Domestic Violence Education

Yuendumu Community Government Council has recently employed a Domestic Violence Educator to run a Domestic Violence Prevention program with a community development approach. This approach means the project is all about engaging community members, involving them in all stages, from planning to implementation, and where possible employing community members. Ultimately this approach is designed to provide for local ownership and control over the program, resulting in a more effective and sustainable domestic violence prevention effort.

One of the biggest challenges of domestic violence prevention is to shift community norms away from shame, blame, and avoidance. While no-one likes to see their mothers, sisters, and daughters hurt, many people simply don’t know what to do about domestic violence, and find excuses to ignore the problem. This program aims to create a spirit of strength and solidarity among the women and men of Yuendumu. We hope to create an environment that allows the many strong leaders of Yuendumu to raise their voices about this issue, and to act positively to protect their families from this harm.

The program was launched with a celebration of International Women’s Day on the 9th of March 2007. The celebration consisted of a “women only” day at the Mt Theo computer room. Many women of all ages attended the day, and it was a fantastic celebration of women standing strong together. This celebration was possible thanks to significant material support from Mt.Theo, the Women’s Centre, and Warlukulangu Art Centre. The next stage of the program will be holding consultation and training workshops with various groups in the Yuendumu community. Through these workshops we hope to recruit passionate community members to join in the effort to prevent family violence.

We are looking forward to working together to help make Yuendumu a safer place for everyone.

Funding for this program is through the Department of Attorney-General and FACSIA. Council acknowledges their support for this initiative.

Please contact Susanna Bady, Domestic Violence Educator if you would like more information on (08) 8956 4250 or susanna.bady@yuendumu.nt.gov.au