Please help this beautiful mother and daughter

Hi my name is Elizabeth Haines and I am fundraising for my dear friend *Jane and her daughter *Maude. I have changed their names here to protect them for reasons which will be apparent below.

Summary of Situation

I have been asked to provide a summary at the start for those of you who want to make a gift but have limited time to read Jane's full story.

Jane has escaped family violence but is still bearing the effects of an appalling act of coercive control by her ex-husband. For reasons outlined below Jane must achieve sole parent custody in order to be able to make important decisions and care properly for her daughter, particularly in relation to her daughter accessing medical and therapeutic care here in Australia. Jane's ex-husband lives overseas and has not returned. Jane has paid for ALL her legal fees until this point, but now at the point of her final hearing her funds are exhausted and she needs her community to help her protect herself and her daughter.

Jane's solicitors are providing their services pro bono, but she must pay for her barrister to represent her in court. The barrister's fees are $16000. Jane needs to have paid this by 31st October 2022. All and any help is urgently needed and deeply appreciated.

The Full Story

Many of you know my friend Jane, but for those who don't, you know me and I can tell you that she is a remarkable, strong, intelligent, brave, kind and resourceful woman. She is also a devoted single parent, friend, family and community member.

Jane lives in South Melbourne with her daughter and their cat. Jane completed her PhD in Melbourne last year after studying and working in Australia for several years. Jane hails from the Middle East and has been here in Australia on a student visa while completing her studies.

Unfortunately, Jane and her daughter are also survivors of family violence at the hands of Jane’s ex-husband, with whom they were previously living in Melbourne. Fortunately, Jane escaped the family violence and has secured safe housing for her and her daughter for the last nearly three years. Jane’s now ex-husband has since returned to his country of origin.

Upon completion of Jane’s PhD, Jane and her daughter were eligible to gain permanent residency in Australia. However, despite wanting to make her life here in Australia, Jane has been prevented from applying for permanent residency because her ex-husband has refused to co-sign to renew their daughter's expired passport in yet another terrible act of coercive control. As a result, Jane has not been able to apply for permanent residency because her daughter did not have a current passport on which to have an Australian visa issued. Instead, Jane and her daughter have been forced to apply for a humanitarian visa to stay in Australia.

Since escaping family violence, Jane has been awarded temporary sole parental custody in the Australian courts. In addition the Australian court has also ordered an IVO (intervention order) be put in place to protect Jane from her ex-husband for at least the next two years.

Jane is a highly skilled, experienced and creative woman with a strong career history and a bright future in her chosen field, however since being forced to apply for a humanitarian visa, she has had to comply with very difficult ‘bridging’ visa conditions while her application is being assessed including:

1. Being prohibited from working at all for the first six months of the bridging visa

2. after then only being able to access temporary and casual work

3. Being ineligible to access any form of social support or safety net such as Centrelink to address her inability to earn money to live

Jane has been in this situation for almost a full year now and it has been absolutely financially crushing. The indications from her visa process are that Jane is getting close to the end of her visa application process, which is wonderful, but it is a slow and complicated process and may still take months.

Additionally, Jane’s beautiful daughter has special needs which includes challenging behaviours. Throughout the past year, Jane has been supporting her daughter completely on her own and without the critical therapeutic support her daughter needs because she simply cannot afford to pay for it.

Until now Jane has paid for ALL the legal fees involved in protecting herself and her daughter and in seeking sole custody of her daughter through the Australian courts.

Now, the custody hearing process has reached the final hearing stage, which is expected to be a four-day process. Jane’s solicitors are representing her on a pro bono basis, however for the hearing she is required to also have a barrister, who requires AUD$16,000 to represent Jane and her daughter in court.

Jane is an incredible woman who has done EVERYTHING in her power to protect herself and her daughter and earn her right to be a contributing member of Australian society. She needs our help now to take this critical last step.

For those of you who need more context on why Jane is seeking sole parental responsibility:

· Her ex-husband has resided overseas for a few years now and, to Jane’s knowledge, has not returned to Australia since leaving.

· There is a current, long term IVO in place due to the family violence perpetrated by Jane’s ex-husband.

· Jane intends to continue residing in Australia with her daughter permanently. Her daughter has spent most of her life in Australia, her friends are in Australia, she attends school in Australia, and her medical treatment and therapy has been facilitated in Australia. Significant long-term decisions regarding schooling, medical treatment need to be made around for daughter’s wellbeing. Due to a pattern of family violence which includes coercive control behaviours, the involvement of her ex-husband would make these decisions practically impossible to implement.

How Can You Help?

This GoFundMe fundraiser is to support Jane in her fight to protect herself and her daughter in the Australian court, at this final point in the court process, at a time when she is prevented from being able to pay for herself due to the work/financial constraints of her current visa.

My request to you my dear friends, family and other compassionate hearted humans is to make a contribution to the extent that you are able, in support of Jane and her daughter for the follow purposes:

Urgency

There is significant urgency around this request because there is only 3 weeks to raise the funds to pay the barrister’s fee. The deadline to complete the payment is in early November 2022.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Whilst we are very keen to share this fundraiser to support my friend at this time of great need, maintaining Jane and her daughter’s privacy remains paramount. Like many survivors of family violence, their wellbeing is at risk if their personal circumstances are made public. Hence the changed names and stock image photo.

I am praying that you and your loved ones in your immediate networks can assist my lovely friend Jane and her beautiful daughter. She truly deserves to feel what it is to be supported by a community of good-hearted humans.

With love

Elizabeth

*Names have been changed to maintain the safety of Jane and her daughter