Utterbox: speaking out against violence

By Angela Luvera

WOLLONGONG -- One in four women in Australia is sexually assaulted by the time she turns 18. The most common site of violence against women is in their homes. This reality has prompted young women here to get together to produce a CD to raise awareness about violence against women.

Ariane Lewis, a performer on the CD, told Green Left Weekly the production was the idea of the NSW Attorney General's Department's “Violence Against Women Strategy”. The department approached Wollongong youth worker David Curly last June, and the performers and organisers began meeting in August

“The idea of the CD”, Lewis said, “is to promote awareness of violence against women, most importantly of the different forms of violence, not just physical.

“Hopefully, this CD will give women the confidence to speak out or find protection if they need it. This is something completely different, kind of like an audio version of Reclaim the Night.”

The CD, titled Utterbox “to represent stopping the silence on domestic violence”, includes punk, soul, spoken word and folk. “Bracode, Tania Nichiaman, Olivia Bartley and other women perform on it -- all locals contacted through the Wollongong Youth Centre”, Lewis said.

Utterbox will be launched at the Hideaway Café in Wollongong on March 17, and the Oxford Pub in Wollongong on March 19. It will be available only from selected record and CD outlets.

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