Together Against Violence

The Tri-City Area's Together Against Violence (TAV), was established in 1994 and is a non-partisan group of citizens dedicated to promoting solutions to violence in the community.

Wear a purple ribbon, symbolizing your personal commitment to reduce violence in our community, our schools, and our homes.

TAV believes the most effective response to violence is to tackle the underlying causes. The purpose is to:

• raise community awareness and understanding of the nature and root causes of violence and the preventative solutions that are available
• promote personal commitment to behavior and activities which help prevent violence
• generate new community based initiatives in the areas of violence awareness, prevention and treatment

Violence takes its form in many aspects and degrees within our community. Examples of the various types of violence are:

Bullying - both verbal and physical
Child abuse - both verbal and physical
Youth violence
Spousal abuse - both verbal and physical
Elder abuse - both verbal and physical
Racism and hate crimes

Watch for the TAV Purple Book to come

1. Become informed about the various forms of violence and learn to recognize signs of abuse.

2. Examine your own attitudes, beliefs and behaviour. Challenge your own personal stereotypes. Learn healthy ways to deal with feelings of anger and aggression. Consider whether you are inadvertently condoning violence in your own life by:

• making violence a part of your entertainment
• hitting your children
• repeating racist, degrading or sexist jokes

3. Take care of yourself. Reduce sources of frustration and stress in your life. Recognize the value of family and friends for support. Learn how to protect yourself from crime.

4. Enhance your parenting skills. Be aware of your own limitations as a parent and find the support you need. Take time for family activities and stay connected with your children. Model empathy and respect for others. Teach your children to be responsible for their actions.

5. Be a good neighbour - get to know eachother. Keep in touch with elderly neighbours. Become a Block Parent, start a Block Watch Program. Perform random acts of kindness.

6. Report all incidents of abuse and violence or any suspicious activities in your neighbourhood.

7. Build a stronger community. Volunteer. Promote safe places for youth to meet and socialize. Participate in Community Policing Programs. Support agencies that promote violence prevention.

8. Support your school. Familiarize yourself with your school's code of conduct. Encourage initiatives which teach empathy, conflict resolution, impulse control, peer mediation and prevention of bullying. Support programs which encourage youth to stay in school.

9. Control the impact of the media. Express your disapproval of media that contains gratuitous violence, sexist, racist or ageist themes. Express your support of media that produces a respectful portrayal of all people. Find creative alternatives for family entertainment.

10. Take a stand. Support or lobby government for initiatives and programs to deal with violence in the home, poverty, poor housing, illiteracy, substance abuse and unemployment. Send letters to editors on issues which concern you. Exercise your power as a consumer. Wear a purple ribbon.

We are not powerless in the face of violence in our society. The actions that we take individually and together as a community will make a difference.

We need to remember that:

• violence is not an acceptable solution to conflict
individuals have the right to say "no" to violence, and the responsibility to participate in the solutions
• violence is a complex problem that affects people of all ages and crosses all socioeconomic and cultural boundaries
• the tools to reduce violence are:
  • education
  • dialogue
  • community participation

For most of us, achieving a violence-free community sounds like an impossible dream. Violence and destructive social behaviour seem to be an inevitable aspect of human life. But creating more peaceful and violence-free conditions within our community is possible and realistic. Creating a violence-free community requires transformation in:

1. How we think: A violence-free community begins in the world of the mind. IT has its foundations in how we view the world, each other and ourselves.
2. How we act: A violence free community requires holistic action in how we relate, how institutions operate, and the values our cultures promote.
3. When we act: A violence-free community requires systematic, long-term, and proactive action. The challenge is to create conditions which prevent the appearance of violence in the first place. We're not only reacting to violence once it has occurred, but we're working to prevent violence from occurring in the first place.
4. Who is in the forefront of the action: A violence-free community will be built and led by youth and children. It is the younger generations who have the dynamism, energy, and vision to create new ways of relating and interacting.
5. The principles that shape our community: A violence-free community needs to be guided by the principle of unity in diversity. Finding unity in our diversity should be a driving force in the shaping of community life.

How can individuals and communities deal with violence? A key is to focus on proactive action, which systematically targets the underlying roots and causes of destructive behaviours... Such an endeavour could be a tremendous gift to the present and future generations. - Dr. Roshan Danesh

Take charge of making your environment violence-free through:

• Reflection, consultation, and action
• Get together with your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours
• Reflect on instances of violence that affect your home, school, office or neighbourhood
• Consult on one short-term, constructive, peaceful and manageable plan to work together in eliminating the root causes and circumstances leading to violence

So think, act and support a violence-free way of life today!