A new online tool is aimed at helping women in unhealthy or unsafe relationships to free themselves.

Anyone aged between 16 and 50 is being asked to try I-DECIDE, the first Australian online interactive tool for supporting victims of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is at a shocking level in Australia, with recent stats showing it is the leading cause of death and injury in women under 45.

Close to two women are murdered by their current or former partner every week, while more than one million children are affected by domestic violence too.

Domestic violence accounts for 40 per cent of police time, the costs the national economy $13.6 billion per year.

I-DECIDE helps women self-inform, self-reflect and self-manage safety issues as well as connecting them to the relevant services for assistance.

“It allows women a safe, anonymous, private space to assess their relationship health, weigh up their priorities, and make an individualised plan of action for themselves and their children,” says Professor Kelsey Hegarty, a developer from Melbourne University.

“The website aims to support all women, whether they wish to stay, leave, or have already left an unhealthy relationship.

“Women who used the tool in preliminary testing responded very positively, saying it helped them gain perspective and feel more in control of their own and their children’s safety.

“They also perceived the website as an objective, unbiased resource that would not judge them,” she said.

Funded by the ARC, the I-DECIDE project builds on pilot trials of a safety ‘decision aid’ in the US, as well as extensive work with women and community groups in Australia including the Domestic Violence Resource Centre, SafeSteps Family Violence Response Centre, Berry Street Services and Drummond Street.