Yarra Ranges Council is encouraging community groups, creative organisations and artists to apply for small grants that address violence against women during the pandemic.
Funding is available for not-for-profit business associations and community groups, with grants of up to $1000 awarded at the end of each month to successful applicants.
Council CEO Tammi Rose said that programs and projects to help prevent violence against women could be eligible.
“There are great ideas for projects in the community to create change in order to prevent future violence and want to help turn them into reality,” she said.
“The Yarra Ranges community is best placed to know what activities and programs can help prevent violence against women and support survivors, and I encourage anyone interested to fill in a grant application.”
Ms Rose said the council was working with support agencies such as Eastern Domestic Violence Outreach Services (EDVOS), which does work to support women experiencing violence.
“Every year in Yarra Ranges, we run our 16 Days of Activism campaign – sharing information in the community about violence against women and the attitudes and stereotypes that make it possible,” Ms Rose said.
“We know there has been an increase in the instances of family violence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Regardless of the stress people are feeling, violence is never the answer.
“Community consensus widely is that violence against women is never acceptable but unfortunately we are in line with the rest of Victoria and seeing family violence occurring more often and with more severity. Alongside this we are also hearing of an increase in households reverting to traditional gender roles and stereotypes.
The 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign that begins on 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and runs until 10 December (Human Rights Day).
During the 16 Days of Activism, Council will share information about violence against women, gender equity and addressing the stereotypes, attitudes and disrespect that underpin family violence.
Council’s small grants provide funding for projects that seek to build social connection and community resilience – connecting people to services and information they need, providing training for staff, attracting donations or volunteers or delivering services online are all examples of projects potentially eligible for small grants.
Ms Rose encouraged anyone interested in running a community program or project to address violence against women to read about the grants and apply.
“We’ll continue to run our campaign and work with our local health and support agencies, but we also know that some fantastic community resilience work comes from community members and we want to support that, too,” she said.
“If you have an idea about helping to address violence against women in the Yarra Ranges, we want to hear from you.”
For more information about the small grants, visit yarraranges.vic.gov.au/grants.
