Experts gather to combat gendered violence

CLOSE to two hundred people across health, social service, community, and cultural industries came together this week to partner against gendered violence.

As part of the City of Ballarat’s 16 Days of Activism campaign, local and state leaders met on Monday at the Mercure Ballarat to discuss how to tackle violence against women.

A collaboration between the municipality, Communities of Respect and Equality Alliance or CoRE, and Women’s Health Grampians, the event presented industry and business experts in a range of speeches and workshops.

Women’s Health Grampians CEO Marianne Hendron said the event, with a particular focus on male leadership, is a direct response to recent deaths of women in Ballarat.

“It was conceived in the immediate aftermath of the three murders that took place in Ballarat earlier this year,” she said.

“We came together [with the City of Ballarat] and were really mindful of the sense within the community that people really wanted to engage in helping to make change.

“We felt the best way to approach it was to number one, engage men… and also engage leadership.”

Guests included Maree Crabbe, co-founder and director of It’s time we talked, Respect Victoria CEO Helen Bolton, and Not One More Niki co-founder and commissioner for the Victorian Multicultural Commission Tarang Chawla.

The majority of attendees were members of CoRE, a partnership of organisations, groups, and businesses in the Grampians region.

Ms Crabbe’s presentation centred around the impacts of pornography on young people

“It’s a violence prevention issue we can’t afford to ignore,” she said.

“It’s something that’s not discussed frequently in public conversations but it’s increasingly playing a role in young people in their development and understanding around sexuality and relationships.

“It’s great working together with people who are looking at different aspects of the issue of gendered violence and painting a picture of the breadth of the issues and what we need to address.”

Committee for Ballarat CEO, Michael Poulton, was the forum’s MC. He said it’s important for men to step forward as allies against the issue.

“Sadly, women feel less safe in our community than men,” he said. “Much of that is a male problem. We’re the ones that need to change.

“Our belief, from Committee of Ballarat, is male leaders need to step up and ensure we promote respectful relationships, and equality in the workplace.

“What’s important is we take the learnings from this and socialise those learnings ourselves and how we can then influence that within our own communities.”

Ms Hendron estimated more than 60 per cent of attendees at the forum were male.