Nathalia Hair and Beauty owner Leanne Pell is proud to be part of the local Say No to Domestic Violence campaign.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The growing line of purple chairs on Nathalia’s Blake St is hard to miss.
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They sit outside the local butcher, vet clinic, IGA and hairdresser, serving as a reminder that domestic violence must not be kept behind closed doors.
Nathalia Rotary satellite club Broken Creek Connect has brought the Say No to Domestic Violence campaign to the town, with a dozen local businesses taking part.
Broken Creek Connect member Sophie Hodge said the simple displays were designed to make people stop, wonder and start a conversation.
“The biggest goal is that when people see these chairs, they wonder what they’re about,” Ms Hodge said.
“Why are there all these purple chairs here?”
She said family violence had traditionally been treated as a “behind closed doors issue” that communities were reluctant to discuss.
“These sorts of campaigns create an avenue for those conversations to get going,” she said.
“And hopefully victims of family violence feel as though their community backs them.”
Each purple chair displays a Say No to Domestic Violence sign.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The campaign began in Ballina, NSW, in 2019 and has since spread to communities across Australia.
Ms Hodge said the prevalence of family violence showed why communities needed to speak up.
One woman is killed in Australia every 11 days by an intimate partner, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
“With that sort of statistic, we need every support network available for these people – both for victims to get them out of those situations, but also for perpetrators to cease using that sort of violence,” she said.
“It has to stop. And everyone in the community has a role in stopping it.”
Nathalia Hair and Beauty owner Leanne Pell is one of the dozen business owners supporting the campaign.
“No-one wants to think it’s happening in our town. But it is. It happens everywhere,” Ms Pell said.
“We all need to be involved with domestic violence awareness.
A growing number of purple chairs are dotted along Nathalia’s Blake St.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
“If it helps one person, it’s worth it.”
Ms Pell said the chairs were already prompting conversations.
“I’ve heard clients and people down the street talking about it,” she said.
“It’s doing its job.”
Ms Hodge said the Nathalia community had been supportive of the campaign, with businesses proudly putting out the chairs out every Friday.
She hoped more businesses would join the campaign and turn the main street into a “purple chair parade”.
Stay up to date with the campaign and community events through the Broken Creek Connect Facebook page at tinyurl.com/mpuxwsab
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