By XAVIER SMERDON
WYNDHAM Council’s commitment to preventing violence against women was recognised at the 2012 Victorian Health Promotion Foundation Awards in Melbourne last month.
At the VicHealth Awards, the council was part of the successful group, led by Women’s Health West, to be recognised for the project ‘Preventing Violence Together: The Western Region Action Plan to prevent violence against women’.
The plan is the first collaboratively-developed, regional, primary prevention action plan of its type.
The plan proposes a series of 39 actions to be implemented by its signatories from across Melbourne’s West aiming to prevent family violence.
Councillor Shane Bourke, a White Ribbon ambassador, said a community wide effort was required to address the issue of family violence in Wyndham and across the Western Suburbs.
“This award is recognition for Wyndham’s strong and long standing commitment to the prevention of violence against women and the collaborative partnerships that have been developed to support this,” Cr Bourke said.
“Despite growing community understanding of this issue, family violence is an ongoing problem, with 1,536 family incidents reported in Wyndham in 2011-’12, compared to 1326 in 2010-’11. While this rise may come down to people feeling more empowered to report family violence, we should strive to prevent it from occurring in the first place. This involves tackling the causes of violence against women including addressing gender equity.”
The Wyndham Family Violence Committee is an independent network of local service providers that is convened by Wyndham City. For more information on the committee, contact the city’s social development team on 9742 0777.
