By RUSSELL BENNETT
AMID the Emerald and District Rotary Club’s pool, darts, trivia and quiz competitions at the Emerald RSL recently came discussion about an issue that is far from trivial – the White Ribbon campaign to stamp out violence against women.
The fun and games evening fittingly involved two of Emerald’s most significant community groups – a perfect avenue to reach a wide cross section of the town’s population.
Gembrook MP Brad Battin and the three Cardinia Shire Council Ranges Ward councillors (including now mayor Leticia Wilmot) attended, as did Rotary district governor and White Ribbon ambassador Tony Monley and next year’s governor David Tolstrup.
Emerald and District Rotary treasurer Ian Ash started his speech with a question: “Does anyone know what the following have in common: drink driving, not wearing seat-belts and smoking? The answer is that 40 years ago all these were considered socially acceptable and now they are all considered socially unacceptable.
“Globally there is another scourge that we need to make socially unacceptable – namely violence against women.”
Mr Ash went on to speak about how he began his involvement with the Casey Cardinia Challenge Family Violence project a little over a year ago, following a request to participate from then mayor Brett Owen.
“What I learned over this period has shocked and appalled me, not only in terms of the impact on the health and wellbeing of women, but also how it affects families and communities,” he said.
“In fact this issue has become so serious that in 2002 the World Health Organisation named it a ‘leading public health concern for countries around the world (WHO 2002)’.”
Mr Ash also shared a range of alarming statistics associated with what he described as an “insidious activity”.
“One in four families suffer from family violence,” he said.
“More than one in three women in Australia (39 per cent) aged over 18 have experienced violence at the hands of a man since the age of 15.
“64 per cent of women who experienced physical assault and 81.1 per cent of women who experienced sexual assault still did not report it to police.”
Mr Ash concluded by saying: “Please have a great time; enjoy the games, fun and fellowship, but please also be mindful of how you can assist in making all forms of violence against women socially unacceptable in our community.”
For more information, visit www.whiteribbon.org.au.
