KEY forward Chris Dawes says he feels “really strongly” about standing up and saying no to family violence and domestic violence against women.

Speaking at the ‘Walk against family violence’ at Federation Square on Tuesday, Dawes said he was determined to play his part in spreading the message that violence in the community was totally unacceptable.

“I can see how fortunate my upbringing was – to have a stable family and home life. Given the role footy players can play in the community, we’ve got a real responsibility to be part of this campaign – and that’s to raise awareness and to demand a stop to family violence,” he said.

“I’ve been doing these workshops as a step to becoming an ambassador for White Ribbon. To see some of the statistics is really staggering. To see one in three women are going to suffer domestic violence is disgusting and a real worry.

“I think the role that footy players can play in that is if you consider we’re 18 to 30 year olds and leaders in our community, we’re at that age where we’re at that transition period from being the ones who are affected from these ideas to actually becoming the perpetrators of the violence.

“If we – men – in the community need to be the ones at the forefront challenging the ideas and making it perfectly clear that this isn’t right – then there is no excuse for family violence.”