November 2003

Young people say no to family violence

Women’s Health West has marked the Statewide annual Week Without Violence with an event for young people in the City Square and the launch of the most comprehensive compilation of family violence data ever produced for the Western Region.

Young people—who were the theme of this year’s Week Without Violence—joined graffiti artists, DJs and hip-hop dancers to speak out against domestic and family violence at the Say It Loud gig.

They also wrote in a Sorrow, Anger, Hopes and Dreams book about their feelings about violence and received a showbag of information about youth and family violence support services.

‘Graffiti art, music and dance are young people’s forms of expression,’ said event organiser Kate Murray.

Ms Murray works for Women’s Health West as Coordinator of the Western Region Network Against Family Violence.

The Network organised Say It Loud with youth workers from across the Western Region.

‘Say It Loud provided a positive, youth-centred space for young people to break the silence about domestic and family violence and to express their hopes for a violence-free world,’ said Ms Murray.

‘Our central messages are violence is a crime and it’s okay to talk about it.

‘If someone is hurting you, you’re not alone—there are services that can help, and life can be so much better,’ Ms Murray said.

The Department of Human Services Western Metropolitan Region’s Terry Snedden and activist and family violence survivor Judith Arnott launched the Measuring the Tides report.

Ms Arnott’s personal story is contained in Measuring the Tides.

‘Family violence is a blight on our community,’ Mr Snedden said.

‘This kind of data is essential for us to plan, target and evaluate services.’

Ms Arnott said she would continue to speak out against family violence.

The report was produced by Women’s Health West and the Western Region Network Against Family Violence.

It draws on data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics, the police, courts, crisis and other services.

It paints a detailed picture of the extent, nature and unique characteristics of family violence in the Western Region.

‘Comprehensive, up-to-date data is an essential tool for raising public awareness, improving services coordination and advocating for better services,’ said Women’s Health West Chief Executive Officer Melissa Afentoulis.

Measuring the Tides highlights a number of emerging issues:

• Despite 30 years of work against family violence, rates of men assaulting their wives/partners and children have not decreased. According to police data, reports of family violence in the Western Region rose by 10.3 percent in 2000–2001.

• Pregnant women are at higher risk of increased levels of violence by their male partners;

• Children whose mothers are hurt by their male partner are also victims of violence, whether through direct assault or the trauma of witnessing assaults on their mother;

• Anecdotal evidence from crisis workers shows that men who use violence are increasingly using weapons such as knives;

• Anecdotal evidence also reveals that men’s violence is becoming more severe and is occurring more in public spaces, in front of witnesses other than the children.

• Women and children victims whose first language is not English are disadvantaged because language and cultural barriers make it difficult to access services, they do not know their rights, are unwilling to report incidents to police and sometimes are afraid of being shamed in often small, close-knit communities.

‘We know from ABS data that 80 percent of women who experience some form of violence do not report it to the police,’ said Ms Afentoulis.

• Copies of Measuring the Tides are $10 each from Women’s Health West on 9689 9588. The report will be available at www.whwest.org.au by January.