MEDIA RELEASE (commence 19.11.07 lead up to 25.1107)
More Help To Identify Abused Women
“If only someone had asked I would have told them.” This is the uncomfortable truth for many women who attend accident
and emergency centres or doctors’ surgeries.
Safer Families Violence Prevention Network is delighted to launch its latest DVD, Afraid to Ask, a family violence
resource that focuses on screening and risk assessment.
This DVD helps those who come into contact with the effects of family violence on women to ask the women the right
questions.
Many community workers, health professionals, and government agencies now routinely screening women and children for
family violence. Afraid to Ask is a training tool that can be used to upskill and give confidence to those involved in
risk assessment and screening.
Many people working in services that deliver risk assessment are unsure what to ask, how to ask, how to respond and
where to refer to.
This is often another job on top of high work loads and can be difficult or uncomfortable.
Afraid to Ask is the third training DVD in a series that educates and promotes best practice for providers who are
working with families affected by violence. Other resources include Someone’s Daughter and the Children are Watching and
were all made by Auckland film maker, Athina Tsoulis.
These resources are highly sought after and have been used to educate workers in statutory organisations and NGOs in the
area of family violence.
ENDS