The device empowering victims of domestic violence

“If she was going through a tough time, the stress almost left her body when she looked at the view,” Matthews said.

It’s where the friends raised their children after meeting at kindergarten.

It was a safe haven for Fraser, who was a victim of domestic violence.

“She was my person. We’d have the playdates and the beach dates and the highs and the lows,” Matthews told 9News.

Fraser had driven into the garage at her Phillip Island home after dropping her children at school when Basham ambushed her.

After years of abusing her, he then staged the killing as a suicide.

“At the time, it was profound to be honest,” said Paul Bruders, a former police officer who was in charge of the Bass Coast Shire Council at the time Fraser was murdered.

The tragedy galvanised a community that said “enough is enough”.

“The thing with Sam was, she was such a normal person. A professional, a mum, educated,” Bruders said.

“I think people thought if it happened to her it can happen to anyone.”

Five years after Fraser’s death, Matthews has turned her grief into purpose through Change for Sam, a charity in honour of her best friend.

Matthews has partnered with the Salvation Army to distribute personal safety devices to victims of domestic abuse in Victoria.

“Sadly we couldn’t save Sam, but we can help others,” Matthews said.

When it’s pressed, the device alerts a security company that can then listen in and send police if needed.

It also records whatever audio is heard, evidence that is admissible in court.

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“If she [Sam] had a personal safety device, things could have been very different,” Matthews said.

The alarms existed when Fraser was murdered but she didn’t know about them.

In Victoria, victims also need to be considered high risk to be given a device.

“To assess whether someone is high risk or low risk is a really difficult thing to do because Sam wasn’t considered a high risk yet, look what happened,” Matthews said.

“I knew something needed to be done,” Bruders said.

“When I started looking at the data of the police’s response to family violence, there were a lot of gaps.”

“It opened my eyes to what was going on or more importantly, what wasn’t being done,” he said.

Bruders has since joined the board of directors for Change for Sam, to help make the devices available to as many women as possible.

Previously if a victim wanted to buy a device outright, it would cost around $600 but under Change for Sam, they will be distributed for free.

The initiative will work like a loan library, where the devices are distributed and shared among victims when they’re needed.

“Someone could be in total fear after the first matter even before it’s been to court,” said Bruders.

“If they feel like they need one, they should have access to one straight away.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise money to purchase as many devices as possible:

“The more money we can raise, the more devices can be purchased, the more people we can save,” Matthews said.

For more information on the initiative, visit: www.changeforsam.com.au