Ruby Gaea has been operating as a women and children’s counselling and information service since mid 1987.
However, the history of the service dates back to the early 1980’s. The establishment of Ruby Gaea House sits firmly within the movement of feminist rape crisis centres set up around the world in the 1970’s.
Darwin’s small but active women’s community was aware of the need for rape crisis services throughout the NT. In 1984 a group of women started meeting regularly to work toward such a service. In October 1984 a public meeting was held that demonstrated widespread community support for sexual assault services. An action group was formed to write a submission for funds to establish a community based non-clinical rape counselling and support service for women and children.
The Federal government indicated its support for this type of centre and encouraged the women to apply for SAAP funding. In February the following year,1985, it was clear that the NT government was not going to fund such a service. This was despite widespread community support, lots of media attention and supportive statements by various NT politicians. While work on applications for funding continued, other work was also underway. A small grant from Darwin City Council enabled a group member to attend the Inaugural Rape Crisis Centres Conference in Adelaide in February 1985.
A public forum was held in March 1985 for a Conference report back and information session. The next day our Conference delegate was contacted by the Federal government and invited to apply for a small grant to enable the group to prepare a comprehensive submission for funding of a rape crisis centre.
It took sometime to establish officially but Ruby Gaea became incorporated as an Association in the NT as the Darwin Community Rape Counselling Group. Funding was approved and initial payment was made to Darwin Community Rape Counselling Group in March 1987. The official name changed to Ruby Gaea Darwin Centre Against Rape occurred in July 1988, but the centre became known as Ruby Gaea House soon after it started operation in 1987. Further more Ruby Gaea’s name was officially changed again to Ruby Gaea Darwin Centre Against Sexual Violence in 2016.
Ruby has grown over the years and also gotten smaller again, such is the nature of small NGO’s. Ruby continues to be a women’s specialist service and currently has one fulltime counsellor, one fulltime coordinator, one part time administration officer and one part time community educator.
A world free of sexual violence.
Within a feminist framework, enable the full potential of women and children who are survivors of sexual violence by providing counselling, information and support, and to challenge the attitudes and myths that perpetuate sexual violence in our community by providing education and training.
In 3 girls & 1 in 5 boys will experience sexual assault by the time they are 15!
An act of child abuse occurs in Australia every NINE minutes.
Over one .5 million adult Australian women have reported experiencing sexual assault.
In the NT, sexual assault is defined as sexual intercourse without consent. While the legislation is clear as to how sexual assault can be defined by police, lawyers and courts of law at Ruby Gaea, we also consider unwanted touching & unwanted attention to be sexual assault.
To work towards an informed community of critically aware citizens who all share responsibility for sexual assault prevention.
By providing primary prevention programs to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills in participants to reduce sexual assault, promote
The Ruby Gaea community education team provides Sexual Assault Prevention Education (SAPE) to a wide range of audiences including:high school students, educators, nurses, health workers, police, and generalist counsellors to name a few.
Our presentations and workshops are tailored to our group and can cover diverse topics such as: consent, sexual assault terminology, myths and facts, gender norms, perpetrator tactics, long term effects, workplace best practice and more. Please contact our education team today to book in for a FREE Presentation or Workshop for your School, Community Organisation or Workplace
Ruby Gaea acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands. We pay respect to Elders, past and present and acknowledge the ongoing connection that Aboriginal people have to this land and recognise Aboriginal people as the original custodians of this land.
