In recent years University of Wollongong researcher Kenton Bell has dedicated his life to getting men of all ages to commit long-term to putting a stop to domestic violence.
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That’s still his goal but Mr Bell’s immediate focus is on “closing the gap’’ and encouraging younger men in society to take a stand against violence.
‘Raising Boys to be Non-Violent Men’ is the theme of this year’s White Ribbon Day walk at Lake Illawarra’s Reddall Reserve on Friday, November 25.
The third annual walk has been organised by a coalition of organisations including the Illawarra Committee Against Domestic Violence, local services, Wollongong and Shellharbour councils and NSW Police.
Mr Bell said White Ribbon was primarily a prevention organisation.
“The best way to tackle it [violence] is to stop it from ever happening,’’ he said.
“We want to be able to speak to younger men sooner and just be able to engage them on the topic.’’
At time of print students from Albion Park, Edmund Rice and Keira high schools had confirmed they were attending the walk.
“In every case, violent men choose to be violent, but they do so with a background of complicity and silence from other men. Campaigns like White Ribbon are not the whole solution, but they do challenge all boys and men to take a stand,’’ Mr Bell said.
NSW Police Southern Region domestic violence coordinator Gerry Orkin said local DV statistics were depressing.
“Illawarra Police deal with more domestic violence incidents than any other major crime category, with over 7000 call outs and around 2300 DV assaults recorded in the past 12 months - and those are just the ones that are reported,’’ he said.
Debbie Gaudie, from the Staying Home Leaving Violence service at Family Services Illawarra, said “victims and their children have to deal with physical and emotional trauma, as well as practical issues such as homelessness and financial stress’’.
Andrew King, a group worker with years of experience working with adult men, reckons the solution starts with raising boys to be respectful and non-violent men.
“Boys learn how to treat women from other men. When raised in families where mothers are respected and where dads are equal partners with women in all aspects of family life, they are less likely to abuse women later in life,’’ he said.
The walk starts at 7am.
