I got a great Somali friend who works as a..........& he is a calm, very intelligent and asked me to urgently meet him. Long story short. He seemed to be very angry and agitated and he told me about a report prepared for a government department by a coalition of women, family refuges and domestic violence groups. He said, this report states that Somalis have the highest percentage (per-capita) of domestic violence in Melbourne given the numbers of Somali women and children in these shelters. Over 80% of these cases, the women didn’t want to pursue and lay charges against their husbands because they all cited family and clan pressures and if they do, then they will be disowned by their families and the community. Unbeknown to them, these organisations are now lobbying the government to exert pressure on the community (men) to not silence these victims either via a legislation or via community education. The problem is;
Most of these women and children who applied for protection against domestic violence have hatched this scam with their husbands and are applying for public housing and by claiming domestic violence, they will be offered short-term housing and then only, will they be given a priority where they will be immediately settled in a public housing. Their selfishness has done a massive damage to the reputation of Somalis. He said, if you go to Somalis and ask them how to get a priority housing, it will be highly recommended to send the family to these organisations and claim domestic violence. I had no answers for him.
Does it happen in your neck of the woods? Is it worth claiming public housing on the pretext of domestic violence or do you see it as a problem? Why and how? How will it affect the genuine 20% who have experienced domestic violence? Discuss?
Most of these women and children who applied for protection against domestic violence have hatched this scam with their husbands and are applying for public housing and by claiming domestic violence, they will be offered short-term housing and then only, will they be given a priority where they will be immediately settled in a public housing. Their selfishness has done a massive damage to the reputation of Somalis. He said, if you go to Somalis and ask them how to get a priority housing, it will be highly recommended to send the family to these organisations and claim domestic violence. I had no answers for him.
Does it happen in your neck of the woods? Is it worth claiming public housing on the pretext of domestic violence or do you see it as a problem? Why and how? How will it affect the genuine 20% who have experienced domestic violence? Discuss?