Thursday 5 February 2009

Thursdays in Black: DVFree

DVFree is run by Preventing Violence in the Home Te Kakano Tumanako, and focuses on the workplace. Often we see more of our workmates than our friends and whanau, so it's great to see a domestic violence programme that aims to help us in our role as colleagues and bosses. Here's more from the website:
DVFree is a national programme that partners with employers to help managers and workers understand the nature of domestic violence and support employees as soon as they disclose the problems. Once senior management / CEO support is established, we provide basic awareness training for all employees and more in-depth training for identified ‘contact people’. We help prepare relevant HR policy and procedures for the agency/company, provide training for staff, and continue to support employers with consultation and evaluation.
To find out more about getting DVFree going in your workplace, or for more information, you can contact Preventing Violence in the Home Te Kakano Tumanako by email, trainer at preventingviolence dot org dot nz, or by phone 09 303 3938.

4 comments:

Anna said...

What a fantastic initiative! It's great to see businesses taking some social responsibility, and I think it's quite true that workmates/supervisors are often in a position to detect when something's wrong.

Something else that appeals to me is that, because workplace bullying and domestic violence can have similar power and control dynamics, raising awareness of domestic violence and how to respond could have a positive spin-off for relationships in the workplace.

Julie said...

Great point Anna - I'm thinking about how I might be able to encourage workplaces I'm in contact with to consider adopting the programme, as it might also be helpful in their work with the wider community as well as their own staff. And certainly the worksites I deal with where bullying is a problem could be a good place to start.

PVH said...

Kia ora Julie & Anna,
Thank you for your support re: DVFREE in the workplace. We have been really encouraged to see that organisations are interested in having this dialogue and implementing policy to support victims of domestic violence.

FYI: We also have another workplace iniative called "Workplace Trust & Support" which highlights the "similar power and control dynamics" (as mentioned by Anna) with both workplace bullying and domestic violence. If you would like more info on this feel free to contact the training team or have a look at our website.
Ma te wa,
PVH

PVH said...

Kia ora Julie & Anna,
Thank you for your support re: DVFREE in the workplace. We have been really encouraged to see that organisations are interested in having this dialogue and implementing policy to support victims of domestic violence.

FYI: We also have another workplace iniative called "Workplace Trust & Support" which highlights the "similar power and control dynamics" (as mentioned by Anna) with both workplace bullying and domestic violence. If you would like more info on this feel free to contact the training team or have a look at our website.