Feeling Safe Stay Safe Newsletter June 2000 issue:
Welcome again it’s that time to renew the newsletter. I get many emails requesting to be added to the mailing list for a Monthly newsletter. It would be wonderful if I could get articles from readers to include on the site and then a monthly newsletter might become a reality. However, as a ‘one man band’ at this time, the maintenance jobs of newsletters, database and accounts sometimes lag behind. Volunteers are welcomed and will be cherished and encouraged. If you would like to help please email me on pbcwa@iinet.net.au.
Contents:
- Interesting Sites
- Building Peace-able Communities Project
- Millennium Changes – WPO presents Conference on " What will change for women and men in the 21st Century".
- FQA re: Why don’t the perpetrators of domestic violence leave instead of the women and children.
- Review of 7th Australasian Conference of Child Abuse and Neglect
SITES of related interest:
Defence Children International –NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
http://www.childhub.ch/dcifp/focalpoint.html
Building Peaceable Communities Day with Protective Behaviours
http://www.skybusiness.com/peaceable/index.html
South Sydney Community Aid – A Review of Groups for men who are perpetrators of Domestic Violence
http://www.shopfront.net.au/scca/perpetrs.html
The Battered Husband Controversy – by Kate Orman
http://www.zip.com.au/~korman/dv/controversy/
Domestic Violence Council of WA
http://www.iinet.net.au/~dvcwa/
Statistics on Violence, compiled by Michael Flood
http://spirit.com.au/gerry/vstats.ht
Australasian Centre for Policing Research: Compendium - DV
http://www.npru.gov.au/domvi.htm
DV Australian and overseas newspaper and magazine articles -
Http://wwzip.com.au/~korman/dv/info
BUILDING PEACEABLE COMMUNITIES DAY WITH PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOURS.
Day nominated in 2000 is: 24th July 2000 and a day to be nominated each year thereafter.
"Peace begins with you and me, what we can’t do alone we can do together" J-Claire
AIM
The visioning for the future – a world without violence and abuse where acts of love and respect are valued and cherished.
OBJECTIVE
"There is no way to peace – peace is the way"OUTCOME
Communities will have made a stand and declared that "They stand for the possibility of creating Peace-able Communities, which foster peace in the world and are willing to promote the day and let it echo for generations to come".BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
In the International Year of Promoting Peace, the Protective Behaviours bodies who have all been actively involved in the area of abuse and violence prevention for a number of years agree, that while our activities have met with some success, progress has been slow. We often wonder why the general community and the corporate sector seem reluctant to support initiatives.
Most people in the community deplore child abuse, domestic violence and indeed all forms of abuse and violence, yet seem reluctant to actively ally themselves with prevention initiatives because of the negative connotations. The very words "abuse" and "violence" have a negative effect on some people, and many identify strongly as victims or with victims.
As a result the movement to prevent abuse and violence often finds itself in a victim stance similar to those it seeks to help!
By changing the emphasis to the positive - promotion instead of prevention - There is immediately a feeling of empowerment and energy – and we become less competitive.
Because unfortunately competition is, or has been, a fact of life for those of us who work towards preventing abuse and violence; competition for the mighty dollar, rivalry between those who are passionate to prevent a particular "form" of violence, or one group simply believing that they have found THE solution. Yet clearly there are thousands of component parts in this particular piece of patchwork, some of them as yet undiscovered.
IF WE WISH TO PROMOTE THE POSITIVE ALTERNATIVE TO VIOLENCE, WHAT IS IT?
The simplest answer is "peace". Yet peace has a connotation of quietness, agreement, ... and harmony. Maybe a little too ambitious? Even a little boring? Hence our use of the term Peace-ability. That is "able" to live without violence even in the midst of difference, disagreement, noise and bustle, stress, even utter chaos. And in learning how to achieve this end, being fully alive, vibrant, interesting and interested human beings.
PEACE-ABLE means, among other things:
* Able to live together without violence even when our backgrounds, needs and opinions may be very different
* Able to express and let go of negative emotion without blame or guilt and without hurting anyone.
* Respecting and valuing other members of the community, whatever they’re age, educational level or social standing.
