At some stage in all our lives we may encounter a friend, colleague, peer or neighbour in a potentially unsafe situation. 

We may see the bruises on her face, cuts on her hands, listen to the screaming late in the night but not know whether or how we should intervene.

Our intervention may be seen as an unwanted intrusion, or meddling in affairs which don't concern us. But domestic violence (DV) in our communities is everyone's business.

If we are to stop violence and make our communities, schools and businesses more safe for everyone, then, as bystanders we need to step up and take action.

It's not always easy to identify if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or is in an abusive relationship. Violence and abuse are experienced in many different ways. Violence and abuse can include emotional abuse, sexual abuse and financial abuse.

As a friend or colleague you can support someone you know who has told you they are experiencing violence by:

1. Believe what they tell you and making sure they know the abuse is not their fault.
2. Be supportive, listen, be encouraging and open to what they have to say.
3. Encourage the person to seek professional help and discuss the types of options they may have.
4. Offer to go with them when they meet with a support service.

Learn more information about domestic violence (DV) by visiting our Advocacy and Zonta Says No pages. 

Visit us at the Morayfield Shopping Centre, in front of Best and Less, on 2nd and 3rd December. Zonta Club of Caboolture members will be sharing information about domestic violence, child and forced marriage and gender-based violence. You can also collect copies of our safety card for yourself or others you know. 

Would you like to join Zonta. Learn more about membership.

Previous blogs in the 16 Days of Activism series:

Action starts with us.
If we set off the alarm every time we hear screams or cries in the apartment next to ours or the house across the road; if we called the police if we suspected something was not right; if we gave a hand to the victim, comforted them, and listened to them; we would already be helping to make a difference to one persons life and maybe to many others.
If, in addition, we did not blame the victim; if we didn't succumb to the stereotype that the woman had provoked her husband or partner, rapist, abuser; we would make more contribution.
​That's something each of us can do.

We need to understand that men and women are not equally at risk and that no woman is to blame for being a victim of violence.
There is no justification for beatings, psychological torture, or harassment.

We need to teach our daughters and sons about violence against women, and then spread awareness among friends, colleagues, on social networks. 
​In every conversation we need to take action.

​Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Previous blogs in the 16 Days of Activism series:

Day 1: What is the 16 Days of Activism?
Day 2: Why doesn't she just leave him?
Day 3: Climate Justice
Day 4: How digitisation is creating more problems

Despite the enormous potential of technology, digital tools, and the internet, these have also perpetuated gender disparities and introduced new forms of oppression for women and girls.

For many, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, is new terminology but not new phenomena.

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence takes many forms including:

• cyberbullying
• online harassment
• hate speech
• doxing
• intimate image abuse
• trolling
• deep fakes.

Women, girls, and gender-non-conforming individuals are more likely to be targeted and experience more severe and lasting consequences because of their gender. Studies across the world show that 16 to 58 per cent of women and girls have been targeted by violence online.

The impacts of this type of violence extend beyond the digital sphere, entrenching inequalities and posing a significant threat to women's rights and safety both online and off.

Previous blogs in the 16 Days of Activism series:

Day 1: What is the 16 Days of Activism?
Day 2: Why doesn't she just leave him?
Day 3: Climate Justice

Climate events such as floods, droughts, food shortages, fires and excessive storms along with slow environmental degradation exacerbate the risks of violence against women and girls due to displacement, resource scarcity and food insecurity and disruption to service provision for survivors.

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the rate of rape among women displaced to trailer parks rose by 53.6 times the baseline rate in Mississippi, USA, for that year.

In Ethiopia, there was an increase in girls sold into early marriage in exchange for livestock to help families cope with the impacts of prolonged droughts.

Nepal witnessed an increase in trafficking from an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 annually in 1990 to between 12,000 and 20,000 per year after the 2015 earthquake.

Zonta International through its campaign Zonta Says Now is raising awareness to the plight of women and girls during these significant climate events and is calling for action from governments and agencies to ensure that the interests of women and girls are at the forefront of any disaster preparedness.

Detailed publication and infographics relating to 'Tackling violence against women and girls in the context of climate change' are available at Unwomen.org.au.

Previous blogs in the 16 Days of Activism series:

"Why doesn't she just leave?" A question many of us ask in reaction to a story of intimate partner abuse. This reaction speaks to the core of the problem and the erroneous belief that an abused woman has agency -- a capacity to exert power -- in her relationship, when just the opposite is true.

Social researchers and DV practitioners know that psychologically abused women have low self-esteem, which then influences how empowered she feels to have influence over her life. Women with controlling partners experience a slow, insidious, and nearly invisible condition of coercion that entraps them in their intimate relationships. So well hidden, this entrapment can go undetected even by the woman herself.

Being unaware of what is taking place, women naturally minimise and deny the problems with their intimate partners. It's behaviour so embedded in our culture and social expectations that women don't see it or have words for it. At the same time, a woman's experiences costs her a loss of self-esteem and trust in her own perception -- making it all the more difficult to see the truth.

As friends, family and community members we must not fall into this stereotypical trap of blaming the victim for not taking action. We need to remember that a controlling partner seeks to overpower by using psychological abuse tactics that coerce and persuade his partner to his way of thinking.

We need to help the victim understand what has occurred in her life and help her heal rather than expecting her to fit a mould which may or may not be helpful.​

Our safety card includes emergency contacts in Caboolture.

Previous blogs in the 16 Days of Activism Series:

Day 1: What is the 16 Days of Activism?