Education and Awareness

Understanding domestic violence is key to making safe changes, because how we think about violence shapes our response to it.  Domestic violence is not about unhappy marriages or communication problems.  It is about one person exercising power over another, controlling them and causing them to live in fear.  It crosses all cultures, religions, ages and socio-economic groups, and can affect anyone.  Although not all, most family violence predominately consists of men being violent towards women and children.  Shine* is dedicated to providing assistance to all people in need of support, irrespective of age, sex or race.

Domestic violence is not just physical.  Often emotional and psychological violence is just as bad, if not worse.  People frequently treat domestic violence as a secret, marked by shame and fear.  In order for family violence to stop, we need to respond as a community.  It’s important to remember that domestic violence is against the law.

Domestic Violence as defined by the Domestic Violence Act 1995
"Domestic Violence" means violence against that person by any other person with whom that person is, or has been, in a domestic relationship.
"Violence" means physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. This includes intimidation, harassment, damage to property, or threats of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse.

A person psychologically abuses a child if that person:
(a) Causes or allows the child to see or hear the physical, sexual, or psychological abuse of a person with whom the child has a domestic relationship; or
(b) Puts the child, or allows the child to be put, at real risk of seeing or hearing that abuse occurring.

A single act may amount to abuse. A number of acts that form part of a pattern of behaviour may amount to abuse, even though some or all of those acts, when viewed in isolation, may appear to be minor or trivial.

At Shine* we believe no-one deserves to be hurt.