CANDLELIGHT VIGIL REMEMBERS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS

OVER 100 people turned out for a moving candlelight vigil for domestic violence victims.

A march of remembrance started the event at Southport last night.

The frontline in the battle being waged against DV on the Coast were heard, as they gave impassioned speeches about what their organisations were doing to scrub DV from the community.

Founder of RizeUp Nicolle Edwards said DV needed to be brought out of the shadows and a light shone on it to give voice to victims.

“Up until now one of the biggest issues has been that the broader community isn’t actively involved in finding a solution. Nor are we, as a society, adequately addressing the root cause of domestic violence,” Ms Edwards said.

“RizeUp gives a voice to those who don’t feel they can speak up about domestic and family violence.

“We have a very serious issue we DV in our society and as a community it is up to us to drive awareness of the issue and respectfully challenge the behaviours and attitudes that allow this violence to thrive.

“Even though we have such an enormous problem, no one wants to talk about DV, but we have to, we have to bring it out of the darkness and shine a light on it, give it nowhere to hide … lets give them (victims) their voices back.”

For Raquel the vigil was a moment to reflect on victims, while talk to others about the changes still needed in the Coast community.

“It’s important to remember families who’ve lost loved one, a day to remember, for the community to come together and take stock on the changes that still need to come.

“It’s the responsibility of the whole community to help put a stop to domestic violence, everyone needs to know how serious this issue is.

“DV is not going to stop without education and awareness, until the whole community holds perpetrators accountable.

“The message to say something, do something is incredibly important, I don’t want my daughter growing up in a world where she thinks this is acceptable or that she is less.”