Community Action

Community Action Toolkit        Community Action Fund

It is OUR problem

Family violence is an issue that affects all New Zealanders. It happens everywhere. You don’t have to know someone affected by family violence to be able to make a difference. Preventing family violence is a community issue.

It is everyone’s business

You can be part of changing the way New Zealanders think and act about family violence. There are things that you can do right now to make a difference:

• Take action to make your neighbourhood safe. Get to know your neighbourhood. Talk to your neighbours so that everyone knows what to do if they become aware of family violence or how to help families who are stressed and in need of support.

• Make your own family safe and violence free. Think about how you want your family to be and the values that you want your children to learn about relationships. Talk with your family about these issues.

• Speak out when you see and hear things that you are concerned about. Talk about behaviour that you see in the community, reported in the news, in magazines or shown on television. Write letters and articles for your local newspaper. Make your opinions known in your workplace, sports club or social groups.

• Know who can help. Find out about agencies and community groups that deal with family violence in your community. Support their work.

• Use your community networks. You don’t have to take action alone. Think about what your church, school, club or workplace could do to support families to be free from violence. This might be introducing a ‘no violence’ policy, helping families to access the support they need, or getting behind local community events and campaigns to prevent family violence.

To see some examples of whats happening in communities around New Zealand, take a look at this short film about community action against family violence.

Community action short film Hi - Low