November Proclaimed Family Violence Prevention Month

by Barry McDonald

Friday, November 02, 2012

On October 29th acting Mayor Dale Crabtree signed a proclamation recognizing November as Family Violence Prevention Month. The proclamation followed a letter from Ms. Shawna Bissell, Community Development, Wetaskiwin and District Victims Services that was distributed throughout Wetaskiwin and read:

Dear Wetaskiwin Community Member,

The month of November is recognised throughout Alberta as Family Violence Prevention Month. It is a time to acknowledge the devastating impact family violence has in our community, but also the successes we have achieved in combating this significant social harm. Throughout the month of November, we will be staging a series of public awareness and education events within the community of Wetaskiwin and surrounding area.

One of our most exciting and inventive ideas involves utilising currently vacant, public display locations throughout Wetaskiwin to showcase typical scenes in the life of people experiencing family violence. Potential locations could include empty store fronts, windows and glass display cases positioned in areas accessible for viewing by the general public. These scenes would be static, non-violent, simple, tasteful and suitable for all ages to view. The goal of this project is to increase awareness of the issue in the community in a manner that is impactful and accessible. We would use common household objects along with lettering to convey our messages. Each display would centre of a single theme including; elder abuse, safety planning, the impact of family violence of children, partner violence, and dating violence in teen relationships. For example: One display idea may include an open suitcase filled with items we encourage women preparing to flee a family violence relationship to hide away (example: spare keys, extra clothes, money, important papers) with a banner over the items stating, “Not every suitcase is packed for vacation”.

We would be responsible for the staging of the display at the beginning of the month, as well as the take down at month’s end. The business or individual that provides the space would have full pre-approval of the content, as well as the option of having the display removed, if the space should be needed, prior month’s end. They would also be gratefully recognised for their donation of the space, within the display itself.

We are currently looking for businesses and individuals who would be willing to donate space for this project. I would be more than happy to answer questions or concerns, or discuss this project in greater details, with anyone who was interested in assisting us with this request.

Thank you, Shawna Bissell (780) 314-9133

scbissell@shaw.ca

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