A collective effort is needed to combat the issue of one Australian woman being killed every 10 days by a man they know, a south-west mayor says.
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Corangamite mayor Ruth Gstrein made the statement at a flag-raising ceremony outside the Camperdown courthouse on Monday, November 27, 2023 in support of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.
The campaign runs from International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25 until Human Rights Day on December 10.
Cr Gstrein said the statistics showed almost one-in-four women had experienced violence at the hands of their intimate partner.
"(So) we all know someone who is going through this, and alarmingly on average, one Australian woman every 10 days is killed by a man they know," she said.
"It is a time to remind everyone in the community we can all work together year-round to change the story about violence against women."
Cr Gstrein said the violence impacted everyone in the community, not just women.
"Family violence has significant consequences for children and young people," she said.
"Even if they don't see or experience abuse they're still impacted by seeing things like injuries to a parent or damage to property.
"It can impair children's physical, emotional and brain development, their sense of security in relationships, their mental health and have long term consequences for friendships and relationships."
Cr Gstrein said the council was working with local and statewide services to reduce family violence and the impacts through community awareness strategies and staff training.
The mayor also acknowledged men could experience violence at the hands of their partner.
The Southern Grampians Shire Council also showed its support for the campaign. The council's chief executive officer Tony Doyle said family and gender-based violence were driven by inequality, discrimination and marginalisation.
"The current rates of family and gender-based violence in Australia are nothing short of alarming, with six women killed in Australia this week alone," he said.
Mr Doyle said respect sat at the core of all safe, healthy and equal relationships.
"As individuals, organisations and as a community we need to make a commitment to eliminating all forms of discrimination and realising the vision for gender equal communities and workplaces," he said.
Lillian Altman
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.
