Candlelight Vigil at Wandana
A giant sign above the Geelong Ring Road was illuminated by Villawood as part of this year’s Candlelight Vigil remembering women and children who have died to family violence. The CONSENT sign at Wandana, in three-metre-high corten steel letters, caught the attention of tens of thousands of motorists using the road daily.
The message is part of a campaign by Villawood Properties to highlight issues affecting women’s safety. We have also also installed giant letters spelling out RESPECT along the Surf Coast Highway at Armstrong Mount Duneed. Both messages have been supported by numerous Geelong agencies dealing with issues of violence, sexual assault, equity, diversity, inclusion and behaviour. These include The Sexual Assault & Family Violence Centre, Deakin University, Barwon Adolescent Taskforce, G21 and genU.
Consent education is now mandatory nationally after education ministers recently agreed to an holistic, age-appropriate consent curriculum to help counter seriously under-reported sexual assault across the country. The idea of the letters is to highlight that consent education is not only now going into our schools but needs to be understood and exercised through the broader community.
