Preventing violence against women is everyone’s responsibility.
How do you make women feel safe in your community?
Every woman has a story about inequality, harassment, abuse, or assault. After reading this page, you will know how to #Saysomething to end violence against women.
Stop violence against women…
In 2018, 65% of Australians who witnessed workplace sexual harassment took no action (AHRC, 2018).
Jess works in real estate. She is regularly subjected to creepy jokes and made to feel uncomfortable in her uniform. She feels her workplace offers no support and is frustrated by workplace diversity policies that don’t encourage change. She’s been labelled bossy for suggesting this be a company focus. Her colleagues gossip that this is why she hasn’t been considered for promotion.
#Saysomething to end violence against women at work, you can:
- Make practical and accountable gender equity policies
- Host HR training to teach appropriate behaviours
- Create safe spaces for women
- Offer flexible employment for both working parents
- Tackle gender bias recruitment
- Promote qualified women to leadership roles
Healthy relationships should increase self-worth and support equal choices for both partners.
Katie and Ben are first-time parents. Katie is on maternity leave from a high-paying job. She would have preferred to return to work, but Ben’s workplace doesn’t provide flexible parental leave. Her family jokes now that since Ben is the new breadwinner, it’s probably best that he has control of family finances. Since having the baby, Ben sometimes yells at Katie and embarrasses her in front of family and friends. Some of Katie’s friends believe this is because he is under pressure and that violence can be a normal reaction to stress.
#Saysomething to end violence against women at home, you can:
- Set fair financial boundaries
- Share domestic duties equally
- Talk openly about how to be gender equal
- Encourage healthy relationships and dating behaviours
- Encourage women to prioritise their careers
- Hold a perpetrator accountable for their choice to use violence against women
Fatima’s story is a common experience of women in community settings.
Fatima is a player, coach and volunteer at a local mixed-gender soccer club. On club days, she is generally tasked with kitchen duties and is frustrated that most club leaders are men. Fatima is disappointed when professional soccer players are not held responsible for violent outbursts on the pitch and in their private lives. Their behaviour is dismissed as ‘boys will be boys’.
#Saysomething and effect positive changes in your community, you can:
- Encourage female participation in sports and in normally male dominated STEM subjects
- Encourage children to embrace their own personal identities rather than gender-based personalities
- Participate in women’s sports by watching, purchasing tickets or consuming media
- Create consequences for community members using violence such as banning them from clubs, pubs or social settings
- Understand the effect of all forms of violence
- Ensure the media highlights perpetrators ‘choice to use violence rather’ than ‘victim’s behaviour’
In Australia,
1 in 3
women experience sexual or physical violence.
In Australia,
1 in 2
women experience sexual harassment.
Indigenous women are
29x
more likely to be hospitalised in violent assaults.
In the LGBTIQA+ community
61%
report verbal abuse as a result of their gender identity or sexuality.
End the cycle of violence against women
Violence against women is unfortunately common and largely tolerated in Australia. Ending violence against women starts by addressing the social conditions that drive it.
Four ways to prevent violence against women…
Challenge violence against women.
#Saysomething
Reject harmful gender stereotypes.
#Saysomething
Support women’s independence.
#Saysomething
Encourage respect towards women.
#Saysomething
Continue reading our resources to learn more about the 4 drivers of violence against women and how to challenge them at work, at home and in our communities.
In 2022, 56 women lost their lives in incidences of violence against women. Many other sisters, mothers and friends also suffer from violence, experiencing disability, poor mental health, and homelessness.
