May marks Domestic Violence Prevention Month, an important time to raise awareness of the reality and devastating impact of domestic and family violence in Australia.
Coming at a time when news headlines across Australia are highlighting this heartbreaking national crisis of violence against women, this month offers an important opportunity to continue amplifying calls for urgent action and deeply considering how our communities can join in prayer and action together for Domestic and Family Violence justice.
Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) is heartbreakingly far too common in Australia and affects people across all ages, socioeconomic status, education levels, ethnicities, and languages. However, women are far more likely to experience DFV than men. In Australia, intimate partner violence contributes to more death, disability and illness in women aged 25 to 44 than any other preventable risk factor, with 2 in 5 women (39%) having experienced violence since the age of 15.
Domestic Violence Prevention Month is recognised in Queensland and also widely marked by organisations throughout Australia. This May, Common Grace is joining in recognising this month as an important opportunity to raise awareness of Domestic and Family Violence in Australia and the need for us all to be taking action to call for justice and create spaces of safety and protection in our communities.
Join in Prayer
“You bring light into darkness, and darkness cannot overcome the light of your love… Pour out your love into the hearts of those who continue to suffer…”
Prayer for domestic and family violence survivors
Lynda Dunstan has written a ‘Prayer for domestic and family violence survivors’ for Common Grace to share as part of this month of awareness and prevention. Lynda is currently the Family and Domestic Violence Advisor for Anglicare Sydney. She is passionate about supporting DFV survivors and believes faith communities have an important role to play both in responding to DFV and changing community attitudes that underpin domestic abuse. Lynda is a Common Grace supporter and attends church at Northside Baptist Church in Sydney.
This prayer is available online here and also includes a downloadable PDF version in large font.
To explore other prayers about DFV please visit www.commongrace.org.au/domestic_violence_pray
Explore Further Resources
Support Women Experiencing Abuse: ‘Renew’ Book
The journey towards healing and recovery for a woman who is or has experienced domestic abuse is difficult. To help make someone’s journey easier we recommend purchasing ‘Renew: An Australian Guide for Christian Women Survivors of Domestic Abuse.’ Based on research, this book provides practice wisdom, insight and practicality, hoping to guide women on their journey towards healing, recovery and wellbeing.
You might like to purchase this book for yourself, for someone who you know is a survivor of domestic abuse, or as a resource for your church. You can order your copy today from Anglicare for only $15.
Learn more
When a woman is killed by an intimate or former intimate partner every 9 days in Australia, and one in six women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime, it can be difficult to imagine that the violence and abuse that is happening behind closed doors could be preventable.
Australia’s leading national evidence-based framework for the prevention of violence against women, ‘Change the Story’ by Our Watch, tells us that change is possible. It outlines that what is needed is cultural and societal change, policy and structural change, and generational change.
We must continue to call our governments to pursue gender equality, to invest in programs that work with men who are most at risk of perpetuating violence, to address intergenerational trauma and child abuse, and integerate primary prevention work across all areas of domestic and family violence justice the so that we can end the circle of abuse in our homes.
As Christians, we desperately yearn for our churches to be communities of safety and welcome for all. But we know that we are not immune from this national epidemic. More needs to be done to bring transformation, safety and support to the communities around us.
To equip yourself and your church to understand DFV and how to respond better visit our resources at SAFER.
To understand spiritual and religious abuse in the context of intimate partner violence read this latest research report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Give
Thank you for your compassion to see a world where all women and children are free from violence. To help further equip Common Grace to develop resources, partner with other Christian organisations, and create campaigns on Domestic and Family Violence, we need your financial support. If you would like to help please make your donation online here.
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If you would like to speak to someone about family violence or sexual assault, you can contact 1800 RESPECT – 1800 737 732 (National sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling and information referral service, available 24 hours a day, every day of the year). If you are in immediate danger, please call for the police or an ambulance on 000.