By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Supporters swarmed central Dandenong’s streets for the annual Walk Against Family Violence. But many would think this march of progress still has so far to go.
The rally from Dandenong Market to Harmony Square on Tuesday 21 November attracted hundreds –including MPs, councillors and community leaders at the front.
“I was absolutely thrilled we had so many people there supporting such an important cause,” Greater Dandenong mayor Lana Formoso said.
“But it would be nice to see more men turn out. There’s still a lot more work to be done in this space.”
Cr Formoso noted the “staggering” numbers of women still dying due to domestic violence.
“I think the stigma, the shame and all the things associated with not calling it out is perpetuating it in our community.”
It was especially challenging to send the message across Greater Dandenong’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Despite the opening of the gateway service Orange Door Dandenong, many victim-survivors still didn’t know where to turn for help.
“That’s what we’ll work really hard on in the council. We’ve got to get the message out there in many different languages.”
Cr Formoso praised the courage of the pair of inspiring speakers who shared their lived experiences of domestic violence – Respect Victoria director Liana Papoutsis and Wayss support worker and former cop Melanie Rowe.
“We’ve got to keep talking about it, have the conversations, keep calling it out.”
Services such as the Government Services Office, Australian Taxation Office, Wayss, Victoria Police and Monash Health were represented.
The walk preceded the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence from 25 November.
Shockingly, family violence remains widespread and deadly in Australia.
On average, every 10 days in Australia, a woman is killed by a partner or former partner. This rate seems to have only quickened in recent weeks.
This year, 53 women have died in Australia due to violence, according to the Counting Dead Women Australia site run by Destroy the Joint researchers.
In Greater Dandenong, there were 2,652 recorded family violence incidents for the year ending in June 2023, according to official crime stats.
That’s more than 50 per week and the second highest number in the Southern Metro police region, behind only Casey with 5422.
According to CSA, family violence order breaches totalled 821 in Greater Dandenong – up 7 per cent in the past year.
