never have had their own money or the permission to manage finances.”
Whanganui Women’s Refuge also operates a safe house with short-term crisis accommodation for women in high-risk situations.
The Whanganui crisis line that offers 24/7 assistance to women in response to family violence began 30 years ago.
Voice said the Women’s Refuge had experienced “fairly consistent numbers” in the number of calls they were receiving from women.
“Sometimes women might come to our services four or five times before they get that strength to find the courage to move on.
“It’s not easy to leave.”
Voice said the generosity of the community had helped to make the Women’s Refuge firmly established in the community, and that their services were always looking for more volunteer board members from the community to offer their time.
