Mitchell Shire Council is once again standing united alongside its community for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
The 16 Days of Activism begins on Friday, November 25, the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women and ends on Saturday, December 10, Human Rights Day.
As a municipality with significantly high family violence rates, Mitchell Shire Council, alongside our partners, is making it clear that this is not tolerated or accepted within our community.
Mitchell Shire is ranked number 11 out of 79 Victorian councils for family violence incidents.
Recent data has also shown high levels of younger people being affected.
The 2022 campaign theme, led by Respect Victoria, Safe and Equal and Safe Steps, is ‘Respect Women: ‘Call it Out’.
This is a positive message that aims to support Victorian communities to engage in conversations about ‘respect’ – what respect means, what respect looks like and respect as the building block of all healthy relationships.
There is no single cause of violence against women, but current evidence, outlined in Change the Story: A Shared Framework for the Primary Prevention of Violence Against Women and Their Children in Australia, demonstrates higher levels of violence against women are consistently associated with lower levels of gender equality in both public life and personal relationships.
This year, council, alongside more than 15 partner agencies, community groups and schools across the shire have collaboratively organised a range of activities, workshops and opportunities to support respectful relationships and act collectively to make an impact and take a stance.
500 stars project
Community members are invited to the launch of the 500 Stars for Mitchell Campaign.
The community, including people at organisations and schools, have been weaving paper stars to create a visual display.
Each star represents a show of support and effort to raise awareness for prevention of family and gender-based violence in Mitchell Shire.
The launch is on Tuesday, December 6, from 2pm to 3.30pm at Broadford Living and Learning Centre, where a free afternoon tea will be provided.
The display will be open until December 23.
A Speak Up event at Greater Beveridge Community Centre from 4.30pm to 6pm on Wednesday, November 30, will also aim to raise awareness about impacts of violence against women and supporting respectful relationships.
The Northern Legal Community Centre and council event will include a free dinner and activities including t-shirt and flowerpot painting.
T-shirt painting will contribute to the global Clothesline Project initiative that has been running for 25 years.
The project uses a visual display of t-shirts on clotheslines to raise awareness about family violence.
Mitchell Shire Mayor Fiona Stevens said the high violence rates in the shire were alarming and it was important to take any action to reduce it.
“I hope to see community members getting involved and standing united to make a statement that violence will never be tolerated,” she said.
“We must come together to acknowledge the problem as we work towards gender equality to prevent family violence.”
*** To contribute to the 500 stars project, feel free to cut out a star from the front page of Review, decorate it and drop off at a library in Wallan, Kilmore, Broadford or Seymour; Greater Beveridge Community Centre and Broadford Living and Learning Centre.
