Making every step count, close to 100 Clarence Valley residents joined members of the Iluka-Woombah Rotary Club on November 29 for a twilight walk to raise awareness of domestic and family violence and the devastating impact it has on communities around Australia.
Organised as part of the global campaign 16 Days of Activism, an annual event aimed at eliminating violence against women and young girls while promoting respectful relationships, the initiative received an outpouring of support throughout the coastal village.
While participants proudly wore purple shirts emblazed with the words ‘together we say no to domestic and family violence’, a number of attendees also decorated several trees within the streets of Iluka with crocheted purple squares, the colour symbolic of the international stand against the devastating, and often deadly behaviour.
President of the Iluka-Woombah Rotary Club Craig Budd said 2024 marked the first occasion the local organisation had hosted a twilight walk, and revealed its inspiration followed a visit by a representative from a woman’s shelter in Grafton earlier this year who spoke to members about the alarming increase in the number of women and young girls affected by domestic and family violence.
“They said the Clarence Valley has the third highest rate of domestic violence related incidents in the state, and that shocked us,” he said.
“It absolutely shocked us.
“The local statistics are frightening, and collectively we agreed we wanted to get something done to help raise awareness (of this issue) and take a step towards lowering those numbers.
“One of our members started to crochet purple squares to cover some of the nearby trees with, and soon we had other ladies and other residents joining in and crocheting purple squares.
“The squares will stay there as a permanent symbol to show everyone Iluka and Woombah residents do not tolerate domestic and family violence.”
Mr Budd said it was great to see so many people get behind the twilight walk last week, which started from Club Iluka, a major sponsor of the event, and included a lap of two blocks throughout the centre of the village.
Following the twilight walk, participants were invited to attend a barbecue at Club Iluka provided by the Iluka Veterans Club.
Mr Budd confirmed the Iluka-Woombah Rotary Club will host another walk to raise awareness of domestic and family violence again in 2025.
“Anything we can do to help, we’ll do it,” he said.
This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 4 December 2024.
