Rotary of Yass and Yass Police have issued an open invitation to the community: step up to speak out against domestic violence. Photo: Rotary Club of Yass.
“We won’t stand for domestic violence in our community, and we support survivors,” Yass Rotary President-Elect Mandy Carter says ahead of the second Say No to Domestic and Family Violence walk from Yass Police Station up Comur Street on Friday (6 December).
About 40 people joined the inaugural walk last year, and it is hoped this year’s attendance will swell to around 100.
Ms Carter is confident they’ll hit those numbers.
“We’re encouraging the whole community to support this and have approached local schools, parishes, businesses, sporting clubs and other service and charity organisations to attend. I’ve had so many tell me they’re joining us this year,” she says.
“Domestic violence is a whole-of-society issue, and it’s heartening to see that it matters to people.”
The Yass walk forms part of Rotary’s broader call to action, in which clubs across Australia, New Zealand and the South West Pacific partner with local government agencies, sporting groups, schools, other service clubs and community members to be the voice of innocent victims and survivors of domestic and family violence.
It was first sparked in 2018 by Rotarian Dave Harmon from the Rotary Club of Ballina-on-Richmond. After attending a funeral for a friend’s sister who was murdered by her partner in front of her three children, he was moved to action.
In November 2019, Mr Harmon galvanised the community to walk through the streets of Ballina to highlight the scourge of domestic violence in the community. Over 800 people attended.
Though staged as a peaceful spectacle, Ms Carter says it has the potential to make a meaningful impact.
“This is an upstream campaign, and we want the community to know that their presence will contribute to the visibility of our message,” she says.
“It’s all about raising awareness as a preventative measure, and by having schools and the youths of our communities involved, it’s also about education around this important issue.”
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports one in four women and one in 14 men have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner since the age of 15.
Ms Carter says Rotary are “the right people” to stage the Say No to Domestic and Family Violence walk.
“We’re a trusted organisation, we’re local, regional, national and international, and we’re a large organisation that can send a powerful message and hopefully come across some meaningful change,” she says.
The Say No to Domestic and Family Violence walk assembles at 10:15 am this Friday, 6 December, at the Yass Police Station front lawn. The walk will commence at 10:30 am and conclude with a barbecue at Coronation Park.
Original Article published by Dione David on Riotact.
Loading ...
