Before the 1970s, judges and police officers still saw wife beating as a trivial offense. Policemen would tell husbands to calm down and wives to stop annoying them, they rarely came to court.

Culture depicted wife beating as a joke, and psychiatrists saw it as a pathology of the underclass or of individual women. In general, it was denied or explained away.

Today, domestic violence has taken shape to mean more than a man hitting a woman. It could mean any of eight different forms of abuse. 

This change hasn’t been overnight, but has taken decades and an entire community to change the perception of a community. 

Hearing about the Circle of Friends group, a not-for-profit charity that supports families that are victims of domestic violence and trying to educate people in domestic violence, the Yass Quick Quilters couldn’t wait to get involved. 

The group of around 31 women, who say they too are just a group of friends that get together to help the Yass Valley, have banded together to create beautiful quilts, pamper packs, unique pillow cases and bags for the families and children fleeing domestic violence.  

“We have organised to get handbags that we are calling our pamper packs,” Yass quilters president Glynes Ferguson said. “We then fill them with essentials like toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, moisturisers, things like that.”  

“In an instant, mums have a pamper pack and they don’t have to think about these small things.”

The quilters have also been working to make personalised bags for the children, to pack up in a hurry, and pillow cases so they always have a something of their own to take wherever they have to go. 

“When we heard about Circle of Friends, we thought it was a great way for us to support families locally,” she said. “Now we have a wider vision and we have renewed focus, and we are happy to be able to help in such a good charity.” 

Karyn Callaughan at Circle of Friends says that she is overwhelmed by the support. 

“DV doesn’t discriminate between race, religion or age, and it’s taking generations to make changes,” she said.  

The Yass quilters meet regularly on Thursdays, their goal is to make quilts to give to local charities. While Circle of Friends is only one charity, it is one that they are passionate about.

Glynes encouraged anyone interested in joining the Yass quilters to come along to the Yass Community Centre on Thursdays from 2pm.