WOMEN’S Health West will host a picnic in Yarraville this Sunday (22 October) to focus on family violence prevention, as part of Week Without Violence.
Melissa Afentoulis, chief executive of Women’s Health West, defined family violence as “threatening, coercive or controlling behaviour that encompasses physical, emotional, social, sexual, financial abuse”.
She said that VicHealth’s ‘the health costs of violence’ research showed that intimate partner violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15 to 44.
Puppets will be used on the day as a tool to educate children and families about the problem.
The picnic will be held from noon to 4pm at Alex Beaton Reserve, Yarraville.
