By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
UP TO 100,000 purple elephants will appear in the room of most of Geelong’s pubs, clubs and cafes during November.
But they might not be immediately obvious.
Geelong’s elephant in the room is domestic violence and a reminder of that sad fact will be plastered on drink coasters across the region.
The coasters are part of a campaign to highlight awareness of violence against women, said Barwon Community Legal Service executive officer Nick Hudson.
The Barwon Month of Action runs from 31 October to 25 November, culminating on White Ribbon Day.
“This issue cuts across all areas and sections of society,” Mr Hudson said.
“Family violence does occur in our region – our lawyers are kept busy four days a week at court helping women take out intervention orders to try to keep them safe.
“But the women that make it to court, or report incidents to the police, are in the minority.
“The coasters have details of where to get assistance on the back. People wanting help can easily take a coaster and use the details on it at a later date when it is safe to do so.”
Mr Hudson said 65 venues, including the EMC Group’s, had already signed up so far, with the aim of distributing 100,000 elephant in the room coasters across the region.
“We’d really like to hear from any other venues who’d like to take part in this project. Give us a call, tell us how many coasters you use in a month, and we will put you on the list.”
EMC Group director and White Ribbon ambassador Darren Holroyd said using coasters was a unique but effective means of getting the message across.
“People might not take immediate notice but because the coasters are everywhere the message will filter though,” Mr Holroyd said.
