Domestic violence campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty brought the conversation to Orange on the weekend in the hope of putting an end to the scourge that's rife in the Central West.
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Ms Batty met with domestic violence stakeholders and was guest speaker at Birds in the Bush, which raised more than $100,000 for a crisis accommodation centre in Orange that helps women and children who are escaping family violence.
Birds in the Bush founder and director Vanessa Vazquez said Birds in the Bush aimed to raise $50,000 for Housing Plus's The Orchard but "staggeringly we raised over $100,000".
Raising the issue
Orange and the Central West have an infamous domestic and family violence problem and Ms Vazquez says she was inspired to launch Birds in the Bush when The Orchard was still under construction.
"It was about three years ago there was a bit of push back from the community in relation to the building of the refuge. It seemed that the community acknowledged that we needed a refuge but they didn't really want it in Orange," she said.
"I found that disappointing because we know that depending on your source, one in three, or one in four women are affected by family violence and one in six children are affected by family violence.
"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist and certainly as a community we have a responsibility to help these women and children and it can only enrich our community in helping people escape violent homes."
A pervasive problem
The issue was also one that's close to her heart through personal and professional experience and she says anyone can be affected.
"I'm also a survivor of childhood family violence, which I don't like to talk about but I think that I'm a good example of the fact that it's all pervasive, that it affects people from all backgrounds, all socio economic statuses," Ms Vazquez said.
"As Rosie Batty says, it doesn't matter how much your house is worth, your income, your race, your religion, it happens to everyone and I think the more we talk about it the more we can change societal attitudes which is necessary.
"Birds in the Bush is really about stopping family violence. Locally we know that the Central West has one of the highest rates in NSW, we know that we are double the state average. In instances of family violence about 60 per cent goes unreported.
"We have so much to be proud of in the Central West, you know our wine, our food, our community spirit but the family violence is not one of them and we need to all work together to address it because it's everybody's problem."
How can the law help?
Ms Vazquez is a lawyer at Whiteley Ironside & Shillington Solicitors and said family violence "bleeds into all areas of law".
"Obviously we see it in family law and we see it in crime, but we also see it in succession so think estates when people die, farming succession and other places where there are vulnerable people so elder law, people with disability and migration, I do a lot of migration work," she said.
We have so much to be proud of in the Central West, you know our wine, our food, our community spirit but the family violence is not one of them and we need to all work together to address it because it's everybody's problem.
- Birds in the Bush founder Vanessa Vazquez
"I would love to say the problem is reduced but I think quite the opposite. I think that we are only on the precipice of this issue with perhaps more people coming forward with these kind of things but we still have challenges with how the law responds.
"NSW is the first to implement the coercive control legislation but we are yet to see how that will work in practice and that's obviously a brilliant step but it's also about clients and people being able to identify what the signs of coercive control are and then feeling supported and courageous enough to seek help."
Stakeholders meet
To discuss these issues of family violence, as well as coercive control, a panel of 30 domestic and family violence stakeholders from across Orange met at a round-table event at Byng Street Hotel before the Birds in the Bush fundraiser.
"We had a collaborative stakeholder event with Rosie Batty and many of the family violence stakeholders including our local magistrate David Day, federal, state and local government, as well as schools, police, corrections, medical providers, lawyers," Ms Vazquez said.
Among the participants were federal MP Andrew Gee, incumbent state MP Phil Donato and mayor Jason Hamling.
"I think it's an educational thing learning from Rosie and each other learning about these things so that when judges and others including police and doctors and other first responders are being told of these things that we are asking the right questions and we are looking for the right signs of coercive control," Ms Vazquez said.
"What we want our community to know is that they are well supported."
How the situation has changed
Ms Vazquez said the discussion during the Birds in the Bush fundraiser took place in the format of a public conversation.
"It was a conversation between myself and Rosie where we discussed family violence, what we can do and how she has personally transcended tragedy and really been an advocate for change in the family violence scene," she said.
"Rosie's key take home messages were that it's every person's issue, that there have been good changes since she began her advocacy work when Luke was murdered in 2014, that we are now able to say that it is primarily a gendered issue that we know that men are the primary offenders or perpetrators and we feel comfortable doing that.
"For a long time that was a position that was pushed back by the community, by the public at large really.
"In saying that, not all men are violent men but they are powerful allies in stopping family violence."
Birds in the Bush
Ms Vazques said about 300 people attended the fundraiser, including 250 ticket holders, as well as volunteers and staff.
"There were men there as well in smaller numbers, we had people who travelled from Cowra, Dubbo, there were some people from Newcastle, Sydney, Boorowa, from all around, Molong and Eugowra," she said.
"Next year Cowra and Dubbo want us to put buses on and people in Dubbo were saying they want to put on something like this. There were younger people there, some older people there, and certainly my age people.
"We want to work on that because Birds in the Bush is inclusive and we want to spread the message far and wide so that's why we thought Rosie was a great person to do that, she's a great draw card for people of all ages and both genders too."
Double the money
Ms Vazquez said about 20 students from Orange High School also catered the event and that is was great to have the younger people there.
"We know that the change is glacially slow but it's hopefully change that they will see in their lifetimes and its message that should be reaching kids."
The money was raised through a live auction, a silent auction, and a raffle with prizes valued at more than $40,000. Live auctioneer Justin Fleming from Fleming Property Services in Boorowa came for free.
"He was exceptional, I really think he played a role in drawing our every last bid so we could get over $100,000," Ms Vazquez said.
Ms Vasqueze said Ms Batty has been texting her since the event saying she will help them get a high-profile speaker for Birds in the Bush 2024.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Men's Referral Service 1300 776 491; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
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