A personal and powerful presentation at Ikon Park from family violence victim Kristy McKellar recently resonated particularly strongly with Carlton’s playing group.
Following Tuesday’s launch of the CARLTON RESPECTS initiative, Carlton CEO Steven Trigg revealed that the Club’s playing group was deeply moved by McKellar’s presentation.
“There was already a will for this initiative to take place, but we were lucky enough to have a delightful lady by the name of Kristy McKellar talk recently at one of our monthly all-staff, board and players lunches,” Trigg said.
“Unfortunately, she had been subject to nasty domestic violence and she spoke of her experiences to our whole-of-club gathering. It resonated so strongly that our players and staff, particularly a number of our players, pitched in and said ‘how can we help and make a difference’.”
“Some thoughts became actions and CARLTON RESPECTS is one response to that and we’re now proud of what has been put out there.”
On Tuesday evening, the club launched a new family violence prevention initiative called CARLTON RESPECTS, aiming to raise awareness and promote respect and equality.
“For us, it is as simple as us striving to be leaders in equality. We’re hoping to make a difference,” Trigg said.
“To grow Carlton is to have a sense of inclusion and belonging. We have been working hard on that over the last 18 months and this (new initiative) is another part of that. We think and hope we can make a measurable and meaningful difference.”
Speaking with SEN Afternoons on Wednesday, Trigg reminded supporters that the new initiative was a genuine approach to create a broader sense of belonging.
“We are not distracted in terms of what we need to do on-field by having a women’s team, or indeed taking a leadership role in equality and respectful relationships,” he said.
“Why can’t we do both? They’re not mutually exclusive. We can acquire and run a women’s team and strive to win games and premierships at the same time.”
In an appalling statistic, police attend a family violence incident every eight minutes in Victoria alone. In a contrast to the traditional navy blue, Carlton players will run out in orange socks at Sunday’s clash against West Coast at the MCG to raise awareness for the family violence prevention initiative.
“It isn’t right. It is a lack of equality that can lead to family violence,” Trigg said.
“And I’m really proud of our playing group in particular for helping with this new club initiative.”
For more information on CARLTON RESPECTS, please click here.
