This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
The exhibition being held at Quay Arts Centre in Newport, titled ‘Survive’, aims to focus attention not just on the scale and impact of domestic abuse – nationally two women a week are murdered by current or former partners – but also on the fact that many victims do survive the experience and with support can move on to have safe and healthy relationships.
16 and 18 year olds most at risk
Statistics from the British Crime Survey show that young women between 16 and 18 are the group of people most at risk of domestic abuse, rape and stalking. Teaching young people about healthy relationships in schools is acknowledged to be central to reducing domestic abuse and the acceptance of such abuse in the next generation.
Feedback from students extremely positive
Gill Bushell, head of personal, social and health education at Carisbrooke College, said:
“I cannot stress enough the importance of education on this subject in schools. This is the second year that we have focused specifically on the issue and feedback from the students has been extremely positive.
“I would encourage other schools to get involved with this work. It is an extremely sensitive issue but we work hard to ensure that support is available to students before, during and after the event by either our pastoral team or through members of the Island’s Refuge Team.”
Fleur Gardiner, domestic abuse coordinator at the Isle of Wight Council, said:
“A whole Island approach to educating young people is vital if we are to make real progress against domestic abuse.
“This work takes time to embed, but if we can address abuse and violence in our community in a consistent way then the next generation can only benefit from our efforts.”
Where and when
The exhibition runs from 25th November to 7th December in the Rope Store Gallery and will be formally launched on the evening of the 25th with a private view and a spoken word performance at the Quay’s Acoustic Originals evening on the same night.
