Warwick residents stood up against domestic and family violence last week by attending a Candlelight Vigil to mark the start of a month-long campaign to fight against this abuse happening in our community.
Between January and March this year, 10,400 new clients had sought assistance for domestic and family violence in Queensland alone.
Of these, 76.9 per cent were female and the vast majority of incidents were spousal related.
Chair of the Warwick Strategy Group for Domestic & Family Violence Prevention Bette Bonney said during this period, there were 9244 reports of children being in the household at the time of the violence.
“That’s 9244 households; we don’t know how many children that includes,” Mrs Bonney said.
She said these cases referred to new incidents only.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg for a number of reasons. They do not take into account the many recurring incidents also being reported; and, due to the relationship/family dynamics of DV (Domestic Violence), many DV incidents are never reported.”
The local strategy group hosted the powerful Candlelight Vigil on Wednesday, May 2, as part of a statewide campaign during Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month.
More than 60 people showed their support against domestic violence at the Warwick event, despite the wet weather.
Mrs Bonney said more people were turning up to these vigils as the awareness increased. It was about the fifth time Warwick hosted the event.
“There was more of an energy to it this year. Everyone found it very powerful when they lit the candle. It’s great to have that strength of support,” she said.
Unfortunately, the day saw the seventh death in Queensland this year as a result of domestic violence.
Story: Rebecca Brown
