A New Beginning: Megan’s Journey to Safety

Note: names have been changed for privacy and confidentiality

Megan is a 44 year old mother of two sons (7 years and 10 years). Megan's youngest son is diagnosed with Autism level 2. Megan was born and raised in Peru and her first language is Spanish. English is Megan’s second language, which she speaks well but sometimes struggles to understand when the topic is more complex in nature, such as legal information.

Megan married an Australian man named Robert and moved to Australia to be with him, leaving all her family and friends behind in Peru to start a new life. Once in Australia, Robert kept Megan isolated and financially dependant on him. When they had their two children, Megan was made to do most, if not all, of the parenting work. Robert would refuse to care for the children so Megan could work, keeping Megan more isolated and financially vulnerable.

After coming to realise that what she was experiencing was domestic and family violence, Megan tried to leave Robert but found it impossible to do without support. Megan reached out to Women’s Health Centre to get the support she needed to leave.

The Women’s Health Centre Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence program supported Megan to, firstly prepare to leave her husband. This meant getting all her ducks in a row such as ensuring Megan had the financial resources to leave and set up a new home, securing accommodation to go, getting the right legal information and advice, and making a plan for moving out that minimised risk of harm to Megan and her children. Women’s Health Caseworker supported Megan by providing culturally appropriate support, information and resources in her first language of Spanish as much as possible and ensuring that Megan had the option of an interpreter whenever needed.

Women’s Health Caseworker supported Megan to apply for a women’s and children’s refuge and for social housing for more permanent accommodation. Megan and her boys were provided a place in the refuge. Because Megan had done a lot of preparation by this stage, she was more confidently and safely able to leave as soon as the refuge vacancy became available. Megan was approved for special domestic violence funding to help her and her children set up a new future free of violence. The family is now waiting for a social housing property which can take some time but Megan reports feeling much more relaxed, happy and safer now she is away from her husband. Megan has also noticed positive changes in her son’s as well, noting that they seem more relaxed and play more now, which they were too scared to do before.

With the support of Women’s Health, Megan applied for and was approved for Victims Services and Leaving Violence Program funding. Megan will use this money to help set up a new home for her and her boys. When finding out she was approved for the money, Megan said that it was a huge relief because she was worrying about how she would afford everything when she left.

Megan is a very intelligent and capable woman. She did a lot of work prior to coming to Women’s Health Centre to try to leave her husband but the barriers to leaving seemed too big to overcome on her own so Megan used her courage and strength to ask for support. Megan and her children are now living in a temporary but safe and comfortable home free of domestic violence, while they wait for their forever home.