Monday
Aug062012

Wear It Purple Day Friday September 7th 2012

Wear it Purple is a student-run organization that has the primary purpose of supporting rainbow young people, as well as raising awareness about the issues they face and the need to eradicate bullying based on sexuality and gender diversity. We want to help create a world that is safe for these young people, within which they are celebrated and can thrive! We seek to encourage and empower these young people to be proud of who they are.

 

Wear it Purple uses the term rainbow to be all-inclusive of people who are sexuality and gender diverse, same-sex attracted, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer – just to name a few (among many) – or those who choose not to ascribe themselves a label. This list is in no way exhaustive, and so we use rainbow as an umbrella term to ensure the entire spectrum is covered.

 

Our annual Wear it Purple Day, September 7, is fast approaching. On the day we ask people to wear purple wherever they are to show their support of rainbow young people. We want these young people everywhere to know that there are people who unconditionally love and support them, and celebrate them for who they are.

 

There are many ways that you and your organisation can jump on board and show your support of rainbow young people for Wear it Purple Day 2012. Firstly, we ask you to please wear an item of PURPLE on Friday, September 7. Some more ways include:

 

  • ‘Like’ us on Facebook (facebook.com/wearitpurple) and join our event page to show that you’re a supporter and to stay updated on others ways to join the movement!
  • Follow us on Twitter (@wearitpurple) and re-tweet our messages of support and information about the day so that it will be dispersed into your networks.
  • Host a Wear it Purple Day event in your workplace, school or organization.

Please email us at contact@wearitpurple.org for further information about hosting your own event or to find out about other ways you can get involved in Wear it Purple Day 2012!

 

We thank you in advance for your support of this movement and, most importantly, of the precious rainbow young people for whom we work. With everyone’s help, this message has the ability to go viral, and the power to improve countless lives.

 

Love from the Wear it Purple Team

Wednesday
Jul182012

LGBT-friendly sexual assault services in Western Sydney

Integrated Violence Prevention and Response Services (IVPRS) provide sexual assault services to meet the range of needs of children, young people and adults who have experienced sexual assault.

They state: "We provide services that respect and value diversity in all its forms, and welcome persons of diverse sexuality and gender and their families."

Springfield Cottage Sexual Assault Service: Governor Phillip Hospital, Corner of Glebe and
Springfield Place, Penrith.
Provides specialised support, counselling and information to adults, young people and children who have experienced sexual assault. The service provides crisis and ongoing counselling, information and support for non-offending caregivers/family members, court preparation and support, groups for children, young people and adults, and support/access to medical or forensic examinations.
Business hours: Springfield Cottage 4734 2512
After hours & public holidays: Nepean Hospital 4734 2000

Grevillea Cottage Sexual Assault Service: Darcy Rd, Westmead Hospital Campus, (near Dental
Services), Westmead.
Provides specialised support, counselling and information to adults and young people (over 16 years of age) who have experienced sexual assault. The service provides crisis and ongoing counselling, information and support for non-offending caregivers/family members, court preparation and
support, groups for young people and adults, and support/access to medical or forensic examinations.
Business hours: Grevillea Cottage 9845 7940
After hours & public holidays: Westmead Hospital 9845 5555

Blacktown / Mt Druitt Sexual Assault Service: Blacktown Community Health Centre, Unit 1,
Marcel Crescent, Blacktown.
Provides specialised support, counselling and information to adults, young people and children who have experienced sexual assault. The service provides crisis and ongoing counselling, information and support for non-offending caregivers/family members, court preparation and support and groups for children, young people and adults.
Business hours: Blacktown/Mt Druitt SAS 9881 8700
After hours & public holidays:
For children - Children’s Hospital at Westmead 9845 0000
For Adults - Westmead Hospital 9845 5555

 

Thursday
Jul052012

Mythbuster sticker project

De-Myth-Defied is an innovative project from South Australia that aims to break down the mythology surrounding domestic/family violence and challenges the silence, shame and stigma that prevents individuals and communities talking about it.

The project was a response to the findings of the Federal Government's 2009 “National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women” survey. Some of the key findings in the survey were that:

  • 22% believed that Domestic Violence was perpetrated equally by both men and women
  • 18-22% believed that Domestic Violence was excusable if it resulted from getting so angry that the person temporarily lost control or they truly regretted what they had done
  • And staggeringly half of the respondents to the survey believed that women could easily leave a violent relationship.

For more information about the project and to see all the mythbusting stickers go to:

http://saynotoviolence.org/join-say-no/de-myth-defied-myth-buster-sticker-project-challenging-community-atttitudes-and-myths-ab

We have been given permission by the project organisers to post a speech made by one of the lesbian participants in the project at its launch in February 2012. It's an interesting exploration of a range of issues relating to lesbian domestic/family violence, gives insight into the journey of the project, the widespread community impacts and is well worth a read.

Scroll down to the bottom to see the sticker associated with Stacey's story.

