My name is Toby, and I am the Lead Officer for the Never Silence the Violence campaign. This campaign, created by the young people in Carmarthenshire Youth Council, aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse. So far, we’ve had several meetings, and training sessions which include discussions with the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Partnership coordinator, Dyfed Powys Police, DA project coordinator and Catrin Rees Health Schools coordinator. These discussions between our members of the Never Silence the Violence campaign and many professionals, we are equipped to bring action against domestic abuse.
Our main project as part of the Never Silence the Violence campaign is our DocuDrama. Our members decided to create a DocuDrama looking at the steps of what happens after you report domestic abuse.
We felt that this was important to us as everyone focuses on actually reporting domestic abuse while the aftermath is rarely spoken about. This causes people to feel like they can’t report anything as not knowing what will happen afterwards is scary.
To complete this DocuDrama we all attended training in filming and sound by Sharon from ‘Curious Ostrich’, who is also the director of this project. We had meetings to create scripts about the events after reporting domestic abuse, this information was collected by speaking to Dyfed Powys Police, Carmdas, and other services.
I have been proud as the lead officer of this campaign because the project was based around the new law stating that seeing domestic abuse makes you a victim of domestic abuse.
You don’t have to experience it. I feel that this was important to promote in this project to help raise awareness of the effects of witnessing domestic abuse to use their voice and stand up against domestic abuse and make reporting domestic abuse that little bit easier.
It has been an amazing experience working with such talented young people who are so passionate about this project, all the young people involved have inspired me and everyone else involved to create amazing work to win the fight against Domestic Abuse.
Article By
Toby
Find out how to get help if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse:
★ Remember that you can talk to your Teacher, Youth Worker, Coach or an Adult you trust
★ Live Fear Free – National Website
★ Carmarthenshire Domestic Abuse Service
★ Live Fear Free Helpline – 0808 80 10 800
★ In an emergency, CALL THE POLICE on 999
