... into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence
September 2024
Contact:-
Marie-louise Lees
District Governor 2024-35
Rotary District 9510
0408 134 363
dg24-25@rotary9510.org
Foreword
Rotary District 9510 acknowledges all individuals and organisations around the world for their work towards peace, gender equality, human respect, and the advancement of humanity.
Locally, we owe our gratitude to researchers, policy makers, justice advocates, specialist domestic, family, and sexual violence services and community advocates for continuing to question how we are addressing domestic, family, and sexual violence and its drivers.
Rotary International
Rotary International has determined seven areas of focus in which it seeks to contribute to international development.
❖ Promoting Peace
❖ Fighting Disease
❖ Providing Clean Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
❖ Saving Mothers and Children
❖ Supporting Education
❖ Growing Local Economies
❖ Protecting the Environment
These areas of focus inform the quality and safety of life enjoyed by all humans wherever they live, and provide context for addressing domestic, family, and sexual violence around the world. In particular, they give focus to the safety and wellbeing of women and children. Intimate partner, domestic and family harmony is helped by improving people’s socio-political environment, education, knowledge, economic resources, and health and wellbeing, no matter where you live.
The Rotary Foundation, our charity arm, funds international projects. It assists Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty. In 2023-2024 Rotary awarded $US118m in grants, much of which went towards supporting the advancement of humanity. A number of projects are focused on the needs of women and girls, providing shelter, protection, education, and health services.
In every Rotary District around the world, there are clubs raising funds and delivering local projects suited to local needs and also towards international initiatives which they support. Collectively we provide millions each year to local and international endeavours.
It is our intention to bring the spirit of the Rotary movement to the fight to end domestic, family, and sexual violence in South Australia.
There are other groups far better able to define the relevant data, however for completeness of this submission, it is appropriate to highlight a few statistics.
❖ Around the world, in 2022, approximately 48,800 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members. This represents 55% of all femicides in the world at that time. Whilst Australian domestic and family related femicide was relatively small in comparison with Africa and the Americas, one person is too many.
❖ Homicide is the tip of the iceberg in domestic, family, and sexual violence statistics although it commands the media attention as the ultimate sign of something being very wrong in our communities.
❖ Australia disturbingly ranks eighth in the G20 nations with respect to the lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence (for those women who had a partner at one time) across the ages 15-49 years.
❖ In South Australia, in 2023, there were 10,666 victims of assaults related to domestic and family violence.
• 91% of victims were adults.
• 71% of victims were women.
• 78% of victims involved intimate partner relationships (current or former partners) were women.
❖ In South Australia, in 2023, there were 724 victims of sexual assaults relating to domestic and family violence.
• nearly half related to offences which occurred when the victims were children.
• 30% of the victims were still children at the time of reporting the offences.
• 38% of victims were reporting incidents which occurred more than
12 months previously, some more than 20 years since the incident.
• 92% of victims were women or girls.
❖ SAPOL Statistics for 2023-2024 identify 16,919 recorded offences related to domestic and family violence matters (some incidents would attract more than one charge).
What we want to see
Everywhere we look there are issues to address, some of which community voluntary agencies might help with. Here are some of our priorities and where Rotary might help.
Our Priority 1
Safety first for those in current need:
❖ Towards Stable accommodation
The police statistics highlight the size of the problem we know about through police responses, but by no means the total size of the problem and the scope of the resources required.
For those people needing safe asylum from a violent domestic situation, emergency accommodation in a safe place is top priority. Some may want the perpetrator moved on but, in many situations, it is not safe for the victim to remain where they have been living. Instead, victims need to be where they cannot be found.
In Rotary projects which support women and children, it is common to hear about the difficulties in finding shelter and the unsettling experience of living with children in a motel room indefinitely- its limited space, no true cooking facilities, and limited entertainment. Living on takeaway food is expensive and often unhealthy.
Rotary is aware of several programs that have been set up using suitable independent transitional accommodation in units. Residents have ready access to more home-like accommodation and intensive professional support to help “turn their circumstances around quickly.” Rotary understands that outcomes have been positive. However, throughput is reliant on the community housing sector having affordable and appropriately located stock to stabilise living circumstances.