 

Strengthening Communities - Myth Buster Sticker Project – Community Participant

Stacey, a community woman, a lesbian and a participant in the Myth Buster Sticker Project, among other things, spoke at the De-Myth-Defied launch on 22nd February.  Her experience as a participant is shared below…

I'm here as a representative of all the community members involved in the consultation process of the de-myth-defied project.  Of course I can only speak of my personal experience in one of the consultation groups.  I was glad to see something was being done locally about domestic violence. I am a woman, a sister, an aunty, a lesbian, a feminist and a community artist. I believe in grass roots activism – we need to be involved in community activities in areas that concern us – we need to actively make the community one we want to be part of, one that is a safe and respectful place for all.

I was part of a lesbian focus group, the Southern Women's Slade group that Sharon Stewart came to. She spoke about the project and started a discussion about what we thought the stickers and posters should say and how it should be said.

The discussions raised a lot of stories in the group. We talked about our personal stories and experiences, and we got to know more of each other’s lives. The discussion was broad and wide ranging about violence and abuse, about society and women's roles in it, about the visibility – or not - of women's issues and the response of authorities. We covered what types of behaviour constitute abuse - many of us, if not all of us, had been affected by, or knew someone close who had been affected by physical violence. Less well acknowledged is the impact of emotional, financial, social and verbal abuse that leave no marks but can have an even more devastating effect.

Often the violence our group members experienced was in childhood families or in relationships before we were lesbians. While most violence is perpetrated by men against women there is, unfortunately, sometimes violence in all types of relationships, including lesbian relationships.  As with many minority groups there are complexities regarding how to deal with it. I was pleased that lesbians, as an often invisible part of the community, were being included and being listened to and their concerns made visible.

Lateral violence is a term I heard recently, to refer to learned or post-traumatic behaviours where those who have suffered violence then go on to use violence as their only known way of releasing anger. Women in our society are disproportionately traumatised, abused and disadvantaged and lesbians especially so. Sometimes people know no other way to cope than to behave the way they have been treated.

The Slade women brainstormed approaches to a poster and talked about if and how violence was different in lesbian relationships. I talked to friends outside Slade to get their input. We had talked a lot but as yet had no poster, and so I went back to Sharon, being a community  artist, and suggested an art day with lots of materials spread around, several Slade women came and turned the discussions into posters, and we made many!

It seemed important to us that stickers and posters in public places did not suggest that lesbian relationships are inherently violent - there is already enough homophobia and internalized homophobia out there! Our approach was to have a positive focus. We believe lesbians are the most likely relationships to be respectful and nurturing, but we also want lesbian women to have their relationships acknowledged, and for them to look into the quality of their relationships.

We all know that abuse is never OK, but do women fully understand what constitutes abuse? Do they  recognise the range of behaviours that make up relationship violence, and do they feel empowered to acknowledge and confront it? If you have become used to being treated, or treating others, in a derogatory way you may feel that it is normal, that you, or they, deserve it or that every one behaves like that.

We wanted the posters to be educational and empowering and prompt women to reflect on their behaviour and the quality of their relationships. We talked about what is a good  relationship, and came up with a number of quotes. We made many posters using these quotes,

A good relationship is .......respectful, ..........

Because I thought this was such an important project I took it to a national conference of lesbians and talked about the de-myth-defied project there. Some women were keen to be involved and volunteered to have their photos taken as part of the poster making process, showing good lesbian relationships. These may yet go on to have a life of their own.

Domestic or relationship violence is hard to talk about, hard to admit it happens and if it is happening, hard to know what to do about it.

Sometimes it is hard to call bad behaviour abuse, we make excuses – about a bad mood, a bad experience, a bad day – but I would say that if you are scared of your partners behaviour, scared to go home, or scared to raise any issue for discussion, scared to make decisions for yourself, or you have to tiptoe around and pick carefully what to say and do when to say and do it, it is abuse. If your partner feels scared of you in any situation it is abusing.  It may not be physical, it is still abuse – whether its social control, financial control or emotional manipulation.

I have been told horrific stories and been personally thanked by one survivor for being part of the project.  It touched me to see her anguish as she remembered her ordeal. She apologised to me for not be able to be involved, but she was too scared to be associated with it, in case of reprisal.

I have always known that abuse is not OK, but being part of the De-Myth-defied project has given me insights into the insidiously subtle, and not so subtle, hidden types of abuse and changed my theoretical understanding of  domestic violence into one more personal. Any action that raises awareness and challenges domestic violence changes lives.                            

Stacey M                                     

February 2012

 

Tuesday
Jun122012

Definition of Domestic Violence Broadens

The Family Law Act 1975 has amended the definition of domestic violence to now include

  • ·         Emotional manipulation
  • ·         Stalking
  • ·         Damaging or destroying property
  • ·         Withholding money
  • ·         Preventing one from seeing family and friends
  • ·         Harming the family pet

For more information see Sydney Morning Heralds article on this:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/taunts-cruelty-to-pets-now-domestic-violence-20120602-1zp1z.html

Thursday
Jun072012

DV and Tenancy

An excellent new resource offering a step by step approach to solving tenancy issues in relation to domestic violence has been put together by the Hawkesbury Nepean Community Legal Centre.

To download a pdf version of the booklet visit:

http://www.hnclc.net.au/SiteMedia/w3svc742/Uploads/Documents/DVA%20Booklet%202012.pdf