In solidarity with the many hundreds of thousands of women, men, and children who walked to protest the ongoing scourge of men’s violence against women across the country, the NSW Central Coast community held its own walk on Sunday, March 5, 2024.
By Sharon Walsh*
Organised by Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch, with support from many community groups including the Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee, the central coast community came together to walk in solidarity and support of the many victims of men’s violence against women and to say loudly that we as a community want men’s violence against women and children to STOP.
We have seen funding announcements from both the federal and state governments in relation to domestic and family violence in the past week but there is disappointment in the Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) sector, and from state and national peak and representative bodies that, while all funding offered is welcome, it is the front line services that require urgent funds to be able to work adequately with women and families to help make them safe.
Currently this year, 35 women have already been killed by an intimate partner or someone known to them.
On the NSW Central Coast, the Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee Inc. represents the broad DFV sector of services whose workers protect women and children. The CCDVC organises many campaigns through the year, particularly during the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence and Women and Children, which runs each year between November 25 and December 10.
May is Domestic Violence Prevention Month and, this year, the CCDVC, with tremendous support from the Mounties Group, will host a dinner with renowned investigative journalist and anti-violence campaigner Jess Hill. Jess will be presenting a keynote speech.
The evening will also feature Chair of OurWatch, Moo Baulch, who will focus on the role of primary prevention and its importance for ending men’s violence against women.
The CCDVC with the support of the Mounties group, have been able to sponsor 50 tickets for those with lived experience and those who volunteer in the domestic violence sector.
There are some tickets still available. Tickets are available through the Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee website.
If you have lived experience or volunteer in the domestic violence sector and would like to attend the dinner with Jess Hill and Moo Baulch, please contact the committee directly through email at [email protected]
Watch the writer of this article speak at a recent Walk 4 Women.
*Sharon Walsh is Vice President of the Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee Inc