Australia's other deadly pandemic ALONE. AFRAID. ABUSED.

Each week, one Australian woman is murdered at the hands of her current or former partner. Now, as families self-isolate and face unprecedented financial turmoil, domestic violence cases are set to spike. Alexandra Carlton visits a women’s shelter to find out what happens next

- Alexandra Carlton

On a misty March Monday, I pull my car into a quiet car park near the edge of a cliff near North Head in Manly, an affluent suburb in Sydney’s north. It’s early days in what would soon become our COVID-19 quarantine norm, so moving around and interacting in small groups is still condoned, but it’s unusually empty as the world begins to grapple with the enormity of the changes that will affect our lives.

It’s here that I’m to meet a representative from the Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter, so she can drive me to the secret suburban property that houses 10 Sydney women who are there because they have nowhere else to go. “I can’t give you an address or meet you there,” my contact explained over the phone earlier in the week. “You’ll have to arrive with me. Security is paramount.” I later learn that there have been one or two catastrophic breaches over the years. Once, a perpetrator found out that his wife had escaped to the shelter and hanged himself in a tree outside to get back at her. So the focus on safety and anonymity is unsurprising.