16 Days in WA: Geraldton police launch ‘orange people' display, raising awareness of gender-based violence

A roving display of “orange people” will pop up around Geraldton to highlight the importance of everyone playing their part to tackle the scourge of family and domestic violence.

Geraldton police launched the display of orange figurines in conjunction with the 16 Days in WA campaign, which started on Monday and runs until December 10.

The campaign comes amid a rising tide of family and domestic violence reports to police. In the Mid West and Gascoyne, reported family assaults in the 12 months to September jumped by 20 per cent, while reported threatening behaviour incidents involving family soared by 73 per cent.

Local police are joining in to raise awareness through the orange people, which they hope will motivate a positive reaction from the community.

The orange wooden cut-outs were made by inmates at Greenough Regional Prison, providing them with an opportunity to play their part and promote this campaign.

Sen. Sgt Russell Hurst said the orange people would be able to inform the community about the campaign whilst educating and motivating them to take action.

“So we’re asking everyone to step up to play their part and to look for alternate ways to sort out problems,” he said.

“What we’re saying is that if you know you are in that situation, to reach out. There is help available. It is tough. We know it’s tough, but there are people that can help.”

Sen. Sgt Hurst said gender-based violence was a hard issue to tackle as quite often it happened behind closed doors. But with the launch of the orange people he hoped the community would be inspired to take action.

“At the end of the day, family violence happens behind closed doors, happens in the open, happens everywhere, and until everyone starts to play their part, it’s going to be very hard for us to change those behaviours,” he said.

The orange people will be transported around the city over the 16-day period of awareness, giving people of all ages a chance to show their support and read the messages of awareness around gender-based violence.

“We know that family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children, and a lot of women are simply too scared to leave or don’t have the resources to leave,” Sen. Sgt Hurst said.

“If you are a victim of family violence, make sure you get the help you need, and reach out to the resources that are available.”

The Walk Against Violence event will take place in Geraldton on Friday, November 29, focusing on this year’s theme of The Violence We Don’t See. The walk will start at Stow Gardens

Included in the 16 Days in WA campaign will be a walk against violence event that will take place on Friday, November 29. The walk, organised by Desert Blue Connect, will start at Stow Gardens and go from 9am to 11am.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)