By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
‘NO TO family violence’ is a message delivered in schools, football clubs, councils, community groups and in Parliament.
And after a workshop held in Pakenham last Wednesday, 25 November, it’s also a message delivered on the shirts of Cardinia residents.
Members of the community came together at Pakenham Hall to decorate T-shirts with symbols and messages to mark White Ribbon Day.
The session was part of The Clothesline Project which was established in 1990 to raise awareness and challenge attitudes around violence against women.
Primary School student Antonio Martinello painted a T-shirt with his mum Vicki Holmes.
Antonio said that the whole community should know that domestic violence is unacceptable and painted his T-shirt with a message reaching out to other children.
“I wanted kids to know that violence is really bad because I think sometimes kids get forgotten about,” he said.
Vicki agreed it was important to teach children respect from an early age.
“You don’t hurt people you love,” she said.
“That’s the message that I’ve always given him and that’s how I want him to treat other people.”
Mayor Jodie Owen and several councillors also attended the event, including White Ribbon Ambassador councillor Graeme Moore.
Cr Moore said domestic violence was a problem that was of great concern within Cardinia shire,
“It’s about supporting each other and supporting women who find themselves in a position where they feel they have no way out,” he said.
“Cardinia does not have a good record in this area and I want to turn it around. I think we all have a role to play in that.”
While some shirts featured statistics or symbols, others bore short yet powerful messages.
Many just carried the words ‘no violence.’
Local school students decorated paper T-shirts, which were then judged by Pakenham police Senior Sergeant Graeme Stanley.
The T-shirts are now on display at the Pakenham and Emerald libraries.
