CRE members are invited to the publication launch of “Making the Invisible Visible”

WA Centre for Rural Health invites CRE members to join them for the launch of the new local publication “Making the Invisible Visible”, an initiative to raise awareness of the prevalence and impact of family and gendered violence.

Every workplace is directly or indirectly affected by family and gendered violence, yet the silence and shame around this issue mean it is hidden from view and rendered invisible. This collection of personal stories from WACRH staff members shows the impact of violence on people’s lives, and brings to light the ways workplaces can support the prevention of violence.

Please join us at the WA Centre for Rural Health – MP Room – 167 Fitzgerald Street, Geraldton on Monday 21st October 2019 at 9:30am for a 10am launch followed by morning tea at 10:30am. 

Please register your attendance to: adminwacrh@uwa.edu.au or call 08 9956 0200.

Local Community Attitudes and Exposure to Violence Survey (LCAEVS) will also launch on 21 October 2019

Desert Blue Connect, WACRH and UWA researchers have been working together to look at methods that can be used to measure change over time in the gendered drivers of family violence (FV) and the occurrence of FV in a local area. Information on the effectiveness of local efforts directed at primary prevention of FV and progress is often requested by funding bodies.

The researchers have developed a Local Community Attitudes and Exposure to Violence Survey (LCAEVS) to assess community attitudes to gender inequality and FV, and personal exposure to violence.  The survey instrument has been developed, utilising and adapting questions from the National Community Attitudes Survey (NCAS) to simplify the survey.

The survey is being launched in Geraldton on 21st October and targets all of the adult population in the City of Greater Geraldton (so includes Mullewa). It is a population survey so we want as many people as possible of all ages and backgrounds to complete the survey. The survey is available electronically and will be e-mailed to all of the organisations that are signed on to the CRE with a request that they encourage staff, friends, and family members to complete it. Please help us to promote it. There is an opportunity for respondents to win a cash prize if they wish to be entered in the draw for completing the survey.

The survey will provide valuable information to map progress with the CRE project and will repeated again in 2021. Ideally it will continue to be conducted on a two-yearly basis. The survey will enable comparison of the attitudes and norms of the local population with those from Australia-wide surveys, and be useful for other small rural localities.

March Against Violence

Each year Desert Blue Connect holds a March Against Violence (MAV), a community event that acknowledges those who have lost their lives to family violence over the past year.  Community and agencies unite to raise awareness of family violence and highlight the need for prevention strategies. 

This year’s March will be held on Friday 22 November commencing at 9:30 am at Stow Gardens.  Please hold the date so you can come.  The event will have some short talks before a short march along the footpath.  Further details to come in the November Community Chat.

UWA communications students provide support for local CRE organisations

A group of Media and Communication students have been working with Desert Blue Connect, City of Greater Geraldton, Centacare, WA Centre for Rural Health and Sportshouse to develop communication plans tailored to their needs.  The communication plans are for the agencies to promote and embed the CRE Agreement values and actions internally and also share the importance of preventing family violence further to stakeholders and community members. On behalf of the agencies, we would like to thank the UWA students and Associate Professor Dr Helen Fordham for collaborating with us on the CRE project and providing beneficial communication plans we can all use into the future.

Centacare were pleased to be one of the five organisations involved with the UWA Media and Communication students, especially in light of the fact they had only recently signed up.  They consulted with the students, who then developed and provided them with a Communication Strategy and Implementation Plan for a Family and Domestic Violence Primary Prevention campaign.  

“The students were able to carefully consider the issue of family violence and creatively develop a campaign message that was both relevant and engaging for children”, said Ms Ailenei, Executive Manager Programmes at Centacare Family Services. 

“These plans provide us direction not only internally, but also externally, as we work with other stakeholders and the wider community to demonstrate that we are committed to the CRE Agreement and to making Geraldton free of family violence.  Centacare takes the view that family violence is everyone’s business and is deeply committed to take action against violence and promote pro-social behaviours.”

Support

Don’t forget you can use the CRE workplace logos  and poster templates that were sent out when you signed up.  If you did not receive them, please send us an email. 

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