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Community facilities Health | December 16, 2015

Domestic Violence - Letter to the Editor

The 2015 Australian of the year, Rosie Batty recently addressed a special parliamentary sitting to draw attention to the tragedy of family violence in our community.

Her speech and that of several others highlighted that family violence has no boundaries and impacts everyone.

It was a privilege to be able to speak in response to Rosie Batty and the many other inspiring and brave women. I was proud to add my voice to the campaign to stamp out domestic violence and to show that domestic violence is never acceptable.

Local events associated with White Ribbon Day drew attention to the fact that silence is no longer acceptable. It was fabulous to see between 200 and 250 people attend the Wimmera White Ribbon Committee’s Walk Against Violence last month.

There are no women’s shelters and limited support services in the Lowan electorate. We need an increase in funding for additional services in regional Victoria so our local women can safely escape from violent relationships and move on with their lives.

Family violence can be physical, psychological, sexual or financial abuse and we need a stronger judicial system to manage people who have these intentions.

We need improved access to support services for men who recognise they have a problem and need help to break the cycle.

We can all make a difference to stamp out domestic violence. It is very important for people to speak up as staying silent makes you as guilty as the perpetrator.

My personal view, and that of The Nationals, is that we will do whatever we can to stamp out family violence in this state.

Emma Kealy

Member for Lowan