Thousands of people marched from Randwick to Coogee this morning as part of the annual Step Out Speak Out walk, marking the beginning of the global 16 Days of Activism to prevent and eliminate violence against women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Community leaders, students, frontline workers, services, sporting organisations and NSW Police, came together to raise awareness of domestic and family violence and call for change across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group gathered at High Cross Park before walking to Grant Reserve in Coogee, where community representatives, service leaders and NSW Police addressed the crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s event focused on driving cultural change, promoting early intervention and reinforcing support for victim-survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The march comes as NSW Police continue statewide efforts to target high-risk domestic violence offenders through Operation Amarok XII. The most recent blitz resulted in more than 750 people charged, over 1,600 offences detected, 275 warrants executed, and the seizure of firearms, prohibited weapons and dangerous drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While we have more work to do the Minns Labor Government has delivered significant reforms this year to strengthen protections for victim-survivors, improve accountability for offenders and expand early intervention and crisis responses. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These reforms complement ongoing policing efforts, prevention strategies, and community-led initiatives focused on reducing harm and supporting those experiencing violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism, Yasmin Catley said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLast year, police responded to more than 150,000 domestic and family violence-related calls for assistance \u2013 that’s one every three and a half minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday\u2019s march was a powerful reminder that no one should suffer in silence and that the community stands with victim-survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOperation Amarok XII shows the relentless work of our police when it comes to pursuing the state\u2019s worst domestic violence offenders. It sends a strong message that those who harm partners or former partners will be tracked down and held to account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPolice are doing outstanding work, but we cannot arrest our way out of this. Prevention, early intervention and cultural change are essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you see something, hear something or suspect something, please speak up. You could save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Jodie Harrison said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDomestic violence is a challenge that touches every community and the government is working hard to address it, from providing wraparound supports for victim-survivors and strengthening protections to earlier intervention and primary prevention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery year the Step Out Speak Out event draws thousands from the community, to walk alongside victim-survivors towards a future that is free from domestic and family violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday\u2019s march shows how we can work together as a community, to stop the violence before it starts. Together we can change attitudes and behaviours that tolerate violence, and create a safer state for women and children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Member for Coogee, Dr Marjorie O\u2019Neill said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Eastern Suburbs turned out in strength today to say domestic and family violence has no place in our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSeeing so many young people, local organisations and residents marching together shows how committed our community is to standing with victim-survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you or someone you know is experiencing violence, please reach out. You are not alone and support is here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n NSW Police Force Commissioner, Mal Lanyon said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDomestic and family violence in our community is unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt can be hard for victims to speak up if they\u2019re experiencing domestic and family violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEveryone should feel safe. Everyone in the community needs to stand up and speak out, with all of society needing to work together to stop domestic violence.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thousands of people marched from Randwick to Coogee this morning as part of the annual Step Out Speak Out walk, marking the beginning of the global 16 Days of Activism to prevent and eliminate violence against women. Community leaders, students, frontline workers, services, sporting organisations and NSW Police, came together to raise awareness of domestic and family violence and call for change across … Continue reading “Thousands step out to speak out against domestic and family violence”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36181,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36180\/revisions\/36181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}