MANY people know that the most dangerous time for a woman in a violent relationship is when she leaves.
What is not so well known is that post-separation violence can occur for up to two years after the victim has left the perpetrator.
Christine Bird from Crossroads Community care, a Miranda-based not-for-profit organisation that helps women in violent relationships, said she helped start a support group for women who continued to experience abuse after leaving a violent relationship.
"It seems to be getting worse," Ms Bird said.
"The main group applying for AVOs [apprehended violence orders] is women who separated from their partner up to two years [earlier].
"We want to raise awareness that post-separation can be a very dangerous time."
This was especially true for children who continued to witness violence, she said.
Ms Bird said there was also a misconception that AVOs were a panacea.
"In 2012-13 between 36 and 38 per cent of AVOs in NSW were breached.
"The least-effective AVOs were those for released prisoners," she said.
The cost of domestic violence to the community was $14.7 billion a year.
Women were the victims of 87 per cent of the 28,291 cases of reported domestic violence in NSW in 2013.
Crossroads has joined with the University of Sydney for a collaborative research project on post-separation violence.
In related news, angry members of the state’s peak body for domestic violence issued a vote of no confidence in early August to Domestic Violence NSW, alleging mismanagement had resulted in the closure of a number of specialist women’s refuges.
Disaffected members claimed in a letter that the organisation was in chaos, asserting conflicts of interest and lack of governance.
Is there enough support for people taking out AVOs?