One of the Rotary Say No to Domestic Violence Committee members recently received information on a strategy employed in France where the government has repurposed hotels and created transitional accommodation for women with children. What the hotel accommodation does provide is immediate security: it is a secured building that is only for the victims and entry is forbidden for anyone else except the social services contact or the charity group that “moves” the woman to new accommodation.
It could be possible in Australia. It could include free, or grant funded onsite training, onsite counselling and childcare. Typically, a hotel in Australia will have large conference style rooms or restaurants that can be repurposed as training centres or ‘employment hubs’ e.g. a call centre, textiles work. This type of setup lends itself to creating partnerships with various corporations to provide immediate employment opportunities; to entice businesses to partner with the hotel model housing and governments can offer grants and/or subsidised wages which are already available in some industries/certain apprenticeships etc.
Part of that wage received by those working at the hotel in these partnerships would be paid to the hotel as “rent” and a similar means tested “rent” would also apply to other women who need this immediate secure accommodation but do not need financial assistance.
The integration of accommodation and training/employment with shelter helps with the recovery process. Mental health in South Australia acquired an aged care facility converting it to accommodation for clients with special needs. They added professional services on the ground floor for a different type of support to the French model.
There are obviously security issues to be considered with any housing collective for people at risk, but these types of structures do come up for sale.
Rotary believes ready access to affordable, stable, and safe accommodation is the priority building block of recovery for those who have had to leave their family/domestic base. It is the beginning of the journey of regaining dignity, self-confidence, and normality, of re-establishing the family where children are involved- which school, which childcare, which public transport, which friendship group, which employment opportunity.
1. Rotary is not in a position to readily create substantial housing supplies, but we may be a useful partner in helping to equip, prepare and support some properties -a safe housing project partnership perhaps.
2. There may be some opportunities for Rotary to partner with other groups to raise funds or apply for grants for targeted community transitional housing projects.
3. Rotary has an Australian Charity Arm, Rotary Australia World Community Services, which can hold funds donated and act as banker for projects that fit RAWCS criteria. Donations are tax deductible. This may be a useful facility for community generated projects. Rotary has received government and community funds into this scheme for other projects and managed its distribution,
❖ Other safety issues
Activating emergency assistance if confronted by a violent ex-partner or family member is a concern.
We are told France also offers women a dedicated number to text or call that offers “silent” assistance via text message. We have 1800RESPECT & The Women’s Information Service which are only information services. The numbers are too long and do not get them immediate help. These numbers both refer to 000 for an emergency, and 000 in Australia is the number for all emergencies, not just Domestic Violence.
The four digit number 3919 in France is a dedicated number for all women victims of gender-based violence. Foreigners visit France doing compulsory civic training and attending language school are told that women in trouble ring this number for immediate help. Where the caller is unable to speak, help is still immediately available via silent texting, and the victim is located. Our government implemented a software application for COVID 19, could we Domestic Violence.
Rotary is familiar with a local development. Free software can be downloaded to an individual’s mobile phone and programmed with their chosen crisis people. It includes an emergency action to call for help, a tracking system to locate the individual and the facility to call for help.
There are a number of programs recycling mobile phones and supplying to those at risk in domestic violence situations. Rotary clubs support several of these locally.. DV Safe Phone is one such program.
There may be similar security -based needs that Rotary could consider if they are not adequately met by current initiatives.
Our Priority 2
Economic Security
❖ Towards a stable Income
Economic vulnerability is a disincentive to leave for many women in a violent relationship. Accessing their own funds and property, knowing how to find emergency means of support, and generating sufficient resources to survive with children in particular are core issues.
Grants/programs for housing setup, education/training and business development can help stabilise the lives of displaced people. Whilst there are many opportunities in place there can always be more assistance provided so that those affected can enjoy more than subsistence living.
1. Rotary has some familiarity with micro loan projects which give interest free small loans to individuals requiring assistance with equipment, training, business set up costs or other matters. This may be a relevant strategy for Rotary to support.
2. Like other voluntary community groups, Rotary is involved in many in-kind support projects to relieve the impact of crisis/financial disadvantage. These are already applied to the needs of women and children in shelter/temporary accommodation and to those experiencing homelessness.
Some of the in-kind donations are-
Our Priority 3
Recovery
❖ A Healing Experience
Recovery takes time and involves support from family friends, peers, and therapeutic programs. Survivors are likely to be contending with a number of sectors such as housing, health, welfare, justice and education in the first year.
