The Anglican Church of Australia is launching a social media campaign to tackle the root causes of domestic violence.

The You May Have Heard It Said campaign echoes the words of Jesus and contrast the unhealthy attitudes that can lead to domestic violence with healthy ones. For example:  ‘You may have heard it said that a man has the right to control their partner, however, Jesus repeatedly challenged the unjust treatment of women, teaching that both men and women are created equally in God’s image. An image bearer of God is to be respected.’

The campaign will run to coincide the United Nations initiative 16 days of activism against gender-based violence from 24 November to 10 December.

It reflects the churches commitment to prevent and address domestic and family violence affecting its members and those in the broader community. 

“The Anglican Church is determined to be a part of the solution to the national problem of gender-based violence and support victims and survivors of intimate partner violence,” the Primate of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Geoff Smith said.

“This campaign aims at the roots of that violence to change the culture that supports violence.

“We want to start conversations about poor attitudes we may hold towards people around us and reinforce better ones to replace them.” 

The Church has made Ten Commitments to prevent and respond to domestic and family violence and this campaign forms part of the churches strategy.

The commitments were developed by the Anglican Family Violence Working Group, led by the Reverend Tracy Lauersen. 

“We want people to help us to get the message out to as many people as possible, so we invite the community to like, follow and share these social media posts via our Ten Commitments to prevent violence Facebook and Instagram pages,” the Rev’d Lauersen said. 

Bishop Genieve Blackwell, Chair of the churches Families & Culture Commission, said the Church wanted to deliver a powerful message.

“Our churches operate in local community spaces throughout the country and we want to play our part in helping to prevent and respond to the scourge of domestic violence by raising awareness about the link between attitudes and actions,” she said.

Follow and share social media posts on our Ten Commitments to prevent violence Facebook and Instagram pages:

Facebook: Ten Commitments to Prevent Violence: Australian Anglican Program

Instagram: tencommitments. Ten Commitments to Prevent Violence: Australian Anglican Program