Dvstop

03/01/2026

Please get behind this Cause!

On this first day of 2026, our hearts are with every Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) victim-survivor.

The human cost of DFV is unbearable, and the cost of inaction is staggering, measured not just in lives lost but in emergency department visits, hospitalisation, police call outs, court backlogs, homelessness, and ongoing trauma and devastation.

Specialist DFV services in the Hunter are stretched beyond capacity, with caseloads up to 9 times what they are funded for. Our services are seeing more women and children at high risk. Frontline DFV workers in the Hunter are exceptional, professional, trauma informed, and deeply committed, but they are also exhausted, doing life saving work with inadequate support.

2026 is the year that change must happen.

The specialist DFV sector, lead by our peak body Domestic Violence NSW, is calling on the NSW Government to double the funding for DFV services in the 2026 State Budget. This amounts to just 0.1% of the state budget, a tiny investment for life changing outcomes.

Properly funded DFV services would not only save lives but also reduce pressure on hospitals, police, courts, and the housing system.

Preventing DFV before it starts, and preventing it from escalating or happening again is far more cost effective than reacting after the fact. We need to scale up men’s behaviour change programs, expand early intervention services, and deliver and embed gender-based violence primary prevention in every community across the Hunter.

Coordination across services is critical too. The Hunter DFV Consortium’s Collaborations Coordinator role is already maximising resources and improving sector outcomes. This role must be funded as part of a broader strategy to address DFV in the region.

It’s a choice.

As Australia’s Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence Commissioner, Micaela Cronin, wrote: “The question is not whether we can create a future where all Australians live free from violence. The question is whether we choose to.”

This is not about politics. It’s about lives. It’s about the daily terror faced by thousands of DFV victim-survivors in NSW.

Change is possible, but it won’t happen without action from the NSW Government.

In the 2026 State Budget, we are urging the Premier Chris Minns, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey MLC, Penny Sharpe MLC, and John Graham to choose to reduce and prevent DFV by:
▪️Doubling the funding to specialist DFV services
▪️Investing significantly in primary prevention and men’s behaviour change programs
▪️Funding the Hunter DFV Regional Collaborations role

Lives Depend On Funding The Frontline.

#2026

03/01/2026

No one deserves to be disrespected or mistreated…

28/12/2025

6,894 signatures are still needed! A call for urgent NSW Legislative reform. Stop abusers becoming next of kin.

28/12/2025

Emotional abuse is a pattern of behaviour used to control, manipulate, intimidate, or undermine another person’s sense of self-worth and safety. Unlike physical abuse, it doesn’t leave visible injuries—but it can be just as damaging and often erodes confidence, identity, and mental wellbeing over time. Oprah Winfrey Reese Witherspoon Domestic Violence AngelsKim KardashianTamron Hall

16/12/2025

Natural disasters often make domestic violence worse because they create conditions that intensify the main risk factors for abuse. Here are the key reasons, explained clearly and concisely:

1. Extreme stress and trauma
Disasters bring fear, loss, and uncertainty—about safety, housing, income, and the future. High stress and trauma can lower emotional regulation and increase aggression, especially in people already prone to controlling or violent behavior.

2. Displacement and confinement
Evacuations, shelters, or damaged homes can force families into crowded or unfamiliar spaces. Lack of privacy and constant proximity can escalate tensions and make it harder for victims to avoid or de-escalate abusive situations.

3. Loss of support systems
Disasters often disrupt social networks, schools, workplaces, healthcare, and community services. Victims may be cut off from friends, family, counselors, or domestic violence services that normally provide protection or escape routes.

4. Reduced access to help
Police, courts, shelters, and hotlines may be overwhelmed, understaffed, or inaccessible during and after disasters. Abusers may exploit this, knowing victims have fewer ways to seek help or report abuse.

5. Increased power and control dynamics
Abusers may use the chaos to exert greater control—controlling access to money, transportation, food, medication, or information. Dependency increases when resources are scarce.

6. Economic strain
Job loss, housing damage, and financial insecurity are common after disasters. Economic stress is strongly linked to higher rates of domestic violence and can trap victims who lack the resources to leave.

7. Substance use
Alcohol and drug use often increase after disasters as people try to cope with trauma, which can intensify violent behavior and reduce inhibitions.

8. Gendered caregiving burdens
Disasters often increase caregiving demands (children, elderly, injured family members), which disproportionately fall on women, increasing exhaustion, dependency, and vulnerability to abuse.

Be aware of ALL threats to your safety.

Alertme.com.au

14/12/2025

Part 1 - Record evidence… ALL EVIDENCE. How many times are victims told by Police “sorry you don’t have enough evidence to prosecute the perpetrator of violence” or you can’t record exact times and dates of violence due to the trauma suffered… Dvstop.com resolves this instantly with it built in Evidence Log.

11/12/2025

Please share far and wide!