Kiri Kiri

KIRI

"Looking at how to make change in the world and supporting people to make change in their world by creating space, rather than try and push people around."

Kiri heads PEER , a violence prevention program conducted throughout schools in the western region. Kiri developed the program for West CASA as an extension of their counselling and support services.

Violence prevention is an emerging field that Kiri is passionate about promoting. "It's shifted the playing field so that violence isn't just about feminism; it's a public health issue. It's got serious health impacts and serious financial impacts, which always has a lot of weight with the government."

Kiri feels she has finally found her path with the combination of prevention, women's health and community work. "I remember at times feeling as if my career was all over the place. I don't have vocational qualifications or I don't know what I want to do. I feel that now I am at a place where it has all come together and I feel that, yeah, I do know what I am doing; I do have something to offer. I am really happy with where I am at and being able to make a difference is really important to me."

Kiri trains peer educators, who are young university students, to conduct the workshop with high school students. "One of the great things about this model is the mentoring that I see going on. We start off talking about power in our society and the way that it clusters. Like the more power you have the easier it is to get more; the less power you have, the harder it is to get."

"Through power, we talk about gender and how gender and power interact. Then we go into violence in relationships, because most assault happens with somebody you know. We broaden the definition of violence, about emotional and physical as well as financial abuse and we talk about the way power interacts with a domestic violence situation. It's about power and control."

"We talk about sexual assault, the law and consent and some of the complexities around consent. I guess I am starting to understand consent as a process, rather than you give consent at one point and it's yes or no. It's actually an ongoing thing that you have to keep thinking about. It's about an ongoing relationship of trust between two people and ensuring there are conditions for that trust to be able to happen. So we talk about consent as being a free agreement, as being unpressured."

It's hard to quantify the impact of a preventative program but as one of the peer educators realised, "It's like we are going out there and there's this big, wrong idea in the world about women and about relationships. We are going out and putting a little dent in that idea, we are spreading a good idea, a different way of thinking about relationships."

Kiri's approach to activism is very personal; she has found an ethos that works for her. "I have never wanted to fight. I understand the need to fight for your rights and that sort of thing and that certainly is important. But I never wanted to look for a fight, I guess. So the work that I am doing now really suits me because it's a way of being active without necessarily being confrontational. It's a big part of my practice. Looking at how to make change in the world and supporting people to make change in their world by creating space, rather than try and push people around."

1 Promoting Equal Empowering Relationships
2 The western branch of Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault

Women's Health West

KIRI

"Looking at how to make change in the world and supporting people to make change in their world by creating space, rather than try and push people around."