Every day, 48,000 Australian women face another night with nowhere to call home. Imagine the difference we could make to the lives of these women if 48,000 people came together in a nationwide show of solidarity?
- Yoga4Dignity
Eungai yoga instructor Alexa Cumming has known the trauma of growing up in a household where violence loomed large.
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Lucky for her, she had an escape route once she came of age in the guise of a professional modelling career.
But many women don't have that lifeline, and few exit unscathed.
She remembers housing and protecting friends who escaped violent domestic situations.
"When I was younger a few friends showed up at my door who had been battered and had nowhere else to turn," she said.
For too many women, domestic violence has led to a situation of emotional and/or financial dependence on their abuser.
"Accommodation is often a critical factor in women's decisions about whether to leave a violent relationship," homelessnessnsw.org.au said.
Women representing the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children told a federal parliamentary inquiry last November that almost a quarter of mothers it surveyed had gone back to an abusive partner because they could not survive alone financially.
On average, a woman will leave an abusive relationship seven times before she leaves for good, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
But many do eventually make the leap, often with nothing but the clothes on their back.
Of the 48,000 women who will sleep rough tonight, domestic violence will be one of the most likely reasons they do so, according to Mission Australia.
To make matters worse, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research regional and rural Australians are much more likely than their city counterparts to experience domestic violence.
So chances are you know or have met someone who is or has been there. Domestic violence doesn't discriminate.
This Saturday Australian homeless women's charity Share The Dignity is planning a nation-wide day of action around the issue.
"Once again we're asking yoga instructors across the country to donate a yoga class on August 31 to help us raise funds and awareness of the issues faced by women and girls experiencing homelessness, domestic violence and period poverty, in what will be the biggest joint yoga class ever seen in Australia," the Yoga4Dignity website reads.
Alexa Cumming has been a yoga teacher for 15 years and when she heard about the campaign she felt compelled to organise an event here in the Valley.
Her's is one of over 200 classes across the nation planned for the weekend, but the only one in our region for 100kms or more in every direction.
"I'm hoping this community will be just as concerned and generous as the big cities," she said.
"Volunteering my time is such a small drop in the ocean, but it's something I can do.
We'll balance, bend and breathe in solidarity with our sisters.
"Sometimes yoga can be intimidating for people, but this class will be simple and for any age and fitness level. If you can breathe you can come to the class."
The class will go from 9-10am on Saturday at the Eungai Hall at Eungai Creek.
Registration is $20 and can be done online at the yoga4dignity website. Your fee will go towards purchasing sanitary items and other necessities to go into care packages for women who are in need.
Alexa has a limited supply of yoga mats to accommodate people who don't have one.
"It would be great to have men come along too. There are a lot of really kind men out there who would like to be part of the solution," she said.
But if yoga really isn't your thing, you can still help by making a monetary donation via the Share the Dignity website or a donation of sanitary and other hygiene or beauty products at Macksville and Nambucca Heads Woolworths, or at selected pharmacies.