Say No to Domestic Violence
BPW Australia Stop Violence
Each November BPW has a special focus on stopping violence against women and children, or better still, preventing violence altogether. This is driven by November 25th, White Ribbon Day, a campaign that encourages men to wear white ribbons, making their stand to stop violence against women.
BPW South Australia created an information and resource package for this campaign.
Most important is the guide on how to run sessions on this topic with sensitivity, written by Yvonne Todd, BPW Australia Immediate Past Director Policy. In this, Yvonne stresses the importance of allowing time in the session for women to talk and discuss the issue and sometimes to share their stories.
Other resources include:
- “What is Domestic Violence (DV)” – an extract from the SA Domestic Violence Information Booklet. All States and Territories should have a similar booklet and it will include resources for women in your state/territory. The more women there are in the community with an understanding of DV and knowledge of resources, the more women and children will be protected. You should be able to get the resource booklet from your Domestic Violence or Women’s Information Service or from Community Health Services. One of the most important things women can do for other women is understand, not be afraid for women to talk with you about their experiences, listen and have info on support services.
- Recent Australian policy initiatives written by our National Policy Director Sandy Cooke. With one in three Australian women reporting the experience of domestic violence at some point in their life it is impossible to put too great an emphasis on the importance of these policies.
- How to organise a White Ribbon Breakfast, written by Gillian Lewis, Immediate Past President, BPW SA, provides an excellent practical guide on how to make a real difference through action.
- The global view: UN WHO Violence Prevention Alliance provides a summary of the issues and more importantly a way forward to prevent interpersonal violence. At this stage despite being a member of the WHO, Australia does not report on this issue to the WHO and has not adopted the recommendations of the WHO resolution WHA 49.25.
- The Daffodil Principle is a beautiful story of how to overcome what can seem to be insurmountable odds by doing a little bit at a time.
Vivien Hazel
Coordinator, BPW Stopping Violence/Violence Prevention Resource Group
BPW Australia