General News
11 March, 2024
Tool to help create lasting local change
A new online portal is ensuring that critical information for victims of family violence is only a Google search away — with the platform’s launch coming after the Central Goldfields Shire recorded over 350 incidents last year. As part of its...
A new online portal is ensuring that critical information for victims of family violence is only a Google search away — with the platform’s launch coming after the Central Goldfields Shire recorded over 350 incidents last year.
As part of its decade long campaign, the Maryborough Rotary Club officially launched the sayNO2familyviolence website at an International Women’s Day event on March 8.
Designed for people experiencing domestic violence, as well as for those looking to provide support, the site is a collation of local resources — reiterating the message that community-centred help is readily available for all victims.
Prominent features of the page include details and contact information for organisations such as 1800RESPECT, MensLine, Lifeline, Kids Helpline and The Orange Door, as well as explainers outlining the different shapes family violence can take.
Not exclusively physical, abusive behaviour can also be sexual, psychological, emotional or financial in nature — and understanding its disparate forms can assist victims in gaining clarity, and help, around their circumstances.
There’s also a section covering frequently asked questions, such as concerns around securing emergency accommodation, access to support services, matters relating to financial aid, and queries about children or pets.
Establishing the site guaranteed that the issue remained front and centre in the public eye, according to Rotary’s Gary Higgins, who spearheaded the implementation of the sayNO2familyviolence campaign back in 2014.
“The bottom line is we’re showing up as a community that cares about this issue,” he said.
“It’s not acceptable and we want to give victims, mainly women, the opportunity to have access to information so they have the confidence to talk and feel safe.”
In line with the website, Rotary has also come up with a new way to spread awareness about the accessible platform.
“The challenges around family violence that we are confronting, are really ingrained so trying to change that has been a lot of work,” Mr Higgins said.
“But you’ve got to keep on doing it and so we have created these [information cards] and we hope that if we can get enough of these around the community, then people will get online, have a look at what’s available and make contact.”
When the initiative first got underway, 10 years ago, it aimed to get the community talking and now, a decade later, the goal is to action lasting change.
“There’s been a transition — starting a conversation was the first part, then we looked at creating awareness and then it was about bringing institutional change,” Mr Higgins said.
“[Our work] has made a difference. Along the journey, we’ve had some big wins.
“Now, it would be good in 10 years if we say that everybody in a relationship is safe. Whether that’s going to happen, [I don’t know] but we’ve got to keep chipping away at it until we get to that place.”
In the 2022-2023 period, the shire saw a 10.3 percent rise in family violence cases — recording a three year high of 374 incidents, according to estimates published by the Crime Statistics Agency.
Data indicates that the majority of these incidents relate to intimate partner violence experienced by 191 women in that period.
Overall, female victims accounted for 277 of the total number of recorded cases, whereas men were the victims in the remaining 97 incidents.
Addressing this divergence in statistics, the sayNO2familyviolence website aims to cater to those differing circumstances.
“It’s about recognising that everyone’s situations are individual,” Raelene Williams, the person behind the platform’s content, said.
“[Our] goal was to answer any questions that might be sitting in a person’s mind that’s stopping them from making a decision, and then giving them a number of options when they do make a decision.
“There’s another side to the website — the public facing side is really important but there’s also a members only part that other clubs or organisations can access if they want to undertake a similar project in their area, and want information around how to do that.”
For more information on the sayNO campaign and for any information or advice, head to sayno2familyviolence.com.au.
If you or a loved one are struggling, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue at 1300 224 636.
