Whittlesea CALD Communities Family Violence Research Report 2012 | Page 41

40 Whether as a result of these factors or not it was noted that a marked difference in the way that CALD as opposed to non-CALD clients accessed services was that non-CALD clients were more likely to access services at the point at which they had made the decision to leave the relationship whereas CALD clients were more likely to access services with some hope that they could save the relationship. Another fear for CALD women is what would happen to their children if they separated from their partner. Service providers found that this often weighs very heavily on women’s minds, particularly if they come from a cultural background where the father traditionally takes sole custody of the children if the couple separate. It was highlighted that women often hold fears that their children will be removed from Australia by their ex-partner post-separation. Service providers pointed out that these fears are not necessarily unjustified with a partner or ex-partner with family, friends or connections overseas often having greater means and motive to take children from Australia back to their country of origin. For Australian born women this scenario is a much more remote possibility. Engaging with CALD communities Service providers were asked whether they encountered difficulties engaging with people from CALD backgrounds and whether there were any particular measures or practices their agencies adopted to facilitate access by people from CALD backgrounds. The majority of workers said that they did not generally find it more difficult to engage with clients from CALD backgrounds although there was a general perception CALD women may be less forthcoming about their experiences of family violence and it may be harder for service providers to build trust with these women and convince them to open up and discuss family violence. As has been discussed previously, given the limited statistical data available, there is no way of verifying whether this perception amongst service providers is reflected in the number of CALD clients accessing their service. Service providers who delivered group work for CALD women or men said that engaging people from CALD backgrounds in group work presents specific challenges arising from language barriers. Some service providers had attempted to a ???????????????????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????e???????????????????????I????????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????????? 1???????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????? 1?????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????M????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????? 1???????????????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q?????????)???????????????????????????????????????????????????? 1???????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)%?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 1????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??????????????5??????????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????((0