More of the Peel region's domestic violence organisations have spoken up about their vital services still available during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, the Mandurah Mail reported a steep increase in family and domestic violence cases in the Peel region so far this year.
According to figures from Legal Aid Western Australia, there were 72 cases of family and domestic violence in the Peel region in the month of January.
This jumped to 87 in February - a 21 per cent increase.
And the figures are only expected to spike further as the coronavirus reaches its peak in the coming weeks and months.
Last week, a number of key domestic violence organisations in the Peel region announced how they have adapted their services to meet both increased demand and government-imposed restrictions.
Local groups providing vital legal advice, support and crisis accommodation, including OVIS Community Services and Peel Community Legal Services, have changed the way they operate and deliver services to continue to assist clients.
Safe Woman, Safe Family have also announced that they are still open and able to provide a range of services to help women in the Shire of Murray in need.
We have definitely picked up more new clients in the last few weeks and...there is definitely going to more.
- Safe Woman, Safe Family co-founder Tanya Langford
The Pinjarra-based centre offers holistic services and therapies to heal and empower women whose lives have been impacted by the trauma of abuse and family violence.
Co-founder Tanya Langford said the service had already noticed an increase in cases of domestic violence amid lockdowns around the state, and expected the numbers to be even higher than statistics suggested.
"Statistics about domestic and family violence frustrate me because only a tiny tip of the iceberg of men and women contact anyone about the abuse," she said.
"The predominant majority don't call the police or contact Legal Aid - the groups that count these statistics - and many don't realise they are putting up with different kinds of abuse, and it's still the case that so many women are not speaking up.
"We have definitely picked up more new clients in the last few weeks and...there is definitely going to more."
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Ms Langford said the organisation had made a few changes, but were still open and available to women in need.
"We are still working as a drop-in centre so people can still pop in if they need to," she said.
"We are trying to support women over the phone or on Face Time as much as possible but the centre is also still open and we're adhering to all the new restrictions regarding hygiene and how many people you can have in the space.
"I am still delivering the trauma recovery group I run but I've changed it to do it in an online capacity now and we have some of our groups and classes online like yoga so we are still offering those aspects of stress management and self-care."
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Ms Langford said things were tough for the not-for-profit group, as was the case for many around Australia, but she had been humbled by the genorosity of the Murray and Mandurah community.
"I think a lot of volunteer organisations are struggling at the moment," she said.
"It's hard for an organisation that runs on volunteers because all my volunteers are at home self-isolating at the moment.
"I do really feel like the Peel region is collaborating well at this difficult time - I'm seeing and I'm feeling this collaboration and generosity.
"A group of local businesses have collaborated with Foodbank and they are doing a big pick-up of fresh fruit and vegetables and household essentials and they contacted us to be a part of that. We got our first delivery last week and we were able to share that with our client base, which is well over 100 women now."
For more information, or to get in contact with Safe Woman, Safe Family, visit the website or call 9507 5834.