We are advised that France has a robust social services system. For domestic violence victims in particular, social services work with around 70 organisations to help women. The services are typically coordinated by a dedicated social services person for each victim, with the required support for each step.
The continuity of contact with a single coordinator (caseworker) during the early days is appealing as negotiating a complex justice, housing, health network is challenging to many people. We also support a one-stop- shop service centre model to simplify access to the major services required in the early days and it will promote ease of cross agency communication. It should reduce the necessity to retell the story multiple times. Inevitably this contact needs to end.
In the longer- term, support will rely more on generic and informal systems and will be different for each individual. However, access to longer term specialised emotional support may be required. We understand that there are barriers like availability and cost at the moment.
Support for children and young people is particularly important to build their self-esteem, confidence, and assertiveness, and potentially help them unlearn relationship behaviours which are abusive and coercive.
Rotary runs a number of youth programs that target young people from refugee backgrounds and from challenging family situations. (Appendix 3 includes some information on each).
Participants are funded by Rotary to attend. Feedback suggests that students gain enormous benefit from these programs. These may be programs suitable for young people who have experienced disrupted and abusive family lives.
As well as specialist trauma informed services, the mainstream volunteer and service groups need to embrace the likelihood of people in recovery being amongst them. It is important that organisations like Rotary are sensitive to, and welcoming of, people who are trying to engage with the community.
1. Rotary can offer an environment in which people can do community work as members or volunteers. A trauma informed club will be a better environment for those who wish to use their experiences helping others.
2. Rotarians might also be a suitable workforce to provide supplementary support in transitional accommodation settings.
3. Rotary may be in a position to organise in-house and community training for organisations like ours so that we can be part of the community team and part of a circle of friends for individuals who approach us.
4. RYPEN and RYLA courses could be expanded/adapted to suit the needs of young people who are recovering from a violent domestic circumstance.
Our Priority 4
Information and Education
❖ Community Awareness and Skill Development
Rotary holds the view that we are all part of the solution. From the provision of practical resource information, to tackling attitudes, to creating a braver community which support victims/survivors who we encounter.
Clubs participate in local government community information expos, mental health awareness campaigns and there are emerging programs in South Australia where Rotary is partnering with others to deliver information and education programs e.g. mental health first aid, bystander training, mental health resilience.
Rotary District 9510 Walk for Respect Rotary says No to Domestic Violence (walkforrespect.au) is an example of what Rotary can do in the information and awareness area. There is a website and Committee structure which enables conversations between government and Rotarians in creating new initiatives, The organisation is open to the use of this website for critical contact information for victim/survivors, promotional pages for appropriate initiatives and so on. Resources provided by other organisations are noted,
Several members of the Rotary 9510 Say No to Domestic Violence Committee are involved in an emerging group known as RoZSI’s Voice, a partnership between Rotary, Zonta, and Soroptimist International clubs. This is focussed on bystander training and coercive control awareness initiatives plus projects during the United Nations 16 Days of Activism.
1. Rotary is ideally situated to work in partnership in local communities to raise awareness through training our own members to deliver or provide/help organise programs.
2. Some clubs have strong partnerships with local government and readily access community grants for events and community projects, including education.
Our Priority 5
Prevention
❖ Schools, sporting groups, workplace
Rotary endorses the need for age and setting appropriate training around respectful relationships, attitudes and behaviour, gender equality, consent, bullying and harassment, respect and so on.
It is understood that the national education curriculum, accreditation processes, practice standards and laws provide an incentive/regulatory framework for these initiatives.
There are some settings where Rotary Clubs are involved in such programs.
Rotary Pacific has embraced a model for all Districts which includes education in schools. A New South Wales based program called Love bites has been recommended for 15-year-olds and has been implemented in a number of states. Launched in Canberra 2023 there are a number of Rotary run initiatives interstate that the Commission might wish to explore.
Putting an end to domestic violence | Rotary International
District 9510 is beginning to explore opportunities for Rotary clubs in this state to play a role in education and would be pleased to explore with the Education Department how we might assist in this space.
