CHILDREN and young people are the answer in the fight to stop family violence, according to survivor and advocate Conor Pall.
On Friday, hundreds of people from all corners of the community turned out for what is believed to be the largest Mildura Council Walk Against Family Violence.
Pall, who is the current Mildura Young Citizen of the Year and the youngest person to be appointed to the Victorian Victim Survivors' Advisory Council, led the walk and said it was amazing to see not just services join the walk, but regular members of the community and even schools.
Pall, who recently released a book empowering young readers with a message of hope and resilience in the face of adversity, said he was a firm believer that children and young people were the answer in the fight to end all forms of violence.
"To see the whole Werrimull school here today, I think the conversation is starting to shift around centring the voices of children and young people and looking toward them for a future free of violence," he said.
"I think today demonstrates that, particularly with the high turn-out of just people in the community - yes, there were practitioners, yes, there were police - but there were just people and it's people who stop violence."
During his speech before the walk, Pall implored the community to "be that one person that takes a stand and puts a stop to the insidious intergenerational cycle of violence in our country".
"I've been able to turn what was once the darkest part of my life into my super power," he said.
"I’ve turned the cycle that is, into the cycle that was because using violence is a choice that people make and I chose healing, I chose to break the cycle and you can do that, too.
"It only takes one person to stand against the shadow, the shadow that is family violence."
Mildura councillor for gender equity Helen Healy, who helped lead the walk, said this year was the first time she had turned around and not been able to see the end of the walking group.
She said it was great to see so many organisations, groups, school and services commit to the cause.
"I think what's growing is the actual presence of people, which shows that as institutions and organisations, they're making a commitment to address this in the workplace, in the school," she said.
"There's a lot of younger people here this time and I think it gives them that sense of solidarity for calling out behaviour that really rings alarm bells in ‘something's going on’."
Cr Healy said it was amazing to have Pall speak and lead the way.
"Conor is such an asset to this whole body of work because he's lived it, he's survived it and he's moved into a whole new sphere of being an activist about it," she said.
"I'm just so proud of him and the work he does, and he deserves every accolade he gets.
"Plus being a young survivor, I think he can be a real trigger for young people to go ‘Yeah, that's happening in my home or in my workplace', I think he is a huge driver of change."
