Opinion: Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Council co-chairs Bob Atkinson AO APM and Vanessa Fowler OAM.
Bridges are a most valuable asset.
They can also be iconic and symbols of the city in which they are located.
For Brisbane it’s the Story Bridge, in Sydney, the Harbour Bridge and in San Francisco, the Golden Gate.
A dictionary definition of a bridge is ‘A structure carrying a load across a river, road or other obstacle.’
As well as being symbolic and iconic, the greatest bridges are also engineering masterpieces.
Very few of us however will ever have the chance to be the designer of a bridge or even one of the construction workers who build them.
We’d like to use a bridge analogy in relation to domestic and family violence which is very much an obstacle in all of our communities in Queensland and nationally. When we travel across a bridge it’s a journey from where we are to where we want and need to be.
When it comes to domestic violence we need to be at a point where it is prevented to the greatest extent possible.
The engineering that accompanies that goal includes enforcement and education. Enforcement because it’s illegal and education to prevent it happening in the first place.
This is possible by changing the attitudes, values and beliefs which underpin the behaviours of those who perpetrate it.
We can all be involved in bringing about that societal change by being influential within our circle of those we interact and associate with.
Like the construction of any great bridge the prevention of domestic violence will face challenges and require time, effort and determination.
The result won’t be an iconic steel and concrete structure, but it will be a symbol of our communities, organisations, families and relationships being respectful and characterised by safety, equality and fairness.
To find out more about how to be part of building this prevention bridge, visit qld.gov.au/needtoknow
