It’s not everyone who can persuade cops to clean their windows with a toothbrush – but Ranjna Patel is not an ordinary woman and this was not an ordinary house. She’d bought it with the idea of making it the third of her homes for domestic violence offenders.
A former P lab, it needed a comprehensive clean-up and her friends at the Counties Manukau Police were only too happy to lend a hand. They’ve been partners in Ranjna’s Gandhi Nivas project from the beginning.
The house sits at the bottom of a shingle driveway in Papakura, South Auckland, but the shingle was a concern as the noise of police cars driving down in the night to drop men off could wake the neighbours, so officers organised to have the driveway compacted to reduce noise.
They also cleaned the house and cleared the extensive garden, keen to help the woman who has contributed so much to their local community.
The troubled men who come to Ranjna’s Gandhi Nivas homes all have police safety orders issued against them, which require them to leave their family home for a few days as a response to low-level family violence. It’s an imposed “cooling off” period.
Before Gandhi Nivas appeared on the scene, these men often had nowhere to go. They’d sleep in their cars, drink and often return home, despite the orders – a disaster waiting to happen. Ranjna’s three properties have become a game changer for police and these men.
At the homes, they have a temporary bed for as long as they need, nutritious meals and, most importantly, the opportunity to talk to qualified counsellors at any time of the day or night.
Esta historia es de la edición February 2021 de Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 2021 de Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.