He drove me mad
The producer
Debbie Hager has worked extensively in mental health and health promotion for over 15 years. Her roles have stretched from Manager and Outreach Educator for the NZ Prostitutes Collective through to Lecturer and course co-ordinator at Auckland University's School of Population Health.
Her research and work is well recognised and she is often called on to run seminars and present at conferences in New Zealand and Australia. As Founder and Chair of the Homeworks Trust, Debbie has worked tirelessly to establish housing and specialised refuge services for women who are unable to access mainstream services.
Debbie lives in Titirangi, Auckland with her “very practical” sculpture/painter partner and a Waimarana dog called Pipi. She relaxes in her garden, in the bush, at the beach and by tramping and swimming – “anywhere that there’s water to swim in!”
The project
Debbie’s media grant project was a 25-minute film resource about domestic violence called He drove me mad. It's a revealing look at how women are denied access to domestic violence services because of mental illness and substance abuse problems - women who are literally ‘driven mad’ by the domestic abuse they experience.
It was completed on a shoestring budget, with much passion and support from all involved.
The DVD training resource was designed to help police, health and social service organisations to recognise this particular group of women and how to support them.
Many people in front-line jobs encounter women who have mental illness/substance abuse problems that are the result of domestic violence. Usually, however, they will not be aware of what's going on behind a woman's 'difficult' behaviour or will feel ill equipped to deal with the multiple problems she presents with.
Debbie says the project grew from the awful situations some women find themselves in. “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.”
The Homework 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.
So, each dramatised story on the DVD was guided by the real-life personal experiences of women who had been ‘driven mad’ by domestic violence. 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.
The training resource exemplifies how unconsidered responses can have a negative effect when women attempt to explain their situation and find help. 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.
Debbie’s resource aims 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.
She says, “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”.
A rarely acknowledged issue that is overdue for discussion, this DVD highlights the issue that domestic abuse can be a cause of mental illness rather than as a result. It also helps raise awareness about the unnecessary stigma and discrimination that some women face when they seek help for themselves and their families
The DVD is accompanied by a booklet, a teaching resource and a website: www.hedrovememad.com with an online support group for women who feel they have been ‘driven mad’ by domestic violence.
Debbie is currently concentrating on promoting the resource and the issue and advocating for some action to provide services for these women.
If you are interested in getting a copy of this DVD resource or talking to Debbie about a possible workshop, seminar or presentation on this issue, she can be contacted through the media grants programme, email: info "at" mediagrants.org.nz or directly on email: debbie.neil "at" paradise.net.nz
Audio
One in Five interview by Mike Gourley
Visual
Articles
Te Awatea Review (article on page 7)
Websites
Homeworks Trust: For more information about domestic violence and mental illness/substance abuse and homelessness
He drove me mad
