2007's 16 Days of Activism to Stop Violence Against Women - Activities on the Mid North Coast

The following is a brief summary of the highlights of 16 Days for 2007 on the Mid North Coast.

Reclaim the Night
Reclaim the Night has been an important way of raising the issue of Women’s issues of safety. This year, Port Macquarie-Hastings held a ‘stationary’ indoor event which was just as well as it was one of the wettest nights in months. They presented “Fresh Water”, a young Aboriginal female vocal group who performed at night and gave a workshop for high school age students during the day. Combined with the evening performance was the first NSW screening of “SHAME”, a film about Mukhtaran Mai, a Pakistani woman who was gang raped and fought for justice through the Courts.

Month Long Activities
Gloucester and Taree and Nambucca Valley proudly displayed banners in their main street or entrance to towns stating that theirs was an area against Domestic Violence. These banners of course can be used in future to remind people that DV is not welcome in the community.

Additionally, for the next 12 months, Taree will display a billboard, which clearly displays the message that DV is a crime. The billboard is on the northern side of Taree and can be seen by all south bound traffic which, given the busy Christmas period, will be a considerable number of people.

For most of November there was a fine display of original artwork from the Love Bites program in the Port Macquarie Library. The artworks were created by Port Macquarie high schools students who participated in Love Bites in recent years.

Port Macquarie DV Monitoring Committee also launched their new website – www.dvportmacquarie.org.au. An important feature of the website is that it provides a link to another site which tells visitors how to “cover their tracks”, i.e. remove the trace to the website from the computer. I wholeheartedly commend this site to you.

Gloucester
In addition to the colourful flags in the main street, Gloucester’s small but enthusiastic Committee combined with the Quota Club of Gloucester to have a stall in the street to provide brochures and information about DV and violence against women.

Taree
Greater Taree City Council received funding from the Attorney General’s Department to address the issues of Domestic Violence in the community as raised in its Crime Prevention Plan. With the funds they were able to get the billboard and put up flags in Victoria Street, as mentioned earlier, but the main event was a community day in Fotheringham’s Park. The activities for the day included a free sausage sizzle, jumping castles, clowns and entertainers, face painting, dancing and information booths. The event was very well attended and over 400 information packs were distributed on the day. (More information on this event and others is contained in the blog below "Manning says "NO" to Domestic Violence".)

Kempsey
The Big White Ribbon made another re-appearance, this year introducing his friend the smaller white ribbon. Two workers from the Many Rivers Family Violence Legal Service dressed themselves in the big white ribbons and distributed smaller versions to people in the street of Kempsey on Friday 23 November. Kempsey DV Monitoring Committee also had a screening of “WOW” – the Women on Wheels film festival.

Coffs Harbour
A White Ribbon Day lunch was held at the Indigenous Coordination Centre. Guest speakers on the day were representatives from the local Women’s Refuge and the local Sexual Assault counsellor.

Making Messages
In conjunction with North Coast Area Health Service, Hastings Women’s and Children’s Refuge and Warrina WCR, an extremely successful three day camp was held at Scott’s Head. Called "Making Messages", the camp brought together Aboriginal Women who have suffered DV and allowed them to learn new art and craft techniques to help express themselves. This year the women learned to paint silk scarves with patterns of their own design and to make clay masks under professional tutorship. Tai Chi, nutrition lessons, beach walks and swimming were also on the schedule. The artworks produced will be used, with permission, on future material produced by the services involved.