The Sunshine Coast Vulnerable Persons Unit has been set up to reduce the rate of domestic violence.
Courtesy: Thinkstock
THE battle against domestic violence begins not in the home or streets, but in the minds of children, the founder of a Coast DV support organization says.
SunnyKids CEO Chris Turner believes a cultural change is what’s needed to stem the issue.
He said while not all disrespecting of women led to violence, “all violence towards women begins with disrespect for them”.
SunnyKids works to move vulnerable women and their children into shelters and connect them with vital services to help them get back on their feet.
Mr Turner was in talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during his Coast tour last week and said the PM agreed that the topic of respect for women needed to stay at the forefront of public discourse.
“We really need men like him to continually talk and make this view clear,” Mr Turner said.
“As a culture, we need to demand respect for women.”
The Good Man Project began this year, with a children’s story book written by Sunshine Coast author Angela Bueti aimed at Year 5 students which explores masculinity in a “more positive way” than what had been done in the past, Mr Turner said.
Through the book, which is now in every primary school library across Australia, Mr Turner said children were taught that strength wasn’t necessarily “about being a rugged, individualist that’s in control of every situation”, but could mean “you’re there when your family needs you” or you’re true to your word.
“It’s all very well for SunnyKids to run the domestic and family violence refuge on the Coast, but that really is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff,” Mr Turner said.
“Projects like the Good Man Project is about building fences at the top of the cliff.”
In Queensland, the state-wide phone service DV Connect (1800 811 811) can help vulnerable women to find a vacant bed in a shelter or motel if a shelter is unavailable. But due to high demand, refuges are usually working at maximum capacity all-year round.
“On average each night, out of 50 refuges, there’s about three beds available,” Mr Turner said. “If you are in a situation where you are either dealing with physical violence or extreme emotional abuse, you need to be able to get out.”
While Mr Turner said more refuges were needed, programs to stop domestic violence situations getting to the point of the victim needing to leave were paramount.
A Queensland Police Service taskforce, the Domestic and Family Violence Vulnerable Persons Unit, has been working to connect victims and perpetrators with the resources they need including relationship counselling, parenting advice, assistance with accommodation, or a co-ordinated response to help with mental health issues. “If the family, and the offender engages and seeks support, he is half as likely to breach that DV order than the person that doesn’t,” Mr Turner said.
For 24-hour support, phone Queensland’s DVConnect on 1800 811 811 or MensLine on 1800 600 636, or the national hotline 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
