The Harris Park Community Centre will honour and advocate for those lost at the hands of domestic violence as part of their 16 days of activism activities.
From November 25 to December 10 the centre will launch its purple bench project which recognises the memory of those murdered by creating awareness and starting a conversation about the issue of domestic violence in Australia.
A purple bench will be featured out the front of the community centre with information flyers and another bench will be featured all over the Parramatta city from restaurants to retail stores, to garner the attention of bypassers.
The benches were painted by Western Sydney University social work student Stella Zikpi, who assisted with the project.
Harris Park Community Centre Manager and White Ribbon Ambassador Patrick Soosay said domestic violence can be an issue in the Indian culture.
Mr Soosay said he wants to shine a light on domestic violence, particularly dowry abuse, that is present within some communities in Australia.
“We want to engage people holistically and engage with them to help them gain a better understanding of their rights and equality in this country,” he said.
Founder of the Indian Crisis and Support Agency, Kittu Randhawa, is a huge advocate against dowry abuse and has been working alongside the community centre on their upcoming projects.
In addition the centre will also be hosting a Chess N Chai program to encourage men to come together and start conversations about the challenges they face in 2020.
Australian College of Applied Psychology masters student, Nikhil Seth, helped to create the program, which will touch on an array of different topics such as mental health and family to gender equality.
“Men don’t like to open up and talk about their feelings but it’s really important to hear how they are struggling, learn about their family or friends or family back in India and assess how we can help them,” Mr Soosay said.
The first session will be one in which men attending will taste different types and flavours of tea.
“It won’t be too serious to start off, even if they come just to play games, chat and have tea, that is still ideal to us,” he said.
The program will run over six weeks starting from Thursday November 26 from 6.30-7pm. Contact manager@hpcc.org.au.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.