Thuringowa State High School part of pilot program breaking domestic violence cycle
A pilot program empowering Indigenous students to break the cycle of domestic violence has been successfully trialled at a Townsville high school. Here’s how it works.
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A pilot program empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to break the cycle of domestic violence has been successfully trialled at a Townsville high school.
The program has been developed by Aboriginal Elder Florence Onus (Aunty Flo) in conjunction with the First Nations Women’s Legal Service Queensland (FNWLSQ) aimed at students from Year 7 to 9.
It was first implemented to students at Thuringowa State High School who were part of the Stars Foundation, a separate program which encourages Indigenous girls and young women to boost attendance and engagement at school to complete Year 12.
The level of need and type of support varies greatly by student and not all students engaged with the Stars Foundation require Domestic and Family Violence support.
There are plans to roll out Aunty Flo’s domestic violence focused learning component in addition to the Stars Program to other local schools next year with high Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female student populations.
Aunty Flo said the program she developed with a solicitor from FNWLSQ was about educating and creating awareness in the next generation of students about what is domestic and family violence.
“We unpack that and it’s all to do with reducing the levels of domestic and family violence in our families and communities,” Aunty Flo said.
“We know this is not going to resolve all those issues. But we have to start educating the next generation and we’ve targeted from year seven to nine, because that’s where a lot of relationships started in high school.”
She said the program helped students to recognise the different forms of domestic violence and empowered them to seek help it they were caught in a bad relationship.
“We unpack domestic and family violence and we say well, what is it, what your legal rights and what your rights are in regards to feel safe.
“We look at all the different forms, coercive control, physical abuse, verbal, emotional, sexual abuse, financial, spiritual, technical, technology, facilitate abuse, but then we break it down to language that they understand.”
Aunty Flo said students were also told about looking for support from family, friends and support networks.
“So we give them all the emergency contact numbers for different support services. The North Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Centre, going directly to the police, The Women’s Centre, our service of First Nations Women’s Legal Service Queensland, they can come here for some advice and support.
“We so we talk about the right to feel safe, but we also talk about what are the things that they can do to protect themselves or protect themselves with support with a family member or friends so things like creating a circle of support.
“Who is the person can you identify, that you can trust that will support you if you had to call them or go to them to help you in that situation.”
She said in future they would also look at implementing a similar domestic and family violence component for young male students involved in the attendance and engagement focused Clontarf Foundation in Townsville schools.
“Because if you’re going to be delivering education when domestic and family violence, you’ve got to have the holistic approach.
“So we’re delivering it to young female students, that’s our target group, but we’re going to be working with the men’s and the youth groups to deliver it to the boys as well.
“I think it’s really important to engage and target the next generation, the young generation, because they’re only just starting their journeys in life and a lot of their relationships will start at high school,
“It’s really important if we’re going to look at breaking the cycle of domestic and family violence in our families in our communities and our nations.
“We have to start with the next generation in educating them and informing them so they understand exactly what is domestic and family violence and that it is a criminal act.
“It’s unacceptable and that they do have a right to feel safe, because a lot of children who are victims of domestic and family violence and in communities where they’re seeing it all around them.
“They think its normalised behaviour, and its not- it is a crime.
“It is against the law, and they have a right to feel safe. Their siblings have a right to feel safe, and their families have a right to feel safe.
“So it’s equipping them and empowering them to make some good choices and moving forward in their relationships and choose to work towards healthy relationships,” Aunty Flo said.
Stars Program Coordinator, Jodie Cronk, said time spent with Aunty Flo was very insightful and at the end of the session at Thuringowa High the majority of the girls enrolled with Stars who took part in Flo’s additional component, said they had learned new things, especially around the different types of domestic family violence and supports available.
“Aunty Flo’s insights helped our students feel much clearer about who they could turn to for advice if they ever found themselves in a domestic violence situation.
“When we have conversations with a caring Indigenous Elder who has a detailed and legal understanding of this space, it’s a very influential connection for our young women that can make a powerful difference to their wellbeing,” she said.
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Originally published as Thuringowa State High School part of pilot program breaking domestic violence cycle
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