He Drove Me Mad DVD
MEDIA RELEASE
He drove me mad: recognising and supporting the silent issue of women ‘driven mad' by physical and psychological domestic abuse
27 November 2008
In a week where New Zealand has been focusing on the White Ribbon Day message of eliminating violence against women, Debbie Hager, Homeworks Trust chair, would like people to be aware of one aspect of violence against women that is not commonly discussed - women who are literally ‘driven mad' by the domestic abuse they experience.
Debbie has released a DVD training resource designed to help police, health and social service organisations to recognise this particular group of women and how to help them.
"The project grew from the awful situations some women find themselves in," Debbie says.
"They are unable to find a safe place for themselves and their children to stay, because refuges cannot offer places to women who appear to be (or who are) experiencing mental illness or have serious drug and alcohol problems as a result of the domestic violence in their lives."
Debbie says the Homeworks Trust wanted to find a way of engaging organisations that have the most contact with these women, and show them that what they see on the surface may be more complex than it appears.
"Each dramatised story on the DVD was guided by the real-life personal experiences of women who had been ‘driven mad' by domestic violence - which makes the resource quite ‘raw' in some places."
The training resource exemplifies how unconsidered responses can have a negative effect when women attempt to explain their situation and find help.
"In all the situations depicted, women found it difficult to get information, to find others who understood their predicament and to access services that respond in a constructive way," Debbie says.
"Often what they are trying to communicate is misunderstood or simply not believed and it is their husband or partner's version of events that is the one people listen to.
"We want to change that by raising awareness of these women's predicament and providing organisations with constructive responses that can potentially free women from lives of violence and abuse."
"We need to listen to these women's experiences, believe them and find a way of providing them with the help they so desperately need and have been so brave in asking for," she says.
The DVD was produced with a New Zealand Mental Health Media Grant and the support of the Ministry of Health's Like Minds, Like Mine programme and the Mental Health Foundation.
Darryl Bishop, Programme Leader for Like Minds, Like Mine says, "Debbie's research and work with women who experience domestic abuse is well-regarded and to be applauded. This DVD will help raise awareness about the unnecessary stigma and discrimination that some women face when they seek help for themselves and their families. It's a rarely acknowledged issue and one that is overdue for discussion."
Judi Clements, CEO Mental Health Foundation, which administers the grant, says they are pleased with the development of such an important resource.
"Domestic violence is a wide-spread issue and has been acknowledged by many campaigns - but with 120 reported cases of abuse each week in Auckland alone, we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
"This DVD training resource highlights the issue that domestic abuse can be a cause of mental illness rather than as a result, and the Mental Health Foundation supports any resource that helps women in that situation."
The resource is accompanied by a website: www.hedrovememad.com with an online support group for women who feel they have been ‘driven mad' by domestic violence.
Media enquiries
A backgrounder and additional contacts are available on request. Please phone Cate Hennessy on 021 687 426 or email her: cate "at" onceuponatime.co.nz
