Community playing a part to prevent violence

Almost three hundred people attended the Preventing Violence Together Community Breakfast held this week at Glen Eira Town Hall Auditorium.

Hosted by Jewish Care Victoria in partnership with Unchain My Heart and Glen Eira City Council, the event was held in support of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

International guest speaker Naomi Tucker discussed the importance of a whole-of-community response to preventing violence and shared her experience of supporting change within the Jewish community.

With over 35 years of experience in the field of family violence prevention, Tucker is co-founder and Executive Director of Shalom Bayit (USA), the first Jewish domestic violence agency in Northern California, and a national consultant on faith-based approaches to ending violence in the home.

“When someone is having trouble at home, they are more likely to tell a friend, a rabbi, coworker, or even the person who cuts their hair than call a hotline or seek professional help. And that is why we need you to know what to do when that happens,” said Tucker.

“It takes all of us working together to shift the tide that allows violence against women to happen. And each of you can play a part in that.”

Highlighting of the importance of a Jewish response to gender-based violence, Yael Hersham, Chair of Unchain My Heart, said, “it is imperative that responses to family violence consider its intersection with culture and religion.”

“This is no less true for prevention, and indeed, is why we are here today: to build our capacity to prevent violence, specifically through that vital cultural and community lens.”

 

Jewish Care also launched a new video at the breakfast, entitled ‘Nobody Wins’. The video illustrates how gender stereotypes – a key driver of violence – begin in childhood. These stereotypes harm not only women and girls, but men and boys, too.

Introducing the video, Jewish Care President Susie Ivany said, “Violence against women isn’t abstract. It doesn’t occur in a vacuum. It is the product of gender inequality.

The story begins early – in childhood. These actions may seem small or insignificant, but they are not; they are real, they are impactful, and they are cumulative.”

The Preventing Violence Together Community Breakfast was proudly sponsored by Antler Luggage, Sound Insurance Services, and Hesta.