‘Enough is enough’: Hundreds of Territorians march against domestic violence
Hundreds of Territorians marched through Casuarina Square on Friday to take a stand against family and domestic violence. See the pictures.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Hundreds of mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters gathered at Casuarina Square on Friday for the 2023 NO MORE walk as part of an international 16-day campaign against domestic and family violence.
Dressed in orange and purple to honour those who have experienced domestic violence, attendees marched through the shopping centre with a clear message: enough is enough.
Stacey Littman and Hilary Greenslade, who work with women and children fleeing domestic violence, said it was “amazing” to see such a big turnout.
“It shows that there are people out there that are willing to fight and make a difference to make sure that these women and children are heard and that they’re safe,” Ms Greenslade said.
“We see first-hand the effects that this has on women and their children and the generational trauma it brings,
“Often it’s the victim who has to leave their home, often with just the clothes that they’re wearing and rebuild their lives again but we can only help a very limited number of women compared to the prevalence,
“But domestic violence wouldn’t still be occurring if we as a society held men accountable for their behaviour.”
This year, Australia’s largest coronial inquest into domestic violence deaths was held in the Territory where domestic violence rates are seven times higher than the national average.
83 Territory women have been killed by their partners since 2000, of which 94 per cent of victims were Indigenous.
As part of the inquest, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has spent the past four months exploring the systematic issues leading to the killings of four Aboriginal women, Kumarn Rubuntja, Kumanjayi Haywood, Miss Yunupingu and Ngeygo Ragurrk.
Guest speakers at the NO MORE walk included AFL and AFLW presenter Abbey Holmes who encouraged all members of the community to take an active stand.
“We need to band together to help stamp out domestic violence and that starts with conversations,” she said.
“Great things can happen when we work together.”
Deadly Vision Centre founder Shaun Tatipata spoke about the “critical role” that men can play in helping end family and domestic violence in our community.
“We have a real opportunity to stand up for our women, we can’t be silent anymore,” he said.
“I’ve been silent in the past but I’m here today and I’m standing up and I’m saying no more, no more to the violence, no more to the pain, no more to the suffering, that our communities and our families suffer at the hands of violence,” he said.
“We’ve got to be brave, someone has to do it and the men in this community need to set an example, our next generation of men are watching us, if we stand up, they’ll stand up too and we can teach them the values of love and respect and equality.”
Scroll down to see pictures of the action.
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Enough is enough’: Hundreds of Territorians march against domestic violence
The Stem Academy helping young Indigenous women beat the odds
In the NT, the percentage of Indigenous students who stay in school is the lowest in Australia at 33 per cent but the Young Indigenous Women’s Stem Academy is changing that.
Reason why Aussie ‘Captain’ is walking length of country for kids
After nearly two years on the road, 54-year-old cancer battler ‘Captain Australia’ is nearing the end of his massive 15,000km walk. Find out why he’s doing it.