Our Priority 6
Workforce Morale and Retention
❖ Recognising good program and worker practice
Rotary has a long-standing ethos of acknowledging personal, educational, and service achievement to encourage pride in what people do (Pride in Workmanship). One example is the SA Police Officer of the year awarded by the Unley Club.
Other organisations have similar acknowledgements to recognise the achievements of others, give out small grants etc.
Given the stressful nature of the work and the constant scrutiny, recognition for effort, best practice and bravery could be one small contribution that a community group could make.
Rotary could consider offering recognition and rewards for individual and organisational performance in domestic, family, and sexual violence work.
NB: This strategy could also extend to acknowledgement in schools, sporting groups or other fora where developing a new culture is important.
Our Priority 7
Perpetrator intervention
❖ Therapeutic Programs for offenders
The delivery of programs which afford perpetrators the opportunity to address anger management/ ethical behavioural is most likely beyond the scope of Rotary other than to consider local funding and support of initiatives.
Rotary is two thirds male membership and there may be interest in some direct involvement through men’s supports groups.
We do however endorse the need for better more timely access to such programs at the time of highest motivation on the perpetrator’s part.
A recently published New South Wales accelerated longitudinal study entitled Prevalence of recorded family and domestic violence offending: A birth cohort study is attached in full.
Jason Payne, Director of the Griffith Criminology Institute and Anthony Morgan Research Manager of the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Serious and Organised Crime, Cybercrime and Radicalisation Research Program.
This study explored family and domestic recorded offending to determine prevalence provided the following data estimates.
❖ 6.3 percent of people born in New South Wales had been proceeded against by police for a family and domestic violence offence by age 37.
o 9.6 percent of men— one in 10—had been proceeded against for a family and domestic violence offence,
o 3.0 percent of women (one in 33).
❖ Overall, 1.2 percent of people born in New South Wales were responsible for more than 50 percent of recorded family and domestic violence offences.
❖ Further, family, and domestic violence offenders accounted for nearly half of all recorded offences by people in the birth cohort.
The study of offender characteristics and predictors of further offending, coupled with outcomes of intervention are critical to understanding where therapeutic and justice strategies should be directed.
For example, understanding better the history and characteristics of the 1.2% of the population who commit half the crime, the “anti-social” population perhaps, could inform the need for earlier assertive justice vs therapeutic interventions.
❖ Community Responsibility
As previously stated, Rotary believes that the community shares responsibility in stopping domestic, family and sexual violence. We were interested to hear the in France, social responsibility extends to the law requiring citizens to report domestic violence and there are penalties if a citizen is found to have neglected this responsibility. Mandatory reporting is not a foreign concept in Australia, and it is worthy of consideration.
Our Priority 8
Lived Experience
❖ The employment of people with lived experience
We acknowledge that it is important to recognise the voices and expertise of those people with lived experience. Listening to and providing roles for those who have experienced domestic, family, and sexual violence, should be an integral part of service responses- in boards, policy areas, education programs, peer support and so on. There are models in other sectors (e.g. mental health) that practise this.
1. Rotary believes an important role would be in worker and community training in particular.
2. Rotary has within its midst some individuals who may be willing to help create and deliver such programs.
Note: A member of Rotary has kindly allowed us to share her story. We have included it in full in the appendices. She is one of the people in our community with lived experience who is prepared to give back through training and support strategies.
E. A word on Fund Raising and Fund Management
❖ Rotary Australia offers a Charity arm with DGR status.
Clubs can establish suitable projects and attract funds with the benefit of tax deduction on donations.
RAWCS acts as a banker to support the project team.
This is a facility through which government might co- sponsor projects and ensure specialist financial management.
Home | RAWCS
Conclusion
We would like to be of service in South Australia’s quest to end domestic, family, and sexual violence and we look to the Royal Commission to provide guidance through recommendations to the South Australian Government as to how voluntary community groups can contribute.
Together, let us hope we can find a way to improve the South Australian whole of society response.
Appendix 1
Rotary Walk for Respect Adelaide 2024
Rotary in action September 2024
https://walkforrespect.au/
Appendix 2
"I am lucky. I am a survivor."
This is a story of Domestic Violence and Coercive Control perpetrated on myself and my children. But I have recovered. What happened to me in my 20s and 30s seems like a distant memory. And it is like it happened to someone else. I have blocked & buried a lot of it, though at times when I least expect it, there are triggers to trip me up.
