On Thursday, the ACT Government announced $300,000 in funding for domestic violence prevention – however, yet again primary prevention was missing from the announcement.
We know that working with young people today to build skills and knowledge around respectful relationships, equality and diversity is critical to preventing domestic and sexual violence in the long term – yet the government continues to invest in Band-Aid solutions that deal with the impacts of domestic violence rather than working towards long-term prevention.
It is vital that front-line services working with victims of domestic violence receive the funding and support they need to provide effective responses to their client’s needs. We also welcome the allocation of $100,000 to data collection, as we need better data to respond meaningfully to this crisis.
But if we want to see a real, meaningful reduction in domestic violence, we must ensure that young people are supported to have respectful, equal relationships – and that they are given skills in communication, dealing with conflict and respecting diversity.
YWCA Canberra’s primary prevention program, Respect, Communicate, Choose, does just that. What’s more, it has been independently evaluated as being a best-practice, evidence-based program with proven outcomes. We delivered the program to 900 students over 2012-13, in partnership with YWCA Adelaide. At the end of the 2013 programs, 80% of young people had a high level of awareness of what respect looks like. That means that those young people will be able to identify respect in their relationships, and behave with respect to their families, peers, and future partners.
We launched Respect NOW on International Women’s Day, a campaign calling on the ACT government to allocate $200,000 in funding per year over three years so that we can deliver Respect, Communicate, Choose to every ACT public primary school – we don’t think this is a big ask, especially when we look at the current economic impact of domestic violence.
We have reached over 350 signatures already, and the comments left by signatories tell an important story.
‘I’m signing this because I live in the same units that Tara [Costigan] did. No one should have to suffer that fate. No child should have to grow up with memories or knowledge of such an abhorrent act,’ one signatory says.
Another writes, ‘I’m signing because violence is too prevalent in our society and it needs to change now. The children are our future, the change needs to be focused there.’
YWCA Australia’s 2014 She Speaks survey, which is the largest survey of its kind surveying young women on their attitudes towards leadership and gender equality, found that for women aged between 15 and 30, sexual violence and harassment remains a primary concern. 30% of young women felt unable to seek help when experiencing violence in their relationship – even more worryingly, 30% felt unable to identify problematic behaviours in a relationship.
It is clear that primary prevention programs that work with young people early are critical to addressing this issue.
But this kind of change needs more than a quick fix and a news story – we need visionary leadership from our government, and a willingness to invest in our future as Australians. We won’t see the results of primary prevention in the next year, or even the next decade necessarily.
But how long can we condone the deaths of women in our community – 20 this year alone - at the hands of their intimate or former partners? How long can we allow children to be raised in violent environments, unaware of how to behave with respect in their own relationships? How long do we let this go on?
Primary prevention is the only way we will see this epidemic end – we look to the government to lead us towards a future free from domestic violence.