Talks to tackle

A COMMUNITY forum could be critical in providing a cure to violent behaviour in Cranbourne.
Windermere Child and Family Services is planning to host a forum in Cranbourne in the coming months that could become the first step in turning the suburb into a non-violent one.
Forum organiser and Windermere’s Victims of Crime worker, Anne O’Dwyer, said a similar forum was being held in Springvale this week.
She said the forum would allow residents to meet and work on developing initiatives to reduce and one day eliminate violent behaviour in their community.
Ms O’Dwyer said the forum was the culmination of feelings among fellow workers that it was time to tackle violent behaviour.
She said there was a prevalence of violence in areas where poverty was rife, including Cranbourne.
“Factors that work against building a non-violent community are poverty and oppression. That then leads to disconnected communities,” she said.
“We are asking people ‘What are your dreams?’ and ‘What would you like to see happen in this community?’ ”
In a previous Windermere forum at Hastings, Ms O’Dwyer said residents suggested anger management programs, media campaigns against violence and the positive promotion of “devalued” social groups – such as gay people, Muslims and single mothers – as ways of working to reduce violent behaviour.