PreventX: How we can prevent family and gender-based violence right now

I’d like to welcome you all here tonight on behalf of Safe and Equal. We hope that you enjoyed the last two days of the PreventX conference. We’re really pleased to be able to present this in-person event as part of the conference.

We’re here tonight to hear some wonderful pitches from practitioners about the next big things in primary prevention. But just to warm up the stage, I wanted to start by giving my own three-minute pitch – about why working in prevention is something that more people should do.

So, here goes:

Are you passionate about changing the world?

Do you want to end family and gender-based violence?

Well – imagine getting paid to do all that!

You’ll get to work with some amazing people, who are committed to social change, just like you. And we’re a bunch who really like interaction, and lots of it – conferences, events, networking, meetings – actually, maybe a few too many meetings.

Anyway, it’s a good thing – because we’re up and out there all the time, changing minds and changing systems that enable violence. You can join the Partners in Prevention network, and a bunch of others like the MAV network and regional women’s health partnerships. So really, you’ll never feel alone – and you won’t be able to escape a community of practice, even if you try.

I’m not going to kid you – it’s not always an easy job. You’ll end up in rooms where you hear attitudes and opinions that make you wither on the inside. You’ll be told that we’re all equal now, so why do women keep complaining? You’ll be told men have it so hard these days, because they have to worry about consent.

Your difficult job is to be curious and delve further to see if you can shift those ideas.

Sometimes, you have to give up and move on. But so often you’ll see the attitudes shift as people realise that there’s a different and better way to look at things. And don’t worry – we’ll arm you with lots of cool statistics, messaging strategies, and a few handy legal and regulatory frameworks. Plus, we have this really great national framework called Change the Story, and a bunch of evidence-based frameworks specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, women living with disability, LGBTIQ+ communities, and refugee and migrant communities. And we’ll word you up on all the technical bits – like drivers and socio-ecological models and stuff like that.

It might seem a bit complicated – but don’t be phased. Upstream drivers are really simple: you change ideas and you change society so that violence is no longer a choice. It takes a long time, but you get to see change every day, in small ways – and that’s the best bit.

There are so many choices about where you can do this work. There’s schools, councils, workplaces, universities and TAFEs. There’s family violence services, sexual violence services, women’s health services, sexual health services, community services, and many more. We’re all across the state and the country – not just metro – and we work with and for a range of communities. You can be a trainer, policy officer, group facilitator, network convenor, project manager, and so many more.

Many of us describe ending up in prevention as ‘an accident’, so you won’t be out of place. We come from lots of different backgrounds: public health and health promotion, international development, communications, political science, even some theatre and fine art majors (you’ll be able to pick those ones). Also, it’s a growth industry. More and more people are choosing prevention.

So get into it, and give it a go!