A Warrnambool family violence service has reported the severity of offending is rising as a south-west man was jailed for seven months for seriously assaulting his ex-partner.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Emma House executive officer Ruth Isbel said the past two weeks had seen a rise in referrals for the service, but intake numbers remained down compared to the beginning of the year.
"Since May 25 we've certainly seen an increase in referrals and we're tracking to be higher but we're still not at the same level as what we were prior to Covid-19," she said.
"We've averaged about 190 total referrals a month since the pandemic started and over the past two weeks we've already recorded 72 police referrals.
"We are anticipating as schools go back our numbers will increase as victim/survivors have the time and space to reach out.
"Certainly the severity of family violence has increased and we're seeing a lot of people for the first time and we're also seeing an increase in younger couples where both the perpetrator and victim/survivor are aged 18, 19 or early 20s."
The south-west man who seriously assaulted his former partner, threatened to skin her alive and distribute her intimate images faced court last week.
The 33-year-old, who cannot be named because that could identify the victim, pleaded guilty to stalking and other charges.
Magistrate Michael Coghlan said the man's threats to the victim were significant, demeaning and over a long period of time.
He said the man tried to control the victim by accessing her social media accounts, changing her passwords and threatening to distribute intimate images of her.
The magistrate said the man was jailed for two months in 2011 for similar offences and was jailed for another seven-and-a-half months last week.
The court heard the man and the victim were in a relationship for about seven years before the victim reported historical family violence to police in February this year.
She told police that throughout the relationship the man accessed her social media accounts in order to keep track of her conversations and movements.
He assaulted her on three or four occasions and was controlling and coercive, the court heard.
When the relationship broke down, he changed her passwords 10 times and forced her to sign her only car over to him, stating that if she refused, he would send her intimate images to her family.
Between January and February this year, the man rang the victim multiple times and made vile threats, including that he would break her nose and skin her alive.
On February 6, he attended the victim's home and demanded her phone. When she refused, he pushed her to the floor and punched her to the head, back and legs.
The assault occurred while the victim was holding her three-year-old daughter.
The man also pleaded guilty to drug trafficking after a search warrant executed at his house in March uncovered 29 grams of MDMA - more than nine times the traffickable amount.
The man has already served about 80 days in custody on remand.
Listen to the latest episode of our weekly episode The Booletin and Beyond:
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.
TWICE WEEKLY
Voice of Real Australia
Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over.
