Local agencies meet over gender and family violence

 

The Zonta Club of Man-gawhai held an awareness and information evening in the Mangawhai Village Hall on No-vember 26 as part of the 16 days of activism (Nov 25 – Dec 10) for the Zonta Says No cam-paign against gender and fam-ily violence.

Jan Barnett (pictured) opened the meeting, introduc-ing representatives from lo-cal agencies who spoke about their organisations: SOS Cri-sis Intervention and Advocacy; Hestia Women’s Refuge;TeRito Champions; NZ Police Domes-tic Violence Prevention.

Te Rito champion Nicole Walker spoke about her rea-sons for becoming a champi-on and what their role will be in the community – a first port of call for anyone facing family violence issues.

"The evening was a catalyst for better communication be-tween all groups and as such was a very worthwhile meet-ing. I'd like to see this as a yearly event," said Area 1 Zon-ta director Liz Holsted.

Liz also spoke on the new 2-year alliance between Zon-ta and the Sophie Elliot Foun-dation, fundraising for the purchase of the book Loves-Me-Not to be used in school courses for both teenage boys and girls to determine the dif-ference between good and bad relationships.