The Danny Green Stop the Coward Punch Campaign is thrilled to announce is has received a $1 million grant from the Morrison Government through the Proceeds of Crime to stop the scourge of unprovoked acts of violence and to educate people about the devastating effects of a single coward punch.

Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews MP joined Campaign Founder Danny Green in Perth on Wednesday to announce the new funding which will be allocated over a four-year period.

Four-time world champion boxer and founder of the Stop the Coward Punch Campaign Danny Green said awareness, intervention and education are critical to stop the source of vicious coward punch attacks.

“On behalf of the entire Campaign, I would like to personally thank the Morrison Government and in particular, Minister Andrews, for their recognition and support of such an important cause,” said Mr Green.

“As we know, through the findings of our world-class research in partnership with Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM), more than 172 Australians have needlessly died from coward punch assaults since 2000.
“Whilst it is very pleasing the numbers have fallen, they are still happening, and one death is one too many. A coward punch assault causes significant life-long physical and mental injuries so the need for awareness and education to change behaviour is essential.

“The fact is that literally thousands of people including the victims, the perpetrators, the witnesses, first responders and friends and family are all traumatised by coward punch attacks every year in Australia. It has to stop and this funding will help us do just that.”

This funding comes at a crucial time and will help the Campaign to spread the message through the community including schools and higher education, sport clubs and hospitality venues.

Former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner and Coward Punch Campaign Board Member Christine Nixon likened the drop in coward punch fatalities over time to a reduction in the national road toll.

“Analysis of data from the National Coroners Information System shows there has been a remarkable reduction of fatal coward punch deaths from 2012 to 2018,” Ms Nixon said.

“This continued decline in deaths is important and can be likened to reductions over time in deaths on the road. Continuous educational, enforcement and environmental interventions are needed to reduce the road toll. This financial and political support of the Stop the Coward Punch Campaign will further contribute to the further reduction in this horrendous, often fatal, crime.”

According to Danny Green, the Campaign education package in conjunction with Cool Australia which was launched in February, features curriculum-aligned lessons raising awareness of the coward punch.

“Our education tool includes science lessons concentrating on forces and biology, drama lessons exploring elements of drama and the theatrical conventions used in the Stop the Coward Punch Campaign, a media lesson focussing on culture jamming, and health and physical education lessons exploring the roles of bystanders and upstanders in preventing violence,” Mr Green said.

“We started the Coward Punch Campaign in 2012 to raise awareness of the devastating impact of coward punches in Australia. This work intensified in 2019 with the inaugural Coward Punch Week. Our world-class research and education tool is central to our mission to end the coward punch.”

Since Danny and the Campaign started using the Coward Punch expression in 2012, the term has progressively replaced ‘one-punch’ and ‘king hit’ in the Australian vernacular to describe these deadly assaults. It has been used by judges and magistrates in handing down verdicts and sentences to perpetrators and is regularly quoted in associated media reports.

Written by Carla Tooma originally on mygc

Danny Green is on a mission to eliminate the coward punch from society and save lives in the process.

Chatting to 1029 Hot Tomato’s Galey, Emily Jade & Christo this morning for Stop the Coward Punch Week, the boxing legend revealed some surprising new research.

Findings from a world-first Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) study show while the number of fatal coward punch attacks has declined in recent years, they were increasingly happening in domestic settings.

“We’ve just done a groundbreaking piece of research. It was eye-opening and surprising,” he told the 1029 Hot Tomato breakfast hosts.

“Most people identify these situations and incidents with nightclubs, bars and entertainment precincts, but it can happen at the local service station, it can happen walking down the street, it can happen anywhere.”

Since 2000, 172 Australians have lost their lives to coward punches, and hundreds more have been left severely injured.

Mr Green said he started the Coward Punch Campaign in 2012 to raise awareness of the devastating impact one punch can have.

“With the coward punch campaign, we are focusing on trying to educate, particularly the younger generation, on the dangers,” he said.

“It is not just the deaths that are horrific, it’s the amount of people that are severely permanently injured for the rest of their lives.

“This new piece of research has highlighted so many different things that I wasn’t aware of, that we all weren’t aware of.

“It helps us delve into the perpetrators and the victims and then work out strategies to try and educate both sides, and to try and arm the community with as much education and information as we can.”

Parents who lost their son in a coward punch attack have called on Victorians to think twice about violent confrontations as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

Jaiden Walker would be 27-years-old this year if his life had not been cut short by a coward punch attack.

Jaiden was outside Cherry Bar in Melbourne when he was hit from behind in 2017.

The punch led to his parents eventually being forced to turn off his life support.

His father, Jon Walker, said he kept wondering what Jaiden would be doing now if he hadn’t suffered the tragedy.”

They say it gets easier with time but it doesn’t at all,” he said.

His parents are among campaigners urging Victorians to think twice about about their actions as nightlife returns and revellers let loose after COVID-19 lockdowns.Mr Walker has warned people who consider resorting to violence.”

You’re going to mess up so many people, you’re either going to jail or you’re going six foot under,” he said.

Boxing champion Danny Green has been spearheading a campaign against violence, and says switching the language from “king hit” to “coward punch” is driving change.”

Confrontation between human being is never going to go away,” Green said.”

But by branding it and stigmatising the term with such a horrible connotation of being a coward, it’s had great effect.”

Since the year 2000, 172 Australians have lost their lives from coward punch assaults.

Pleasingly, deaths fell by 50 per cent between 2012 to 2018.New research by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine has found more than 70 per cent of assaults are happening outside pubs and clubs and victims are getting older.

Originally posted on Nine News.

Danny Green has used the NRL’s State of Origin match in his hometown to launch a national week as part of his ongoing fight to call time on the coward’s punch.

The champion WA boxer last night kicked off the inaugural Coward’s Punch Week with the airing of a television commercial during the historic game in Perth to highlight the devastating consequences of senseless violence.

With the message reaching millions across the country, Green said to kick off the week-long awareness campaign during the “most-watched event of the year” was an “incredible opportunity to really, really hit home”.

“The demographic as well watching the State of Origin, is definitely the demographic we want to reach,” Green, 46, said.

Research by Green’s Stop the Coward’s Punch campaign showed 99 per cent assailants in reported attacks across the country between 2005 and 2011 were men, half of which are aged between 18 and 23. About 70 per cent of attacks were carried out between 10pm and 4am and 12 per cent resulted in death.

“The coward’s punch is a growing scourge in our community,” Green explains in the ad, which will also run on radio and online.

“Since 2001, over 100 lives have been snuffed out.

“Hundreds more have been injured. The coward’s punch takes lives and scars families, friends and survivors for life.”

Green said his fight against violence in the community was working, saying the term “coward’s punch” had replaced “king-hit” and “one-punch” in the Australian vernacular, adding it was being used by magistrates and judges in handing down sentences.

“Just having that simple, yet very powerful message attached to (assault offences) … you are going to be branded a coward for the rest of your life,” Green said. “It’s a very powerful deterrent for a young man.”

But Green said coward’s punches were still claiming too many victims and called on the courts to hand out tougher sentences.

Green said an e-learning tool was being developed which would be rolled out in schools, sports clubs and community groups later this year. Coward’s Punch Week will end on Friday with a fundraising dinner at Crown Melbourne.

Boxing champion Danny Green is sick of the stupidity he’s seeing and wants to stop the coward’s punch.

The inaugural Coward’s Punch Week has been launched and Green says people don’t realise the consequences of a split second decision.

“People are losing their lives and being maimed and seriously injured forever, psychologically and physically. And it affects so many people,” Green told 6PR Breakfast.