Opening the door on violence in the home

Once considered a private matter between a husband and wife and not a criminal issue, more and more victims of domestic violence are seeking out counselling and legal support services.

South Coastal Women's Health Services chief executive Bev Jowle said the change in the national conversation about domestic violence had led to a significant increase in the number of women reaching out for help after experiencing violence at home.

Bev said the public profile of domestic violence presented new challenges for the Rockingham-based organisation, which had about 30 to 40 women on the waiting list to access services.

"Domestic violence concerns us the most at the moment. We're anxious the rise of its profile means a rise in cases, but we don't have the ability to get to them all," she said.

Straight-talking Bev also isn't afraid of bringing the issue into Rockingham and the wider community's attention and advocate for change.

She wants domestic violence to stop and believes honest conversations about the complexities of the issue are a good place to start.

"We can continue our services, but really we'd like to see domestic violence stop," she said.

"We can't stop violence against women as a whole but we can certainly contribute to the debate, and we could start by saying, as a community, this is something we need to stop.

"The line that we hold here is that gendered violence is different. The men who beat their wives at home don't go to work and beat up their workmates or mates at the pub."

The South Coastal Women's Health Services has been operating for about 23 years, providing clinical, counselling, antenatal and postnatal, maternal, child health and referral services for thousands of women in the region.

It also provides Aboriginal health services through Babbingur Mia and recently rented a house in Baldivis to provide family and child services in the fast-growing suburb.

The not-for-profit, or "organisation for purpose" as Bev prefers, prides itself on being a safe space for women - particularly those facing domestic violence - and is at the coalface of the issue.

Bev credits family violence campaigner Rosie Batty and her recognition as Australian of the Year for putting domestic violence on Australia's agenda.

Counting the Dead Women Australia researchers have also been tracking the number of women killed by violence this year and, so far, 47 Australian women have lost their lives, many of which were killed by their partner or ex-partner.

"The media reporting has become much more unbiased but the thing which frustrates a lot of us who work in this sector is we've been saying the same things (as Batty) about domestic violence for a long time," she said.

"Men are also starting to talk about it, (television's) Waleed Aly and Charlie Pickering are coming out to support the issue, and that's great because they are the voices of young men and young men listen to them."