Despite some increased conversation and media highlights, domestic violence continues, and it seems, continues at an increasing rate, even if you allow for more reporting of incidents these days that skew the figures.
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But, despite the incredible profile domestic violence – and most commonly the abuse of women and children in the home, although men in fact are many of the silent victims – it is an issue many of us prefer to ignore, or at best, pretend it is someone else’s problem, someone else’s pain.
As White Ribbon Day yesterday displayed, more of us are speaking up and speaking out about the scourge of this social issue.
Around the north, the displays of consideration and care have been well documented. The degree of young men, particularly of school age and sporting prowess, now actively running with the White Ribbon, gives many hope that the times will change for the better.
Gunnedah stood up proud and proactive earlier this month when they attempted to break the Guinness World Record to have the most people with white umbrellas form the white ribbon, and, while they didn’t, no one counted it as a failure.
It still sent a pretty clear message, and a powerful one at that.
So, despite us talking about it more, and some outstanding work from those in violence prevention fields, violence towards women and girls continues at alarming rates.
Earlier this year, The Leader, through Australian Community Media, a division of Fairfax Media, and Our Watch united to highlight the importance of working across boundaries and borders to create awareness about the issue in the campaign End the Cycle.
This year’s Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, has built up a high profile speaking out about the unspeakably violent death of her 11-year-old son Luke at the hands of his father, and it’s added a special eloquence and poignancy to the domestic violence issue.
The ABC this week has produced another powerful anthem for our social stories.
This is a whole of society issue.
No section of the community is immune to this gender violence – it affects all demographics and cultures. It affects women and girls in many ways, not always physically – but always about power and control.
To say we have the power to change this sounds simplistic, but we do.
So today, rather than dismiss the issue as something that doesn’t happen in your world, acknowledge that it does – and find your feet.