Vol. No. Vol. 2618No. 4227
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Wednesday, January 2016 Wednesday, May13, 1, 2024
United against violence T
BY LAUREN HENRY
he nationwide response to a spike in fatal incidents of violence against women will be in the spotlight in Horsham this weekend. Organisers of a community walk, Shine the Light, in Horsham on Saturday evening expect an increased attendance due to the current heightened awareness of violence against women, and family violence. Thousands attended ‘No more’ rallies in capital and regional cities, including Ballarat and Bendigo, at the weekend, which comes after 27 women across Australia have been killed this year – double the amount compared to this time last year. Three women have been murdered in the Ballarat region – two allegedly by former partners. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called an emergency national cabinet meeting for today, Wednesday, with all state and territory leaders to address the prevention of gendered violence incited online and improving informationsharing about high-risk perpetrators and serial offenders. Mr Albanese described violence against women as a ‘national crisis’, pointing to the statistics of one woman dying every four days, on average, at the hand of a partner. Victoria Police Western Region Division Four family violence training officer Senior Sergeant Simone Field said the community needed to take a stand and show women and children they were believed when reporting family violence.
THAT’LL DO DONKEY: A giant green ogre will soon appear in the Wimmera as Horsham Arts Council performs Shrek the Musical, starting tomorrow night. There will be nine performances at Horsham Town Hall set to entertain the whole family. Pictured is Tim O’Donnell as Shrek, and Chris Versteegen as Donkey. For more pictures, see page 23. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
“I feel like the community really needs to stand up and believe women,” she said. “It’s an extremely low percentage of women who make false statements to police, so you’re right when you believe a female who comes forward and says this is going on.” Sen Sgt Field said there also needed to be more funding for men’s behaviour change programs, and to make them more accessible in rural areas. “The courts direct men into these programs as part of sentencing, but there’s got to be these programs available – there’s waiting lists,” she said. Sen Sgt Field said coercive control was a major aspect of family violence, and was particularly difficult to manage in the Wimmera and Grampians region because of distance, isolation and people willing to come forward in smaller communities. “Also our demographic is older in this region and it’s the culture piece that we have to change. There’s a big change that’s got to happen in that space around things that normally go on behind closed doors,” she said. “I think our younger generation is more willing to report, but we need to bring everyone along.” Sen Sgt Field said strategies to address family violence following the Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2015 had resulted in greater informationsharing between all services in Victoria. Continued page 3
IN THIS ISSUE • Junior football discrepancy • Future housing needs • Hockey returns AUDITED: 21,534 COPIES October 2022 to September 2023
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THIS MOTHER'S DAY
Win mum flowers -for a year! HORSHAM
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Just spend $20 at any Plaza store.
Drawn 12noon Friday May 10. Flowers proudly provided each month by the Horsham Florist team.
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