A PHOTOGRAPHY exhibition highlighting what safety means to a variety of people in the community is open at Ballarat Community Health in Lucas.<\/p>\n
The Safety4U showcase includes images submitted by more than 20 local people and has been curated by a group from the Committee for Ballarat\u2019s 2023 Future Shapers community leadership program.<\/p>\n
Project coordinator Vanessa Brady said the show aims to raise awareness of the prevalence of domestic violence in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe photos in the exhibition are quite varied, which is indicative of the community around us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the stories are coming from people who have clearly been victims of domestic violence, and some are purely coming from what safety means to them, which is what we wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat diversity means that the conversations can keep going in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Brady said coordinators have consulted domestic violence support organisations in the development of the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were really helpful for us to work out the scope of the project,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking to them and linking in with them wherever we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project coordinators\u2019 research has found that the rates of family and domestic violence in Ballarat are 12 per cent higher than the rest of Victoria.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that one in three women and one in eight men experience physical violence, and one in five women experience sexual violence.<\/p>\n
Community members are still welcome to submit a photo and a short narrative that respond to the question, \u2018what does safety mean to you?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really keen for them to do that as we\u2019re hoping to have other exhibitions in the future,\u201d Ms Brady said.<\/p>\n
Visit the Safety4UBallarat Instagram and Facebook pages to see some of the photographs online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A PHOTOGRAPHY exhibition highlighting what safety means to a variety of people in the community is open at Ballarat Community Health in Lucas. The Safety4U showcase includes images submitted by more than 20 local people and has been curated by a group from the Committee for Ballarat\u2019s 2023 Future Shapers community leadership program. Project coordinator […]<\/p>\n