A WIMMERA woman’s traumatising experience of family violence and the nervousness of the court hearings that followed paints a very clear – and very real – picture of an issue facing our entire society.
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The woman has joined a campaign calling on vital safety upgrades, particularly to Horsham court.
After “putting up” with family violence for 20 years, the woman took a stand – but while waiting to face the magistrate to put an intervention order in place, the woman was forced to sit near her perpetrator.
“I was shaking mess. It’s extremely hard,” she told the Mail-Times this week.
“We were only two or three metres away from each other. There is no privacy while sitting there waiting.”
No section of the community is immune to family violence. It affects all demographics and all cultures. It affects women and girls in many ways – not always physically, but it’s always about power and control.
The pages of this newspaper all too regularly detail the many cases appearing before judges and in our local courtrooms – incidents which occur not only behind closed doors but in our public places.
Crime Statistics Agency data shows reports of family violence in Horsham are the sixth highest in the state. Officers responded to 521 calls for help in Horsham alone during 2016.
While it could be argued the rise in reports might be attributed to people’s greater willingness to report family violence, there are those who say the high rate statistics could be due to action.
“People are far more likely to contact police if things are getting done and a lot more people are being held accountable,” Grampians Community Health’s Alistair Baker said.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has previously said the scale of family violence is epidemic. Premier Daniel Andrews says the abuse victims endure is “private” terrorism.
This is not a women's issue; it is not a men's issue. It is a whole of society issue.
White Ribbon Day is one way our community draws attention and vows to take a stand against family violence. But change requires more than a signature. It is more than wearing a ribbon; it’s more than words.
To say we have the power to influence change sounds simplistic, but the reality is violence is preventable. We must ensure that message is at the forefront – every single day.
Jessica Grimble, editor