The figures for the 2016-17 financial year were released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics earlier this month.

Detective Sergeant Phil Malligan of the Wagga Local Area Command, said state figures showed 87 per cent of domestic violence victims were women, and in Wagga this figure was slightly higher.

Detective Sergeant Malligan visited Mount Austin Public School on Friday for an event to mark White Ribbon Day, which officially falls on Saturday, to explain to the pupils the importance of the event.

“Domestic violence affects the whole family unit,” he said.

In January Detective Sergeant Malligan will be going to Canada to study how Canadian police deal with domestic violence, particularly in Indigenous communities.

On Friday, he also attended an early morning walk around Lake Albert, organised by students from Mount Austin High School’s Clontarf Academy.

A number of other senior Wagga leaders attended the walk, including mayor Greg Conkey and Commandant of Kapooka, Colonel Mick Garraway.

"This is a really important issue across Australia, but particularly in our community and we think it's important to just say no to domestic violence,” Colonel Garraway said.

CSU research associate Dr Andreia Schineanu said men had a role to play in the elimination of domestic violence.

“They are the main perpetrators of domestic violence, and all abuse really, whether against women, other men or children, so of course they have a role to play,” she said.

“And we know that we tend to listen to messages that come from people that we can identify with, so men are more likely to listen to anti-domestic violence messages that come from other men.

“But this should occur on more than just one day of the year, it should occur every day of the year.

“And to just say ‘stop domestic violence’ is not enough.

“We need to address the underlying drivers of this violence namely gender inequality, and for that we need to change our attitudes and the entire community’s attitudes towards women, towards the use of violence to control women, towards justifying various types of actions to control and assert power and towards a tendency to blame victims.

“And we can all contribute to this change by being aware of our own behaviour, actions and attitudes to make sure we do not perpetuate sexist stereotypes and attitudes.

“It can be as simple as allowing our boys and girls to wear or play with whatever they want and not categorising toys and clothes as boys’ clothes or girls’ clothes, or calling out a mate’s comments or jokes that denigrate women, or make fun or rape.”

Related: