YWCA Australia’s Amplifying Voices Program’s first cohort of lived experience advocates graduated from the program on Wednesday 19 June at the Northern Territory’s Parliament House, with the Hon. Kate Worden, NT Minister for Prevention of Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence, officiating the ceremony.
Amplifying Voices aims to engage a diverse cohort of women and gender-diverse people who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence, and homelessness in activities that support them to harness their lived expertise for leading advocacy in the NT to change attitudes, practices, and structures that underpin gender-based violence.
Program participants completed a 12-week leadership and advocacy program which included topics such as ‘Advocacy in the NT’, ‘Understanding Trauma in DFSV’, ‘Legal Issues in Advocacy’ and ‘Working with the Media’, equipping the participants to become effective advocates in their community.
The cohort’s 11 graduates are now poised to begin their advocacy work.
The Amplifying Voices Program was co-designed by six women with lived experience and included input from seven professional advocates and experts.
The program is funded by the Northern Territory Government Safe, Respected, and Free from Violence Prevention Grants that focus on strengthening primary prevention projects in the NT.
