Around 300 people marched through Gosford on Wednesday, December 7, demanding action on putting an end to domestic and family violence.
Assembling at the Coast Shelter head office at the northern end of town at around 10am, the marchers included representatives from community groups, schools, police, Indigenous groups, women’s groups, Central Coast Council and Coast Shelter and members of the general public.
The march proceeded along the full length of Mann St, with many walkers bearing placards.
Coast Shelter CEO Michael Starr said the event heralded the end of the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual international campaign that concludes on December 10.
“This is really all about raising awareness on the Central Coast around the scourge of domestic and family violence and gender-based violence,” he said.
Starr said statistics showed that the problem was not improving in the region, which has alarmingly high domestic violence incidences.
“This issue is at the heart of our community,” he said.
“We are a smart and wealthy community in a smart and wealthy nation and yet we still have women’s safety at the top of our social issues.
“It is not good enough.
“When you see the number of children under the age of 12 with their mums in lour crisis refuges it breaks your heart.
“We had over 40 children in our refuges just last night and that trauma sticks with these kids all their lives.”
Starr said the variety of groups represented in the march showed the issue resonated with the entire community.
“People want this to improve; we want to make sure we get rid of domestic violence on the Central Coast,” he said.
Coast Shelter suggested six major strategies to combat the problem in its position paper on Breaking the Cycle of Domestic Violence, officially launched in April.
The paper says governments must invest in a raft of prevention strategies to stop violence, abuse and neglect before they start by tackling root causes.
Terry Collins