Keeping People Safe –: Understanding the unique contribution of Catholic agencies to the prevention of and response to family violence
Church agencies at the frontline of family violence call for greater whole-of-church response Australia’s largest Catholic social service agencies want more advocacy, education, and collaboration within the institutional Church to improve the response to the scourge of family violence, a new report has found.
Caritas Australia, Catholic Social Services Australia, and Catholic Health Australia worked with experts at Australian Catholic University to study their unique contribution to the prevention of and response to family violence. It is the first time these Church agencies have investigated the response to family violence by their partners and members in Australia and overseas. A report into the study reveals the overwhelming pressure being felt by Catholic social service agencies responding to family violence crises in Australia, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.
“These agencies are calling for a whole-of-church approach to put an end to family violence.”
From Martin Teulan, Executive Director of AMPJP: “my question would be, does the Catholic Church have a truly whole-of-church approach to any contemporary needs, within the Church or in the Australian community? And with this important start by some key Catholic agencies, and by some dioceses, might domestic violence be a great need to address together?”
Photo: Sydney Sims, Unsplash.
