The scourge of family violence is not something that we can leave to others.
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For the simple fact that it affects so many in our community is a good starting point as to why.
But it is also because it should not be acceptable to anybody.
There is no hope of ever making headway if a united approach is taken to at least try to change the mindsets that allow this to happen in the first place.
It could easily be argued that family violence is something too complex, too entrenched to ever be be eradicated.
But right now – when our courts are having to deal with signficant numbers of apprehended violence order applications, when so many who are presenting to hospital emergency departments with the injuries inflicted in the home – that is missing the point. Societal change, to do with everything from education to enforcement to support, has to be the driving force on this issue.
Family violence has to be seen in everybody’s eyes as not just something to be abhorred but also something that every one of us will not tolerate.
After all, violence on our streets is frowned up and often leads to widespread community outcry, yet when it’s something behind close doors, within the confines of family, silence often rules.
This all means that any effort to tackle the issue needs to be supported.
One such example of that is White Ribbon Day and specifically at a local level for the Border, the O&M’s White Ribbon round.
When this weekend’s round was launched by the league, the united message was one of clubs not turning a blind eye to family violence.
To illustrate just how entrenched the problem is in our society, some telling statistics were revealed.
These were that family violence was an issue affecting the equivalent of two or three women in any particular netball team, that it translated to seven players in each football side.
These are frightening figures, but none of us should be surprised. After all, the issue has been receiving enough attention in any number of ways in recent years for no one to be able to put forward the lame excuse that that “didn’t realise”.
The league should be congratulated on its efforts, in what will be the fifth White Ribbon round. But it also serves to remind us all that there is much for all of us to do.