Above all it implies a COMMUNITY EFFORT. The goal will not be reached without the investment and active participation of individuals, families, social groups and corporate bodies as well as governments and legislators. It requires the building of social capital.
(Adapted and taken from the "Stitch in Time" Protective Behaviours Conference held in SA this year)
WHY WITH PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOURS:
The Protective Behaviours program and underlying philosophy meets many of the criteria of the Ottawa Charter of Health and the more recent Jakarta Declaration on Health Promotion into the 21st Century and poses the new challenges of promoting a sense of total well being.
Protective Behaviours promotes:
- A culture of respect and tolerance
- Peace-able communities
- That "Everyone has a right to feel safe and be safe"
- Strategies to identify safe v unsafe situations
- And teaches how to ask for help in a Personal Emergency
- And teaches people how to develop networks of support
- And teaches people how to reduce victim attitude
- A web page for updates on the project can be accessed via: http://www.skybusiness.com/peaceable/index.html
- This package contains:
- Flyer showing declaration] (available upon request by email/fax
- Flyer for Advertising Project] please amend to include your own details)
- Background Rationale
- Evaluation sheet
- Activities for schools or groups (available upon request by email/fax)
- Pass this information on to 3/5 other people. (A request of confirmation of a commitment to the project, by email, fax or telephone would be useful and really appreciated, so that the extent of the project success can be ascertained).
- To make a personal commitment to approach at least one person in your community and make peace with that person. (Adapt community declaration or design your own) – invited and desired as an option available to all.
- To hold an event – a community gathering where declaration could be made.
- Design a media release and forward to local community newspaper.
- Community could be identified as 2 or 200.
- NB: Fax back, mail or email evaluation sheet by 31st JULY.
pbcwa@iinet.net.au fax: 61 8 9358 3511
IDEAS FOR OTHER GROUPS
- Families/groups could hold a peace dinner/activities have a re-union gathering. Perhaps have learning circle/conversation on peace/light a candle/release a helium balloon with a message of peace tied to it, and then make the declaration.
- Organisations could have a morning tea, lunch, benefit dinner to celebrate Building Peace-able Communities Day, collect donations and forward to a relief aid organization e.g. World Vision, Amnesty International, Defence Children International, Protective Behaviours body in your state. (Each making/adapting a declaration to fit individual circumstances or using the one below)
All would be invited to make the declaration:
"I stand for the possibility of creating Peace-able Communities. I make a declaration and promise now and in the future to treat all my community members with respect, and invite you as my community to join with me in "Claiming the right to feel safe" now, and create the possibility of a " Peace-able Community"."
MAKE A STAND FOR BUILDING PEACE-ABLE COMMUNITIES AND THE POSSIBILITY OF PEACE IN THE WORLD
24th July 2000
I INVITE YOU TO SHARE THIS VISION MAKE IT YOURS!
GO INTO ACTION!
"I realise that a world of love and peace, begins with me" J-Claire
MILLENNIUM CHANGES – WHAT WILL CHANGE FOR WOMEN AND MEN IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
A conference presented by the Women’s Policy Office
Date: Friday 30th June 2000
Time: 8.30am-6.00pm
Venue: Duxton Hotel – The Ballroom
1 St Georges Terrace, Perth
Purpose:
Millennium Changes is a one-day conference to examine some of the factors, which will impact on gender roles in the 21st century.
This conference will examine three themes expected to have a profound impact on the status of women – changing notices of leadership, advances in technology, and new models of masculinity. Emerging trends will be explored for their implications for women and for the wider society.
Keynote speakers will introduce the themes and engage in dialogue with a panel of related experts and commentators.
The purpose of the conference is to stimulate thinking about these themes and to outline emerging trends that will have an impact on the status of women.
In 1999 the WPO released a discussion paper on Women of the 21st Century. This conference will further advance the ideas raised in that paper and identify future action priorities for the Office and for the community.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Dr Joan Eveline – PhD in Women’s Studies lecturer at UWA
Ms Lorraine Hayden- BA with major in Women’s Studies – On the board of WA’s inter-university Centre for Research for Women.
Dr Dale Spender- AM, (BA DipEd MA LittB PhD) –Educational Consultant
Dr Don Edgar- Professor at the Centre for Workplace Culture Change
FAQ –Why don’t the perpetrators of domestic violence leave instead of the women and children?
