Make Christmas more than ‘OK’
28 November 2011
Our Christmas messages this year are built around making this festive season more than ‘OK'.Family violence escalates at Christmas and New Year with Police seeing more incidents and offences than at any other time.
Financial stress, alcohol and pressure to spend more than people can afford means for some children Christmas is remembered for all the wrong reasons.
This is a time when we can say family violence is not OK and reach out to help families we know.
An OK friend asks if you are OK
An OK friend says It's not OK
What can you do?
- talk about it - family violence thrives in secrecy
- take action - don't ignore it if you know or suspect violence is happening
- ask ‘are you OK?'
- offer practical help
- model violence free behaviour in your family and community
- make your home a violence-free place
- support parents and caregivers if they're getting stressed.
Both victims and perpetrators of family violence often feel a lot of shame about the violence in their lives.
It's important to reach out but important to do it safely. Here are some tips:
- never put the victim's or your own safety at risk
- people need support to make decisions in their own time - go at their pace
- if children are being hurt they need safe adults to step in and take charge of their safety
- if someone is in danger or you think someone could be harmed call Police on 111
- even it you're not sure you can call the It's not OK information line on 0800 456 450. It operates every day of the year from 9am to 11pm.
