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Stomp out child abuse!
http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article&article=17119&issue=282

Trevor Knox and fellow SCU masters students want to stomp out child abuse in both black and white communities everywhere.

The controversial APEC heads-of-state forum in Sydney may have forced them to shift their rally to Lismore, but it has not budged them from their mission to stomp out child abuse.

In what is hoped to be an annual event, a group of masters students at Southern Cross University's (SCU) Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples have organised a major rally and concert for this Sunday, September 9, to send a message to abused children and adult victims of child abuse throughout Australia that ‘We hear your cries, we share your pain and we are going to do everything we possibly can to stop abuse happening'.

The group, in partnership with SCU and the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN), is calling on the wider community to join them at the STOMP IT Awareness Carnival at the Lismore SCU campus this Sunday, September 9, from 10am to 4pm. Held on the sports oval, entry is via Military Road. Follow the STOMP IT sign posts.

Well-known Indigenous performers Kev Carmody and country music/gospel singer Roger Knox will head the day's entertainment, which includes internationally acclaimed didjeri-bone player Tjupurru and Buddy Knox and his blues band.

"The concert is our way of making a stand against abuse, including the sexual abuse of children, violence and neglect which occurs in every community both black and white - we cannot and will not let our children go through the abuse we have been through," said Trevor Knox, head of the STOMP IT steering committee.

"We planned this event well before the huge public outcry following the release of the Little Children Are Sacred report, to coincide with National Child Protection Week."

He said the rally and concert was originally planned to be held at The Domain in Sydney - with the full backing of Sydney City Council - where a much larger audience was expected to take part.

"But APEC came along, which was being held around the same time, and it put a dampener on the whole city and people attending so we had to look elsewhere, and thought why not the Northern Rivers," Trevor said.

"We saw that media coverage on child abuse more or less said the problem was in the Northern Territory but as a bunch of students we knew it was not just there but everywhere, in every community.

"This concert presents an opportunity for the Northern Rivers community to take a stand against violence and abuse and, in doing so, encourage other communities to follow our lead by recognising and naming Australia's hidden shame and being prepared to stomp it out."

The alcohol-free family day out includes a children's corroboree, bush tucker food workshops, dancing and singing.

A series of lectures will also be held involving experts in the field such as Professor Judy Atkinson, who will talk about her plan of action to tackle inter-generational trauma and abuse in troubled Indigenous communities.

If you can help in any way contact Trevor Knox on 6620 9282 or 0434 951 037.

imaginif...child protection became serious business