Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Council's Domestic Violence Campaign

I've given the Council a fair bit of stick lately over the bins and the state of my street so it's actually really nice for me to be able to say that I'm really pleased with and proud of them.

In the latest copy of Greenwich Time they talk about the Council's new poster campaign about domestic violence.

The poster and the article both make very clear that men can be victims of this crime as well as women and that to me is a big change from the usual campaigns which are aimed at women and often only give numbers that they can call.

I've had the misfortune to know two victims of domestic violence, one of either sex, so I'm painfully aware of how anyone can suffer from it. I also remember the man confessing to what he'd been through years after the event still feeling shame that those sort of things shouldn't happen to men and that he felt there was no one, official or otherwise, he could turn to for support.

At least the woman knew that when she made the matter official, which is terribly hard for anyone, there were all sorts of support schemes and hostels ready and waiting for her.

So anyway a big pat on the back for the Council and I'll repeat the words of Councillor Maureen O'Mara:

"Domestic violence will only end when the whole of society challenges it as unacceptable and sees it as a crime."

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