Safe and Equal have launched a new suite of online training about pornography, young people and sexuality available through a dedicated resource hub on the It’s time we talked website.
These resources have been developed as a part of the Addressing Pornography’s Influence Project (API) with funding from The Ian Potter Foundation and The Myer Foundation. The API project is a collaboration between Maree Crabbe (Director of It’s time we talked) and Safe and Equal. The project aims to broaden the reach and sustainability of Maree’s ground-breaking work through It’s time we talked – a violence prevention project addressing the influence of pornography on young people and how it shapes their understanding of gender, sex, sexuality and healthy relationships.
The project has also included development of tailored video resources for Safe and Equal to use within trainings and communities of practices. The videos support us to assist prevention practitioners, particularly those working with young people, to understand how pornography contributes to young people’s sexual socialisation and reinforces the drivers of gender-based violence, and what they can do to respond.
Read more and access training here
“Ask Me Anything,” is an engaging online video series where knowledge experts tackle candid questions about sexual and reproductive health, gendered violence prevention, mental health, and gender equality in a light-hearted manner, and with a sense of humour.
Aimed at promoting open and informed discussions, WHISE was thrilled to launch the first episode, “Teens Ask”, which focused on questions from young people about sexual health. It offers viewers an opportunity to explore evidence-based information and gain a foundational understanding of key sexual health concepts. The episode features Vanessa Hamilton of Talking the Talk Sexuality Education and Sarah Lorrimar, Sexologist and Sexual & Reproductive Health Team Leader at GenWest.
“Ask Me Anything” is now live and you can follow the series on WHISE’s YouTube channel
This snapshot examines risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence victimisation among Australian adolescents. The aim of this resource is to help you identify populations who could be at increased risk, so that protective factors can be strengthened. Although the current snapshot focuses on victim-survivors, we emphasise that prevention of intimate partner violence perpetration should be a core focus of policy intervention.
This snapshot focuses on victim-survivors of intimate partner violence. As such, the core aim of this work is to further understand the scope of intimate partner violence victimisation among Australian 18–19 year olds. Specific focus is given to different forms of intimate partner violence victimisation, and rates of intimate partner violence among adolescent females and males. The potentially protective role of peers and parents against intimate partner violence is considered.
The following questions are addressed: (1) How prevalent is intimate partner violence and abuse victimisation among adolescents aged 18–19 years? (2) What are the most common violent or abusive behaviours experienced by adolescents in an intimate relationship? (3) Do supportive friendships in the teen years reduce the risk of intimate partner violence and abuse victimisation at ages 18–19 years? (4) Do supportive relationships with parents in the teen years reduce the risk of intimate partner violence and abuse victimisation at ages 18–19 years?
Click here to read full report
We all deserve to be respected for who we are. But growing up, many of us are told we should have certain skills, likes and dislikes, and ways we should look based on our gender – rather than who we are as a person.
Assumptions about gender limit us. They create expectations about who carries the parenting load and does most of the housework. Whose role it is to earn money, and the kinds of jobs we should have. Who gets to make decisions – at home, work, and in our communities. Who is allowed to be emotional, and who is allowed to be assertive. What we can wear and how we should look.
These ideas keep us from being ourselves and filter through our relationships, workplaces, and communities. They limit opportunities and choices and can lead to discrimination and violence. It’s important to challenge assumptions about gender to help create a society where everyone is free to be themselves.
What could a world look like where we are all free and supported to be ourselves?
It all starts with a conversation
Six new research projects are being funded under the latest round of the Andrews Labor Government’s Family Violence Research Program, helping to develop innovative solutions to respond to family violence.
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Ros Spence has announced the new projects, which are part of a $1.2 million package to help build an evidence base for best practice family violence interventions, service delivery and innovation leading to better outcomes for victim survivors.
The investment builds on the $2.5 million already provided under Phase 1 of the program in 2022.
Research topics for Phase 2 address evidence gaps in priority research topics – including children and young people, multicultural communities and embedding lived experience in research.
Tips for challenging outdated and rigid gender stereotypes:
Most of us grew up with a script about what it means to be a man or a woman.
For men, it can look like: ‘You’re tough, you’re in charge. You’re not sad – you’re angry. Your job is to earn. You’re a worker, not a carer.’
For women, it can look like: ‘You’re caring and submissive – you’re nice. You’re in charge of the housework, and you can expect less pay at work because you’re a woman.’
When left unchallenged, these scripts set the scene for exhaustion, resentment, and inequality. They also contribute to the culture that drives violence against women.
The good news? A different ending is possible. We can free ourselves from outdated and rigid gender stereotypes by having conversations about respecting each other’s time, effort and needs. At work, with your mates, and at home.
Content warning: This article contains references to pornography and sexual acts.
Daniel is a youth advocate and consent educator. He says before we talk about consent, we need to address pornography’s pervasive message that women should and can be disrespected.
“Like many people I know, I didn’t receive sex-ed, or a sexual education, at school or at home. But I did learn about sex and consent. I received a comprehensive education from when I was 11 and first exposed to pornography.
It was an education that lasted 10 years and shaped my attitudes towards men, women, bodies, violence, respect, intimacy, consent and pleasure. I didn’t recognise the influence it had on me until I stopped consuming the content.
I realised watching porn was incompatible with my values of justice and equality and my intention to be respectful and empathetic. Watching porn meant my attitudes had been unconsciously moulded in adolescence.”
Women with disability experience significantly more violence and abuse than their nondisabled peers. Efforts to implement, evaluate, and scale-up strategies to prevent violence against women are rapidly expanding, but we know less about “what works” to prevent violence against women with disability. While secondary and tertiary prevention aim to identify violence early and prevent further occurrence, this review focuses on primary prevention.
Respect Victoria and Partners have released two pieces of research prepared for Dhelk Dja on promising practice in Aboriginal-led prevention.
The project mapped prevention initiatives delivered between 2016 and 2021 to identify successes, challenges, gaps, and opportunities for future investment. The research documented available evidence on effective First Nations-led prevention. It looked at what works best, and where there are gaps in our knowledge. The research reviewed evidence across Victoria and Australia, as well as New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
Over the last month we’ve been talking all things NCAS (National Community Attitudes Survey) here at ANROWS.
The NCAS is a unique and important piece of evidence, where we can take stock as a country and where we can consider what we really think about violence against women. Many of these results are deeply disturbing. But things have, and are, shifting. Across the country our attitudes towards violence against women are improving.
If we want to change behaviour, we must change attitudes. If we want to reduce the prevalence of family and sexual violence, we must change our thinking towards this violence. If you haven’t already watched the NCAS Launch, then don’t miss out. Hear from the incredible Jayke Burgess, Chanel Contos, Rosie Batty AO and Lula Dembele.