Samantha Schulte knows what it is like to feel unsafe in public.
When she and her former husband separated, she was constantly vigilant as his behaviour became increasingly volatile.
“I was told [by police] to meet in public places for exchange of children. I was also told to go to places where there are CCTV cameras,” Ms Schulte said.
Her experience was the subject of a coronial inquest after her former husband died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a siege in 2018.
Samantha Schulte said when she was seperating from her former husband she feared for her safety while in public. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)
The inquest found that his threats of suicide and violence were acts of coercive control. Ms Schulte had been the target of his psychological, physical and verbal abuse.
During this time she always had concerns for her own safety — even in public.
“I always thought, ‘is it OK if I need to go into that place? Will they know what to do? Is that a safe space?'” she said.
“Domestic and family violence isn’t just brazen acts in public. It includes monitoring, following, and so all of those types of things can really make a victim-survivor feel unsure even when they’re going out in public.”
Family and domestic violence support services:
If you need help immediately, call emergency services on Triple Zero.
Ms Schulte said her experience of feeling unsafe are not uncommon, and she has heard stories like hers countless times.
She now runs a not-for-profit called The Survivor Service. As part of the charity, she has started an initiative to encourage businesses in Townsville and beyond to become a “DV Safe Space”.
The DV Safe Space stickers show people they can head inside the premises as a place to feel safe or even ask the staff for help. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)
By displaying sticker in a shopfront window, members of the public can see the building itself can be a place of refuge — even momentarily — and staff will be able to assist if they need help.
The Survivor Service gives businesses and staff the skills they need to respond appropriately, and the tools to have the right conversations with someone who may be experiencing domestic and family violence.
How perpetrators use the court system to inflict harm
“It is not a crisis response. It is there for people who need an additional level of safety for them to go about their everyday lives,” Ms Schulte said.
“It really builds our community’s capacity to have a better understanding around domestic and family violence.
“Just having that sticker there now is a sign to victim-survivors that we see you and [if] you come in here, we will know how to support you if that is something that needs to happen.”
A ‘soft space’ for help
Emily Vagulans is a nurse who runs a medical cosmetic business in Townsville.
“In all the 20 years of nursing that I’ve done, I have come across it [domestic violence] frequently. It affects all sorts of women,” Ms Vagulans said.
She and her staff have signed on to be part of the DV Safe Space program.
Emily Vagulans runs a medical beauty clinic in Townsville and has signed up to make her practice part of the DV Safe Spaces initiative. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)
She said she sees particular value in the program for people who may be in the initial stages of recognising a problem with how they are being treated by their partner.
“They might think ‘I know something’s not right but I don’t know. I’m not ready to do something drastic just yet. I’m not ready to go to the police’,” she said.
She said with the tools offered from The Survivor Service, she and her staff feel confident in providing these people with initial advice about available services.
“I get patients that come in and sometimes they’re almost asking the practitioner to reach out to them, I guess because of some of that shame,” she said.
“They’ll drop little things and it’s up to me to read those and go, ‘hey, look, is everything alright at home?'” she said.
Emily Vagulans said some clients feel more comfortable talking to her staff than with a specialist domestic violence service provider. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)
Manager Tanya Cameron said she sees the business as a “nice soft space” for people looking for help.
“There’s no pressure, there’s no judgement,” Ms Cameron said.
A ‘community response’ to make a difference
Professor Molly Dragiewicz specialises in criminology and criminal justice and has done extensive research into domestic and family violence.
She believes that while there have been more public conversations around domestic violence and coercive control, the “depth of knowledge and understanding” at a community level has not significantly increased.
Professor Molly Dragiewicz from Griffith University said there has not been a significant increase to services.
(Supplied: Molly Dragiewicz.)
Professor Dragiewicz said while statistically everyone knows victims and perpetrators of domestic and family violence, many people do not consider it an issue which affects them because it is seldom talked about.
“When people aren’t educated about the dynamics of domestic and family violence, we can get some victim-blaming attitudes,” she said.
She said these discussions can reinforce the beliefs of perpetrators and exacerbate the stigma felt by victims.
“A lot of people [in the community] don’t know what to say and they’re afraid of making it worse so they don’t get involved, but it is in fact quite simple to be supportive in a way that is helpful for people,” she said.
She said she sees great value in educating community members to recognise signs of domestic and family violence and be able to refer people to the right services.
“It will widen the net of helpers that are supporting people dealing with domestic violence situations,” she said.
“One of the most valuable parts of that program is the education and tools for the staff.”
Samantha Schulte said her own lived experience inspires her work in the domestic violence sector. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)
She said it was particularly important to help those who are seeking safety while in the process of leaving a partner, or after recently leaving when there is an increased risk of fatal violence.
“There’s a fundamental lack of understanding that the abuse doesn’t end at separation and often escalates,” she said.
“That’s not just the risk to the primary victim — it’s also a risk to children, to new partners and other family members as well.”
Sending a message to victim-survivors
Ms Schulte said she would like to see more and more community initiatives aimed at supporting those who are experiencing domestic and family violence.
“The community is a huge part of the solution and it can’t just rest with services and responders. Domestic, family and sexual violence is a community issue,” she said.
“The more we speak about it, the more we seek to understand it and how to respond to it, we are going to make real inroads to reducing the amount of people that are impacted by domestic and family violence.”
She said in the future The Survivor Service has recently received funding to create a map showing the location of all the DV Safe Spaces.
Additional reporting by Emma Jones.