Back to the beginning
I grew up on a farm with my parents & brothers where I had an idyllic life in a family where there was love and respect.
I led a sheltered life and was completely naïve and unworldly when I met my future husband.
He was impressive - tall & strong, blond & blue-eyed, charismatic with a winning smile that could light up a room.
My Mother, who was wary of any boy who showed an interest in me, was taken in as He promised He would look after me, allow me to complete my tertiary studies and find opportunities for me to progress a career in music.
My Mother had brought me up to ‘save myself for the right man’ and told me that ‘I would know him if he didn’t try anything’. And so, it was.
I was completely under His spell and in a short time we were married.
I gave my parents 2 weeks’ notice of our wedding which we had at the farm. It was a fairytale wedding at which
He & I sang “Summertime” from Porgy & Bess (George Gershwin). He had a beautiful singing voice.
Shortly after, we boarded a ship for England where He was to take up an employment contract for a year. About a week into the voyage, we were having drinks with two other couples we had made friends with. The waiter served us drinks and I smiled at him.
He (my husband) immediately crushed my hand and led me away down to the cabin (in the bowels of the ship). He closed the door, knocked me to the floor and shouted abuse at me and kept striking at my head. He called me a slut amongst other terms. I was breathless & helpless, not knowing what had happened to me. He made me say I was sorry, but I didn’t know what for.
I felt I had failed him, I felt guilty, I felt ashamed. I didn’t know what to do. I felt diminished.
There was no apology from Him (there never was) and after a while we returned to the lounge where He held my hand and lovingly called me darling and acted as if nothing had happened.
Another time, He wouldn’t dance with me, so I accepted a dance from one of our friends. Again, I was led away and beaten in the cabin.
He made me believe I had caused His behaviour, and therefore I had to accept His punishment. And I was in love.
In public He acted as though He worshipped me, though cutting me down if I said something He didn’t like, smiling in a condescending way.
Alongside this, there were fun times we had on board and in the countries, we visited on the way. He and I auditioned for a talent quest on board and won.
He was critical of what I said, what I wore. I tried so hard to please Him.
He told me not to wear jeans or trousers as I had a fat arse. He made me try to look like Sophia Loren – she was His idol.
By the end of the trip, I was feeling ill and I imagined it was from the beatings I had received.
I was pregnant.
I was forbidden to tell my parents.
He told me what to write, he checked my letters and would post them Himself.
In England we lived in an Inn built in the 1600s on the top floor in the attic. The landlady was a widow whom He quickly impressed and became close to.
When our first child, a son, was born He treated me like a Queen lavishing me with gifts. This lasted a couple of weeks and then I was beaten again.
And He rationed and withheld affection. Many a night He turned his back on me leaving me there unable to sleep.
I was also made to feel like a hopeless mother with Him handing the baby to the landlady because I had no clue.
There were happy times too at the Inn. Whilst He was at work, I would help the landlady by preparing bread & cheese sandwiches for the lunchtime drinkers and then playing the piano with them singing along.
Back in Australia there were subsequently two more children, a son and a daughter, and with each of their births He treated me like a Queen. However, after the celebratory birth of our daughter, He soon returned to the same old regime, and it was at that time I knew categorically that I no longer loved Him, I hated Him. I knew I had to find a way out. I believed I would.
But there was no way out I knew of: there was nothing out there. No-one spoke of it.
There was no awareness of Domestic Violence, let alone Coercive Control.
This was my secret life. I couldn’t tell anyone, not even my parents, my doctor, my family. No-one knew. And I couldn’t articulate it.
I was a slave to Him and He completely dominated me.
Other examples:-
Witnessed by the children - He would upend the dinner table and throw his plate of food to the ceiling, filling the children with fear.
They craved His attention and His love, though they feared Him.
They were bewildered when after an abusive episode which they had walked in on, He turned it into a happy scene where we all sang and danced as though nothing had happened.
One such time was when He had knocked me to the floor, sat on me and had His hands around my neck.
When my children walked in, He pretended it was fun, but they saw the fear on my face.
My daughter, aged 4 then went to her bedroom and packed a tiny white case and said she was leaving.
Another was when He was shouting and swearing and broke my records.
I remember my daughter aged 4, saying when He was swearing “Daddy, you won’t go to Heaven if you swear”.
