Grassroots group delivers culturally safe services for female refugees

ABC NEWS (Australia)

With dozens of Palestinians finding refuge in Australia, there are fears some female refugees are slipping through the cracks, unable to access the support they need from a system that doesn't always understand them. One grassroots organisation in Perth is working to change that, delivering culturally safe and accessible services to those most vulnerable within their community.

Transcript

00:00Samar Maqdad once lived a fulfilling life in Gaza.

00:08I am a teacher, I have special education, I'm a teacher, I have worked in government

00:15ministry and I have a home, I have all my family, it's a good life.

00:21But two weeks after October the 7th, 2023, her home was bombed and her husband tragically

00:27killed.

00:28My son told me mom was in hospital and my father is dead.

00:38With support from her brother in Australia, the 45-year-old fled to Egypt with her four

00:41children before arriving in Perth last August, but like many refugees, she struggled to adjust.

00:47It's really so hard because it's so different, different place, different people, different

00:57language.

00:58That's when sisters hand in hand stepped in.

01:01What makes us different is our main goal is to help women to become self-sufficient.

01:06Your husband could die, you could be going through domestic violence, you could just be on Centrelink.

01:11But if you're self-sufficient, you're able to get yourself out of that situation and support

01:14your family.

01:15The volunteer-run group helping Ms. Mahdad turn her passion for candle making into a

01:19business.

01:20I'm making this business for my kids to have a job.

01:24Karan Halverson founded Sisters Hand in Hand a decade ago after noticing a lack of culturally

01:31safe support services for women in her community.

01:34But organisations like the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health say it's a national issue.

01:39I think a holistic approach is really something that we could do a lot better on a national

01:44level and one that really is supportive, delivered in the languages that migrants speak as well

01:53as delivered by people who are from those communities.

01:57It was those services that helped this mother escape a dangerous situation.

02:04They supported me financially, physically and they helped me with my court dates.

02:09When I couldn't take my child to court, they took care of my child.

02:13They spoke to the police on my behalf because of language issues and helped me with legal aid.

02:19Last year the not-for-profit went a step further, opening a culturally safe refuge that's already

02:23helped more than 20 women and their families.

02:26If I didn't come here, I don't even know where I would be, honestly.

02:29I'd probably run out of money to rent hotels and motels and stuff and probably be, because

02:35I didn't have a car at that time as well, so I'd probably be like on the streets with

02:40three kids.

02:41But it's struggling to keep up with growing demand.

02:44Some of them come with nothing on their backs, so it takes a lot financially to be able

02:48to keep a woman, pay the bills, so funding is a big thing for us.

02:52Anything that you need, they're always there.

02:56Almost become like a family.

02:58A new family Samar Makhdad is grateful to be a part of.

03:01What the team you need, they need to be able to be able to be a part of.

03:05What they need in the government is making their way more open for the streets.

03:10We know that the government is making a lot more open for a lot of people to be a part

03:13of.

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