Young women who are living on the streets or in unsafe situations in Adelaide are being taught self-protection skills in a ground-breaking new program being run by Mission Australia.

They are being taught how to minimise their risk of sexual assault, of getting caught up in criminal behaviour or of harming themselves. A major step in the Equip program is also to help encourage them to report sexual assault to police or other authorities – a process that many currently find very difficult.

To that end, SAPOL sergeant Jo Marelos, co-ordinator of the Holden Hill Drug Action Team will be addressing the Equip participants on Tuesday, May 16 at the Reynella Youth and Enterprise Centre.

Media are invited to attend at 11.45 am. Mission Australia’s course co-ordinator Cathy Elverd will also be available for interviews and photographs with some of the participants (although please note, some young women will prefer not to be photographed/identified).

“Many of the young women we work with are very vulnerable to sexual and physical assault,” said Leonie Karlsson, who initiated the Equip program and manages Mission Australia’s Hindmarsh Centre, Adelaide’s only overnight youth sobering-up unit and outreach program for homeless young people.

“Being homeless puts them in often risky situations and locations, many have drug and alcohol issues which add to their vulnerability, and they often suffer low self-esteem.”

Compounding that is the fact that few who have been sexually assaulted actually report it, either for fear of further victimisation and/or because many don’t feel comfortable with police or other legal authority.

“As a result, they can end up blaming themselves or feeling acute anger and distress, and that can lead to self-harm, lashing out, and other destructive behaviour,” Leonie says. “We want to help them learn coping behaviours that enable them to move forward.”

The Equip program is funded by the National Community Crime Prevention Programme, an Australian Government initiative. It will also be conducted later this year at other centres across Adelaide, to reach young women who are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless, or have become disengaged from their families, schools or communities.

Media interested in attending tomorrow’s photo opp are asked to please contact Chris Rann, Rann Communication, (08) 8211 7771, to make arrangements. Leonie Karlsson is also available for radio interviews.