Talking The Talk & Walking The Walk Against Violence
Image: Run Against Violence Co-Founder, Kirrily Dear.
The fifth annual Run Against Violence gets underway this month.
The yearly Run Against Violence was conceived by a volunteer organisation with the sole aim of getting Australia talking about family violence and what it means to have healthy relationships. This year’s theme for the event is “Today’s Conversations are Tomorrow’s Way of Life”.
People can take part in the event simply by raising funds alone as they complete running milestones around their local community or alternative to you can take part in the Run Against Violence Virtual Team Challenge. As part of the team challenge teams of up to 20 people aim to raise money as they run 1300 kilometres collectively.
Last year teams in the Run Against Violence Virtual Team Challenge raised $208,000 with around 4,000 active participants. In 2022 the goal is to raise $240k with 5000 runners and – as men and boys usually make up only about 21% of runners – this year’s Run Against Violence is especially focusing on increased male participation.
Co-founder of the Run Against Violence Kirrily Dear highlighted the significance of violence in our country, “Our virtual run equates to 1.7 million steps. 1.7 million is the estimated number of Australians who experienced physical abuse before the age of 15… Our job is to engage the broader community in conversations about family violence to reduce the stigma and isolation people who have lived with domestic and family violence.
When that stigma is removed people then share their story, reach out for help.”
