By Laura Michell
Visitors to The Northern Hospital are being encouraged to make their mark on the hospital’s fingerprint tree to take a stand against family violence.
The fingerprint tree was launched by Northern Health chief executive Siva Sivrarajah last Tuesday as part of the hospital’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
The campaign, which began on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and will end on Hume Rights Day, aims to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.
The fingerprint tree will be framed and displayed at the hospital.
Latest Crime Statistics Agency data reveals there were almost 3200 family violence reports to police in Whittlesea between July 2017 and June this year, up 4.4 per cent from the previous 12 months.
In Hume, there were 3300 offences recorded, up 11 per cent on the previous year.
Northern Health’s strengthening hospital response to family violence project officer, Natasha Knapic said the organisation was committed to the elimination of gender-based violence. It is only the second health service in Victoria to be awarded White Ribbon accreditation.
