White Ribbon Australia welcomes the release of the latest draft of the 10-Year National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022 – 2032 to be unveiled at a meeting of Federal, State and Territory Ministers in Adelaide on 22 July.
CEO Melissa Perry said it was encouraging to know that primary prevention is one of four key pillars in the draft plan, to help tackle the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that drive gendered violence.
“More than ever, we recognise that parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff isn’t going to solve the issue of gendered violence; we need to look at measures to stop it before it begins,” Ms Perry said.
“Public support for renewed efforts to prevent violence against women is now at unprecedented levels in Australia. There is a growing universal push for the Federal Government to set a more detailed roadmap for how we are going to engage men and set targets as part of the National Plan.
“We need targeted support systems to reach men and boys, bring them in and help drive outcomes to end gendered violence. In addition, we must listen and learn from those with lived experience of family domestic violence - the victims, survivors and sector workers.
“These targets should be defined and focused on supporting community-led primary prevention initiatives, including building a primary prevention workforce to deliver on the goals of the National Plan. We must be exceptionally specific about how we are going to be accountable as a society.”
White Ribbon Australia is calling on Federal, State and Territory Governments to invest in:
- Engaging men and boys in the solution thinking and implementation.
- Every post code in Australia having a community response plan to prevent violence.
- Building a primary prevention workforce.
- Promoting cultural change in workplaces to empower women.
- Establishing residential men’s behaviour change programs in every state and territory.
- Implementing evidence-based respectful relationships education programs in schools.
- Funding domestic, family, and sexual violence frontline and specialist services.
“Currently, White Ribbon Australia is the only national organisation focused solely on engaging men and boys through primary prevention with a reach internationally through its global chapters. This includes our Community Partners, who are working with us to develop community response plans,” Ms Perry said.
“We also support more than 40 established Community Action Groups across Australia, enabling community designed and locally led change. In addition, we have 150 workplaces participating in our Workplace Accreditation Program, engaging 300,000 Australians daily in actions aimed at building a commitment to women’s safety and equality.”
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