The Every 2 Minutes resource was meticulously designed and refined by Community Educator, Colleen and Support Worker, Ruby in 2022. It effectively captures a wide range of scenarios while prioritising the experiences and stories of women and children. It provides participants with an individualised and realistic journey through the everyday struggles and challenges faced by many victim-survivors, as they navigate their daily life demands, the abuse they endure, and the complexities of service systems they may encounter.

Participants metaphorically and literally "roll the dice" as they navigate their "escape" from a violent relationship on a 100 square grid, encountering supports, stressors, traumas, children, and personal items. The grid contains setbacks and triumphs, incidents that decrease support and increase trauma and stressors, as well as opportunities to reduce trauma and stressors while increasing support.

Every 2 Minutes had its debut in Cairns during May 2022, where it received significant positive feedback and valuable insights leading to important reflections.

Following each journey, participants are invited to debrief and reflect on their experience and the resource in general. Many participants commented that not knowing the outcome of their next "roll" was uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing or shameful, as it captured the pure uncertainty of situations and how things are all intertwined and connected.

For participants who died early in their journey, there was anger and disappointment, as they wanted more from their experience. Some expressed feeling upset and caught off guard by the sudden reality of the situation. Others experienced frustration, anger, and annoyance, feeling caught in a loop and wishing to “get off the ride”.

‘Every 2 Minutes’ reinforces that domestic and family violence is infinitely complex and regardless of professional experience, learning should be ongoing and incremental for workers engaged with victim-survivors. It emphasises the uniqueness of every story and the need to take into account the often unseen trauma and stressors when assisting victim-survivors.

Participants find that ‘Every 2 Minutes’ helped bridge theory and practice, as it provided a personal experience through simulation, leading to enhanced practice in dealing with domestic and family violence. It also highlights the importance of empathy and understanding the uncertainty and injustice that clients may be going through.

Employees in the sector find the activity to be valid and relevant, as it provides a firsthand experience that deepens their understanding of domestic and family violence. Past participants emphasised the need to remember the experiences of their clients and to act with empathy. Overall, ‘Every 2 Minutes’ activity was seen as a valuable tool in increasing awareness and understanding of the complexities of domestic and family violence.

If you would like to know more about the resource or would like to explore it travelling to your next conference or forum, please contact CRDVS Community Educator Colleen by email commed@dvcairns.org

• Individual journeys can take up to 20 minutes 
• Each participant travels with a facilitator to support participants through their own journey 
• Opportunities for debriefing as individuals and with other participants 
• Due to the nature of the resource – shoes are not permitted. Participants are encouraged to bring a part of socks or participate barefoot.

Brett from Act for Kids Cairns showcasing how his experience ended. Juggling his children, limited supports, physical assault (broken arm) and ultimately, his journey ended with this headline “Woman found dead. Not known to services. Husband charged with murder”.

“It was good to see what a yoyo cycle it can be like to be experiencing DV and how debilitating it can be to your entire life's functioning, what it is like to be supported and unsupported and no matter what how badly things can end up and you can still consider yourself lucky.”

“The resource continued to reinforce the reality that domestic and family violence is infinitely complex and learning is ongoing and incremental, irrespective of professional experience.”

“It reinforces the knowledge that every story is unique; often there are a lot of trauma and stressors that we do not hear about, but MUST take into account when assisting victim-survivors.”

“It was sort of like putting theory to practice. Having knowledge about DV is one thing but having some personal experience virtually through a game, makes it personal and helps join that knowledge with real world experience, leading to better practice.”

“Need always to remember the uncertainty and injustice that my clients are sometimes going through & act with empathy”

“I think it's very valid for employees of the sector to experience it.”

“I was very upset when I died, I had a sinking feeling. I felt like reality came and hit me in the face so suddenly. I didn't expect to die.”