The saying goes ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, so launching a photo exhibition created by domestic violence survivors should speak loud enough to generate a conversation.
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As the 16 days of Domestic Violence Activism approaches, Griffith Soroptomists and Griffith City Library have launched The PhotoVoice Project: Focus on Domestic Violence.
At the opening last week, guest speakers took the opportunity to highlight the importance of these conversations within the community.
Detective Inspector Tim Attwood from Griffith Local Area Command said people needed to take a stand against domestic violence so police could take the appropriate action.
He encouraged people to view the exhibition to raise awareness of the ramifications of domestic violence.
“For me, the exhibition is a powerful expression of the struggle that many women go through day to day from abuse from their partners,” he said.
“Some of the images, the emotion and that struggle is clear, and you can see by reading the words.”
Deputy CEO of Linking Communities Kirrilly Salvestro made some poignant observations about women who are helped by the organisation after experiencing the abuse.
“When I was asked to speak, it was requested that I speak on something positive about domestic violence,” Ms Salvestro said.
“I thought, how do you say something positive, when one woman is killed every week in Australia? “
“How do you say something positive when one in three women experience domestic violence?”
But she said through Linking Communities there are many positive stories about women who become strong and come out the other side as survivors.
“This is really powerful, and if everyone can encourage the menfolk to come and have a look, pictures really can say a thousand words.”
Griffith Soroptomist President Gerry Rohan said she organised to get the exhibition to Griffith after seeing it at a conference in Queensland.
It was on display, and it just went to my heart straight away.
- Griffith Soroptomist President Gerry Rohan.
“It was on display, and it just went to my heart straight away, and I said, how can we do all of this?”
The exhibition consists of 36 photographs which document the issues faced by six women who survived domestic and family violence.
The project will be open until December 11 at the Griffith City Library, with free entry.
“I hope that people will have the opportunity and take time to look at the exhibition,” said Ms Rohan.
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