As Father’s Day approached on September 1, we were excited to announce that Stopping Family Violence’s Chief Executive Officer Damian Green had been collaborating with White Ribbon to create a series of endearing and honest videos entitled: ‘Let’s Talk About What it Means to be a Father’.

White Ribbon Ambassador Damian had worked closely on this project through the White Ribbon Fatherhood Project Reference Group and has helped shape the series and offered expert guidance along the way.

Damian said it was a crucial part of the work of SFV to reframe the ideas around masculinity and understanding that being a good dad also means being a good partner.

“Being an involved partner and a good dad is a good thing for men and most guys in men’s behaviour change programs do want to be a good dad. It shakes those foundations when they understand what they do to their partner also affects their children,” he said.

Read the full article here.

“Tonight, we want you to walk out of this women’s self-defence class, feeling empowered, having tapped into your fighting spirit,” Ron Amram, Co-Director of Combat Arts Institute of Australia (CAIA) said as he begun the class with seven women at the dojo in Leederville one cold night.    

Ron said it was important to acknowledge that the class was not a fitness class, and women should not have to run a marathon to be able to defend themselves.

“Women live in a constant state of fear – is someone following them, are they safe at night, are they wearing the right clothes – nobody should have to live like that; it’s just not fair. I have a 14-month-old daughter and I want her to grow up without that fear,” he said.

Ron said the self-defence class focused around Adrenal Stress Scenario Training (ASST) and tapped into the ‘fight or flight’ reflex.

“Fight or flight is good because it prepares your body for a fight, but it can also be very bad, as you can completely shut down in a stressful situation,” he said.

“The goal for the class is to get the women stressed and teach them how to react.”

According to findings from the Department of Communities’ ‘Key Issues for WA Women’, 28% of WA women avoided walking alone after dark in the last 12 months because they felt unsafe.

Read the full article here.

WA’s tenancy and residential parks laws have now changed to support victims of family and domestic violence (FDV) and help them to leave abusive relationships.

Key changes enable victims of FDV to: exit a tenancy with seven (7) days’ notice without going to court, remove a perpetrator from a lease by applying to the courts, change locks or increase security, handle disputes about property damage or unpaid rent, and have their name removed from a tenancy database blacklist.

More information 

Updates to the bill

“If I can say one thing to a teenage girl it would be this: in your first relationship, your heart might get broken, but staying in a bad relationship will damage your soul, deep down inside you, and it takes a lot longer to recover from that, than a broken heart,” domestic violence advocate and survivor Sheree Neto said.

Sheree is no stranger to the world of Family and Domestic Violence (FDV), and after growing up in a home fuelled with violence, pain and anger, the young girl feared for not only her life, but her future as she learnt how to protect her mother and her siblings.

She said she had to grow up very quickly and before she knew it, she had lost her childhood.

Sheree said she wanted to empower young women to learn how to value themselves, be a good friend and to know their worth.

Starting the ‘teen talk’ group through her Facebook page (a safe space for teen girls to talk about relationships), this idea launched into her ‘teen table talk’ workshops, expanding on an open environment for teen girls to share their problems, and support one another through their struggles.

Read the full article here.

Together with Starick, YMCA WA Base Belmont and Constable Care Child Safety Foundation, on 7th August, we watched the Theatrical Response Group’s insightful production ‘Control Freak’ which focused on controlling and abusive relationships.

This immersive theatrical production gave 15 young people of mixed ages and genders, the opportunity to be a part of the show as the actors prompted questions and engaged the young people in conversations about how the characters may be feeling and if they have ever been in a similar situation personally.

Actor Louis Spencer said he was very concerned about the Domestic Violence statistics in Australia and it was such a big issue to talk about with young people.

“Many DV situations are ingrained from a young age and for young people seeing these things, it’s become normal behaviour and that is unacceptable,” he said.

“The difference in this type of theatre is that the young people are presented with a scenario where DV is happening and they have an opportunity to pause the scene and replay it differently by walking through it and talking about ways the characters could interact in a healthier way.”  

To read the full article click here.

Our Operations Manager Mark was down in Mandurah on 22 August, delivering an overview of Stopping Family Violence and the work we do in the Men's Behaviour Change space. Thank you Alcoa for having us! 

It was a great opportunity to discuss FDV with professionals in the sector, network and build relationships as we work together as a community to end DV for good. Thanks to Allambee Counselling, White Ribbon and Peel Says No to Violence for some fantastic and insightful conversations.

Our CEO Damian Green was in the ACT recently speaking on a Perpetrator Intervention Forum. He spoke about the impact of violence on children who witnessed it.

"We need to build systems that enable us to intervene earlier and prevent the behaviours happening in the first place. We have the tools to do it, it's just not being done."

Damian said, why men and why intervene?

"Because a man who uses violence in his intimate and family relationships will potentially harm and damage the lives of up to three families - three partners, and maybe ten children. Not to mention his own. We need him to stop using abuse, be accountable for his behaviour, potentially address his own trauma, and build emotionally secure and safe loving relationships," he said.

The forum heard that an early evaluation from the work going on in Victoria, which is aiming to implement 227 recommendations from their Royal Commission into family violence, found that accountability with a trauma-informed approach was one of six key findings to addressing perpetrator behaviour. The others were trusting relationships, family safety contact, using both individual and group work, holistic intervention and tailoring services to individual needs.
 

Our CEO Damian Green presented on FDV at Peel Community Legal Services on 7 August to a group of 30 participants from various agencies including Pat Thomas House Womens Refuge, Calvary Youth Services Mandurah, Allambee Counselling, Peel Multicultural Association Inc, Finucare Financial Counselling, Western Australia Police Force, Peel Says No to Violence, Anglicare WA, Palmerston Association and Relationships Australia WA. Everyone was very engaged and interested in change and how that might come about. We had a great opportunity to have an in-depth discussion on FDV prevention and the community.

Our CEO Damian Green met with Minister Simone McGurk MLA and CEO of Lotterywest Susan Hunt at the WA Peaks Forum on 2 July to present WACOSS with a grant to continue the Peaks Capacity Building grants for the next two years. The grants provide an excellent opportunity for sector development to undertake small, but high impact projects to help develop sector and cross-sector projects. Damian said it was fantastic to hear about some of the work that has been possible over the past two years.

"It was great to meet with the WA Peaks, and we look forward to seeing the impact in the sector of this next round of grants," he said.

On Wednesday 28 August, our Operations Manager Mark O’Hare joined the staff from Orana House refuge as they embarked on a Family and Domestic Violence one-day special training event based around the Safe and Together framework in the tranquil Whiteman Park.

Stepping outside of the office, the women came together as a united front and learnt from an organisational perspective, how best to support victims of domestic violence and shift accountability back to the perpetrator. 

Read the full story here.