Wagga MP Dr Joe McGirr and Wagga Women’s Health Centre director Johanna Elms examine some of the signs created for last week’s rally. Photo: Chris Roe.
With nationwide attention squarely on the plight of women impacted by violence, the Wagga Women’s Health Centre is getting behind a new campaign to raise awareness around the issue of coercive control.
The NSW Government’s statewide advertising blitz highlights patterns of abusive behaviour using the tagline, “It’s not love, it’s coercive control. Know the signs of abuse”.
Wagga Women’s Health Centre director Johanna Elms applauded NSW taking the lead in this area and hoped that the other states and territories would follow.
“The NSW Government took time to consult experts in the industry, but also women, children and men who have lived experience of domestic and family violence to design this campaign,” she said.
“I believe there is a great opportunity for the Riverina to be an important regional leader in addressing violence against women in the community.
“I really encourage everyone to engage with the campaign, to listen, to maybe question and be inquisitive about it, and also hold some empathy for yourself that this is a big thing to kind of process and understand.
“It might be the first time you’ve actually taken the time and that might cause a degree of distress.”
The NSW Government’s statewide advertising campaign aims to increase awareness of coercive control. Photo: Supplied.
Member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr attended the launch in Sydney and said it was something that everyone needed to understand.
“There is very strong evidence that patterns of coercive control are, sadly, associated with serious harm, particularly to women in domestic and family violence situations,” he said.
“Recent studies showed that almost 100 per cent of women who were killed by their partners have had this pattern of behaviour beforehand.”
The education campaign comes ahead of the introduction of new coercive control laws in July, after the legislation was passed in 2022 under the previous administration.
Perpetrators of coercive control can face up to a maximum of seven years in prison.
“It’s one thing to have a law, but we need to increase public awareness,” said Dr McGirr.
“Sadly, only a quarter of the population understands what coercive control is and its significance. And we need to raise awareness of that.”
Wagga MP Dr Joe McGirr and Wagga Women’s Health Centre director Johanna Elms have welcomed the awareness campaign. Photo: Chris Roe.
Ms Elms reflected on the response to similar campaigns and legislative change in the UK and warned that things could get worse before they get better.
“The number of incidences of homicide in relation to coercive control did escalate in the first period because, even though you change the legislation, the system processes and culture that underpins and supports it also needs to change and that takes time,” she said.
“We also know that in the community there is a sense of retaliation, and we’ve seen that locally since the rallies.”
The NSW Government also announced an emergency package targeting gendered and domestic violence following a cabinet meeting on Friday (3 May).
“We will deliver an emergency package within days; we’re not talking about months or weeks out, within days,” declared Deputy Premier Prue Car.
“We will be talking about the medium and long-term actions that we need to invest in and drive as a government in terms of driving the cultural change to stop women from dying and to stop women from being victims of domestic violence, family violence and violence in their intimate relationships.”
NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car has promised an ’emergency package within days’. Photo: Supplied.
Ms Elms said that it was vital to ensure that a “regional lens” was applied to the discussions so that the solutions would reach beyond Sydney.
“The majority of deaths of women have been in regional and rural communities and yet the majority of funding is going again to the cities,” she said.
“We need to be focused on understanding where the highest risks are.”
With many police officers and first responders beginning their careers in the bush, Ms Elms said they can quickly find themselves on the front lines of the domestic violence crisis.
“We know that domestic and family violence training isn’t mandatory as part of the police’s training before they come out to us and that’s something I think we really need to see change,” she said.
“Regional women are at higher risk than city women for lots of different reasons, including that the gaps and services in the regions are wider and we need to be addressing them.”
The new advertising campaign is now underway and the new laws will come into effect from 1 July.
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