Rotary Melbourne supports Rotary SAFE Families during the United Nations 16 Days of Activism and Gender-Based Violence which alerts communities around the globe in the prevention of violence against women and children.
Rotary Melbourne is in partnership with Rotary Hawthorn on the Rotary SAFE Families Inclusive Communities Initiative and our District Governor Ron Payne is promoting to all Club Presidents and Secretaries in District 9800 that they this week alert Club members to the Rotary SAFE Families and Inclusive Communities Initiative campaigns.
DG Ron has suggested that Rotary Clubs publicise and view at least one of our six films whilst highlighting the importance of awareness in how to prevent family abuse, to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
The 16 Days of Activism has generated articles in the Australian media. The following is a summary of an article written early last week by Rosie Batty that appeared in ‘The Age.’
‘This is exhausting’: Batty, calls for more action on family violence ‘The Age,’ Rachel Clun and Olivia Ireland. November 28, 2023
Summary points only:
“Nearly 10 years after her son Luke was killed by his father, Rosie Batty says it can feel like little has changed, with reports of women and children being murdered by their husbands, partners and fathers regularly in the media.
“When I sit in front of the news and I see there’s another fatality … I don’t think anything’s changing,” the former Australian of the Year said.”
“I’ve been standing up in front of the Australian public for nearly 10 years: this is exhausting, it is overwhelming, and it is disheartening. When I first lost Luke, I didn’t realise how difficult and how long change would take.”
But she still believes ending violence against women and children is possible.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also revealed he’d had his own experience with family violence in response to questions from the independents on the issue.
Albanese promises new policies for women and campaign ‘step-up’
“I’m passionate about the issue of family and domestic violence and doing something about it because I know – I know the impact that it has. I have been there,” he said, without giving details about when in his life he had seen or experienced it.
Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel said 51 women had died this year as a result of intimate partner violence, and statistically another seven would be killed before Christmas.
“This, in my mind, is a national emergency,” Daniel said.
Albanese said he was proud of the work the government was doing and was determined to make a difference, but it was also a job for society at large.
“It is not just a matter of government, it is a matter of every bloke having a conversation at the pub, at the football, calling it out,” he said.
“Men have a responsibility, men are in a position to make a difference with their peers.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton supported Albanese’s comments.
“This is not an issue for point-scoring or political difference. The Australian public should hear there is no difference between either side, anybody in this chamber, in relation to this most serious issue,” he said.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said Australians were rightly shocked by the level of violence in the community and it remained a matter of urgency for the government.
“This violence has to end. And it’s why our government is committed to action and investment in this space,” she said.
Respect Victoria chair Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon said while data was important to detail the scale of the issue, focusing on prevention to ensure deaths did not happen was critical.
“We need a more concerted national commitment to preventing family homicide. We need to change the count,” she said.
Batty says there has been some progress, with conversations about violence against women and children now less stigmatised.
She said preventative campaigns would be crucial, as they had been for issues such as smoking or preventing skin cancer.
“I don’t talk in hope any more, I talk with a certainty: we are creating change right now,” Batty said.”
Yes, Abuse is Difficult to Talk About, But Feel the Fear, and Talk About it Anyway!
Peter Berg
Ambassador Rotary SAFE Families