“ONE in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence perpetrated by someone known to them”.
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It is a sobering statement and one that is easily found on the White Ribbon website and backed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It was that revelation, along with the testimony of survivors at the White Ribbon Day breakfast recently, that had Newcastle High school captain, Zack Aislabie, 17, approach Port Stephens Police Commander Chris Craner in a bid to do more.
“Zack came up to me after the breakfast and and basically said ‘I had no idea this was happening on this scale’ Superintendent Craner said.
Since then, Zack has been in contact with Supt Craner, working to bring educational programs that help students identify abuse and create respectful healthy relationships to his school.
“I’ve had a really sheltered life and when I heard the statistics I was really shocked. You hear about it in the news but you don’t realise it’s happening,” he said.
“People think that youth today are disengaged … but I think it’s just that we don’t see [the effects of domestic violence].
“If we start by bringing the information to them I know they’ll get engaged and go ‘what can we do?’.”
It is a push that has been welcomed by principal Nathan Towney, who was a White Ribbon ambassador in 2015. Mr Towney’s sister was a victim of domestic violence and suicided in 2003.
“It fits perfectly with our school’s core values which are respect, responsibility and participation,” he said.
“Obviously I don’t want to see any student in a situation where there’s an imbalance of power.”
The move to bring education on domestic violence and changes in attitudes to a younger audience is something that Port Stephens police officers Bronwyn Leary and Leanne Mann are all too familiar with. Senior constable Leary, a Domestic Violence Liaison Officer and senior constable Mann, a Youth Liaison Officer work with schools and external agencies to deliver the Love Bites program to schools across Port Stephens.
Love Bites is a domestic, family violence and sexual assault prevention program for children aged between 12 to 17 years. It aims to open discussion around domestic and family violence in a safe and supported environment and help children to identify what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like.
“It encourages gender respect,” said senior constable Mann.
“No one enters a relations ship at an abusive or crisis point, added senior constable Leary.
“It’s a cycle and if we can get it so that people like Zack [with his attitude] are in the majority, then things will change.”