Women leave with the children because:
- They don’t want the guy arrested, but they do want the violence to stop
- The police don’t arrest the guy because he will probably be out on bail within the hour
- The police do arrest the guy but he is out on bail and returns to the home within the hour and he is angry
- The perpetrator believes he owns the house and everything in it including the woman and the children
- If the woman goes to a refuge and the perpetrator doesn’t know where she is he will not be able to stalk and harass her; and he will not be able to abduct the children to force her to return to him
- At a refuge she will be able to get informed support and information about her rights before she makes any decisions about whether to return to the relationship or not
- The police cannot provide protection 24 hours a day
- She does not want to hide inside her home with her children in fear that he will return and harm them again
- Perpetrators of domestic violence often threaten to kill the woman and/or the children and some women know that the period just after separation is the most dangerous.
Daphne Smith – Women’s Refuges Multicultural Service Inc
(Adapted and taken from: Law Gender and Domestic Violence newsletter Dec 1999)
In printing the above extract from the newsletter, I think as a society we are still struggling to find answers to assist all parties in the violence and/or abuse cycle. As individuals and as a society we need to recognise who it is that needs to be healed? That is why projects like Building Peace-able Communities are even more important in the broader scheme things in creating a possibility for a vision for the future.
" What we can’t do alone we can do together" anonymous
Revelations, reflections and recommendations – A closing forum from the- Moving Forward Together - 7th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, held October 99 in PERTH Western Australia:
The 7th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect aimed to:
- Promote continued improvement of an integrated agency approach to child abuse and neglect;
- Strengthen the commitment to prevention of child abuse and neglect;
- Provide professionals with current research and information on child care and protection services and programs;
- Share information and provide opportunities to learn through discussion and debate about different work strategies in the area of child abuse and neglect.
The purpose of the closing forum was to consider key issues or themes that had arisen during the conference taking advantage of the collective experience of conference delegates.
The forum aimed to develop some ideas and directions for delegates to take away and begin to consider in their own workplaces with the emphasis being on identifying things that could be achieved within the present legislative and policy frameworks.
Four broad themes were identified:
- The rights of the child
- Confidentiality v collaboration
- The development and delivery of culturally sensitive services
- The impact of adult issues on children (e.g. domestic violence, mental illness)
Some of the discussions by the panel and delegates were:
- Involving children in the processes when making decisions about their lives – at all levels
- A change in community attitudes is required if we are to truly consult with children
- Empowering children to make decisions
- Many decisions made in child protection have negative outcomes – we should not be giving children responsibility to make some of these big decisions and in turn having them feel responsible for these negative outcomes – for example decisions regarding criminal prosecution
- Comes down to children wanting to have a say, not necessarily having their own way
- Being aware that for some Aboriginal communities the child belongs to the whole community and not just the parents – how does this impact on providing services for the child
- The need for poverty to be recognised as a crucial issue affecting child abuse and neglect
- The Stolen Generation and the impact on today’s children
- Attracting and retaining Aboriginal staff in critical positions throughout organizations that work with Aboriginal people
The conference provided a good balance of things that we do work well as well as some of the things that regrettably go wrong and fail the children we are trying to protect.
Perhaps discussion of how we Move Forward Together at the 8th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Melbourne in 2001 (Contact Leanne Hartill 08 9222 2784 for further info) may show us the way through discussion, sharing and collaboration.
Co-operation
There is no limit as to what can be accomplished, if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.
In the words of Chief Justice Malcolm – news review article
Early Intervention is the best weapon for reform –
"IT takes a village to raise a child" (borrowed from African wisdom)
If any reader would like to contribute to the next quarterly newsletter please contact me I would be delighted to hear from you.
That’s all for this time, I notice that the articles are growing, so perhaps a monthly newsletter may be possible by the end of the year. That IS a worthy goal and vision, stay bookmarked.
J-Claire
I hope you found this issue of our newsletter on line, interesting as parents and workers who may be advising parents…I again welcome submissions of articles relating to the topic of personal or community safety for consideration, with a view to publication on this site, from anyone who may visit this site.
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