In response to the growing epidemic of domestic violence, a new not-for-profit company was launched this year.
The Melbourne based Me Too Foundation will donate 100 per cent of its profits to victims of domestic violence in Australia through registered charities.
Founder Andrew Curnow says domestic violence is a human rights issue that must be addressed.
“Over 300,000 women in Australia are victims of domestic violence every year, and on average one woman a week is killed by a partner or former partner,” he explains.
“Intimate partner violence contributes to more death, disability and illness in women aged 15 to 44 than any other preventable risk factor. Domestic or family violence against women is the single largest driver of homelessness for women and results in a police call out on average every two minutes of the year. The combined health, administration and social welfare costs of violence against women have been estimated to be $21.7 billion a year in Australia.”
The first range introduced by the company includes body care products as well as some candles and cosmetic bag gift sets.
“We have multiple objectives with this product range that include raising a significant amount of money that will directly assist women fleeing a domestic violence environment to help re-establish their lives. We will work with some great registered charities in this field initially donating proceeds to Rizeup Australia, which has a large team of volunteers on the ground nationally, and White Ribbon, which is an education based charity.
“Once the pot grows, however, we will also aim to fund many of the smaller, locally based domestic violence charities who do a lot of great work at the community level in time.”
Curnow adds that putting me-too branded products on shelves that will be heavily promoted will also aim to keep this issue in focus and hopefully give confidence to those women who may feel paralysed to talk about their situation and hopefully empower them to make a change where needed.
“The ultimate objective of the range is to raise enough awareness and money to end the culture of domestic violence. To achieve this we need the support of thousands of retailers in Australia.”
Introduced at the Melbourne Reed Gift Fair last month, the response has been phenomenal and the company has been approached by many retailers.
“We are really encouraged by the support that so many Australian businesses have given this range so far and we will support them in our marketing activities. We are really excited to launch the range late September.”
The me-too logo has been registered in nearly every product category and Curnow says they want to license the range in a similar way the Pink Ribbon campaign did for breast cancer.
“We are looking for large credible companies to work with, so our aim is for the brand to grow across multiple product categories with all licensing money also being donated to registered domestic violence charities in Australia.”
The national campaign will be launched mid-October to drive awareness through traditional and social media.
For enquiries contact support@metoofoundation.com.au
By Marion Gerritsen
