Community & Business
20 March, 2022
Bring family and domestic violence into the light
DOMESTIC and family violence is a something that occurs behind closed doors.
BY SENIOR CONSTABLE ALEDA DAY
I cannot count the number of times I have heard that. But it is wrong. Domestic and family violence is something that affects the entire community. It often happens in the home, but the effects are far reaching within the community.
Let’s look at who it affects:
There are the people directly involved;
There are the children who are exposed to domestic and family violence;
There are other family members (brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers) who are affected;
There are the friends who are affected – both children’s friends and the adult friends;
There is the school who is affected by the children who attend who have been exposed to domestic and family violence;
There are the workplaces and work mates affected; and,
There are the emergency services workers who are affected when they attend incidents of domestic and family violence.
As you can see the number of people affected by one incident of domestic and family violence can be huge. That’s why it is important that we, as a community, stand up and say we will not tolerate it.
We will not silently condone it. We will not allow it to happen.
Let’s bring domestic and family violence into the light. Let’s expose it for what it is.
It’s an insidious crime that for too long has been hidden and accepted.
So, what can we do?
It may mean that we do not close the windows, turn the volume up on the television to drown out the arguments or noise happening next door.
It means that we do not turn away from the person who turns up to work with a black eye for the third time this month. It means that we recognise changes in our friend’s behaviour, from confident, outgoing persons to morose, withdrawn, unconfident people.
The first thing we can do is to report any suspected incidents of domestic and family violence occurring to the police. We do not have to get directly involved to help people.
Let’s get support and help to people suffering from domestic and family violence.
If you are suffering from domestic and family violence you are not alone, there is support available to help you.
There are ways to hold an off ender accountable for their actions. We can help you and we can help get you the support you need to come out the other side.
SERVICES
Tablelands Women’s Support Services: 4091 5100
Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service: 1300 909 250
DV Connect Women’s Line: 1800 811 811
DV Connect Men’s Line: 1800 600 636
Police / Ambulance: 000 Triple Zero