The last violent episode happened quickly when He tried to knock me down and struck me with a fork to my head leaving clear marks on the hairline.
Suddenly I felt strong, and the next day I rang the Women’s Information switchboard who said I must report it to my doctor.
This gave me a glimmer of hope.
The Doctor told me to contact his friend, a solicitor, who organised for my former husband to be served with a Non-Molestation Order.
I was terrified about what I had done but had beforehand, organised for all the locks to be changed.
We legally separated and He had fortnightly access when He was to pick up the children from our former home.
One day before I arrived to pick up the children from school, without any warning He picked up the boys from school and left our daughter behind.
At this time, I had met my future partner, and he came to live with me during which a new phase of abuse occurred where I was accused as the perpetrator and the children the victims. He then pitted the children against each other as well as against me.
This included: -
Using our sons to support His case against my partner and me. He made them swear in front of a JP that we had beaten them.
It was quickly put before a Judge in the Family Court. It was ordered that the children were to be observed together with my partner and me to determine if the boys showed any fear. They displayed no fear. However, Justice Gunn (in his wisdom) ordered that the boys should live with their father and the girl live with us pending a custody trial.
In the meantime, our daughter felt abandoned by her father and our sons were told to destroy my partner’s possessions and disobey me on access weekends. Our sons were pitted against our daughter. She had the traumatic experience of her father with his hands around her throat trying to make her disown me. Luckily the grandfather (with whom He was living) intervened with a cricket bat to his son.
I won the custody trial after 12 long months and the boys came back to me with only the clothes they stood up in. They weren’t allowed to bring their bikes, their schoolbooks, their toys etc. And they were out of control and rebellious.
My daughter, excluded by her father still craved his validation. She begged him for her beautiful dolls’ house (made by the grandfather), but her father had an excuse each time.
1. He didn’t want other children wrecking it,
2. the grandmother wanted it, and 3. the very hurtful “he was giving it to a little girl who deserved it more”.
Whilst I was protected by the Non- Molestation Order, I then had to prove myself, my innocence, my worth as a mother in the Family Court. In one way the system protected me but then it also opened up a new avenue for Him to punish me and continue His abuse and inadvertently abuse all of us emotionally and psychologically. This is still the case today in the Family Court where an abuser (man or woman) can bring forward bogus accusations.
There are many examples of child abuse here but, suffice to say, each one of my children from this marriage is scarred. There was no counselling available nor offered to me or my children at the time.
My eldest son who was made to be His father’s agent and then dropped, and who suffers with anger management issues, my second son who was overlooked by his father and bullied by his brother was on drugs and alcohol for more than 10 years of his life, and my daughter who, though a high achiever, is unable to choose a kind and loving partner, and instead has picked two abusive partners. This has also factored into the life of her own daughter. Both my daughter and granddaughter have been emotionally abused by my daughter’s ex-partner.
The problem is intergenerational and one which is so hard to solve.
It is a systemic failure.
In Rotary’s paper to the Royal Commission, it is stated that the eradication of Domestic Violence could be compared with the eradication of polio. It will take years to find a way forward.
It needs to start in the schools, to be a part of the curriculum.
I feel it will take a generation of education before we see any permanent change. However, we must keep going to implement change.
I am proud to be part of Rotary’s on-going movement and campaign to create awareness and to drive change in Government policy.
It has taken me many years to regain my self-confidence and a sense of self-worth.
But, as I have said, I am lucky.
“I am one of the lucky ones”.
And if my story saves only one life, then it is worth me telling it.
Appendix 3
Youth Programs
RYLA : Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
is an intensive leadership experience organized by Rotary clubs and districts where young people can develop leadership skills while having fun and making connections.
RYPEN : Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN)
provides a group of young people aged 14-17 an opportunity to develop self-awareness and valuable leadership skills. This weekend long program will see you engage with like-minded people, while having fun and learning new skills in areas such as problem solving and public speaking. On top of learning these skills, RYPEN will give you a chance to put them to practical use, through debate and physical activity.
Rotary Youth Sailing Challenge
Rotary is looking to sponsor young people 15 to under 19 years of age who on the recommendation of someone who knows them well, e.g. a teacher, a sporting coach, a scout or similar leader believes they are
