Sitting under the shade of a gum tree in a dry river bed in Central Australia, senior Aboriginal women are working to empower a group of schoolgirls in the fight against domestic violence.
Central Australia has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the nation, yet many students said they had not been exposed to awareness or prevention programs.
But that changed this week for a group of girls from Yirara College, an Indigenous boarding school in Alice Springs, who spent four days at a cultural and leadership camp learning about connection to country, language, and developing resilience.
Yirara College student Crystella Campbell said the inaugural camp had given her skills and confidence.
"I've developed team work, we've shared skills and knowledge about our family, history, language and culture," she said.
"This camp is important to me because we are young role models, the younger ones can look up to us and we can share the knowledge and experience with them."
Culturally appropriate education on violence
The camp was held at Tilmouth Well, about 200 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.
Yirara Girls Academy coordinator Beverly Angeles said it was important to educate the girls about domestic violence in a culturally appropriate way and in a place removed from the distractions of town and communities.
The girls were looking at cultural and country connections, including language, kinship and skin groups, she said.
"I think most of the girls have seen [domestic violence] firsthand, so this is more about supporting each other, coming together and strengthening each other and basically saying, 'no, we've had enough, no more'," Ms Angeles said.
"It's about empowering our women, getting them to speak up and speak out, because there's safety and strength in numbers."
Learning and engaging with elders was a major aspect of the camp, with the students hearing stories from the Tangentyere Women's Family Safety Group about domestic and family violence and how they can rise above violence at home or in their communities.
