Prevention
Our approach to prevention
What is primary prevention?
Primary prevention’ involves challenging and disrupting the root causes of violence against women by addressing gender inequality.
That means addressing the unequal distribution of power, resources, opportunity and value given to women and men in our society.
The aim of primary prevention is to prevent violence from occurring in the first place through initiatives that target the entire population and within all settings, including education, workplaces, politics, and community.
Primary prevention is different to other kinds of interventions that address violence against women.
Interventions that occur when the risk of violence is already there are often called ‘early intervention’ or ‘secondary prevention’.
Primary prevention approaches have been used successfully in Australia in the public health sector for issues like road safety and smoking, and we know that using similar approaches can help to prevent family violence in the future.
The gendered drivers of violence against women
The evidence base in the ‘Change the story’ Framework which underpins all our work in primary prevention, tells us that gender inequality creates the social conditions for violence against women to occur. There are four key expressions of gender inequality that have been found to predict or drive this violence. To prevent violence against women, we must focus our efforts on addressing these drivers.
- Condoning of violence against women
- Men’s control of decision making and limits to women’s independence in public life and relationships
- Rigid gender stereotyping and dominant forms of masculinity
- Male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control
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What does ‘CHANGING THE STORY’ mean?
To prevent violence against women we must take action to target the gendered drivers by addressing attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, systems and practices that uphold the inequalities between women and men.
This means:
- CHALLENGE condoning of violence against women
- PROMOTE women’s independence and decision-making
- CHALLENGE gender stereotypes and roles
- STRENGTHEN positive, equal and respectful relationships