The goal of primary prevention is for everyone in the community to have healthy and respectful relationships, so they can live safe and happy lives. 

Primary prevention is the work done across communities, organisations and society where people live, learn, work, socialise and play to stop violence from happening in the first place. It is about work that challenges the deep underlying social conditions that drive violence against women, the attitudes, practices or structures that excuse, justify or even promote violence. These are known as the gendered drivers.  

The gendered drivers are attitudes, systems and structures that condone violence, minimise women’s independence and role in decision-making, reinforce rigid gender stereotypes, and perpetuate dominant male cultures that emphasize aggression, dominance and control. 

As well as gender, overlapping forms of inequality and discrimination also drive violence. These are related to racism, the impacts of colonisation, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and myths about culture. 

 Primary prevention aims the change all this. Activities might look like: 

• A program and curricula promoting respectful relationships in a local school; 

• A local football club creating a program to ensure women have equal access to resources and facilities; 

• A workplace implementing a gender equity policy focusing on leadership and workplace culture.
   

For primary prevention to be effective, the approaches and messaging used needs to be consistent and mutually reinforcing. 

Primary prevention needs to happen alongside services and programs that aim to meet the needs of victim survivors and keep them safe and help rebuilt their lives. Prevention must also involve directly addressing perpetration and intervening early to stop violence.  

You might sometimes hear the language of prevention of gender-based violence used interchangeably with gender equality. This is because gender inequality is the social context that underpins all the drivers of gender-based violence. It is closely related to broader efforts to promote and achieve gender equality but also distinct from it. For example, improving legal and workforce equality does not automatically change the underlying ideas and social structures that cause violence. Nevertheless, when you engage in gender equality work, you are also contributing to the prevention of family and gender-based violence. 

For more on this, you can read Safe and Equal’s resource on What is Primary Prevention. 

Violence can affect anyone, but patterns of family violence are clearly gendered. 

Anyone in our community can perpetrate or experience violence. However, we know that the vast majority of violence, around 95% is perpetrated by men. We also know that violence experienced by women is likely to be at the hands of a man they know, whereas when men experience violence, it is usually a one-off incident at the hands of a stranger.  

When it comes to intimate partner violence, around one in four Australian women have experienced this since age fifteen, in comparison to around one in fourteen men. Women are also much more likely to suffer serious injury or death as a result of violence, with approximately one women every nine days being killed by a former or current partner in Australia.For bisexual women, and trans and gender diverse people (particularly trans women) rates of intimate partner violence are even higher. 

Looking at these statistics, it’s clear that violence is a gendered issue. Because of this, the way we prevent violence must focus on gender.  

The national framework for preventing violence against women in Australia, called Change the Story, tells us how particular issues drive high rates of violence, such as condoning of violence, men’s control of decision-making, rigid gender stereotypes and male cultures that emphasise dominance, aggression and control6. Addressing these ‘gendered drivers’, while we work towards gender equality in our workplaces and communities, is how we prevent that violence. 

There are also a range of frameworks that address the overlapping drivers of violence for particular communities, including Changing the Picture, Changing the Landscape, Pride in Prevention and Intersectionality Matters. 

You can check out Safe and Equal’s Driving Change resource for more information on how to address the gendered drivers of violence, alongside the overlapping drivers of violence experienced by so many communities.  

If you would like to use statistics as part of your campaign, our resource on How to use Statistics in Primary Prevention is a great place to start. 

The campaign began in 1991 as a strategy to unite and magnify calls for the elimination of gender-based violence. Each year, the 16 Days of Activism campaign galvanises movements and organisations working around the world, and draws the attention of governments to this critical issue.   

Each year, hundreds of organisations around Victoria take part in the campaign, by hosting events, running social media campaigns, delivering staff training or engaging with their communities to raise awareness.

Safe and Equal is funded by Respect Victoria to deliver the 16 Days Grassroots Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to provide participating support in the form of grants, events, resources and more, to help you deliver the most impactful campaigns possible. 

This means preventing family and gender-based violence is everybody’s business. 

Increasingly, organisations and workplaces are required to make sure that they are addressing the needs of their employees experiencing family and gender-based violence, and contributing to positive social change to address these issues. 

Some organisations have a particular responsibility to make sure that they are modelling gender equal practices. 

Under Victoria’s Gender Equality Act (2020), certain organisations known as ‘defined entities’ have a responsibility to promote gender equality, and ensure they are considering gender equality in all of their policies and practices. This means looking at your work, and considering how your staff and the community might have different experiences based on their gender. 

Defined entities include the public service and public bodies, local councils, community health organisations, universities and courts, as well as some others.  

As employers, organisations also have a responsibility to their staff to make sure the workplace is safe and free from hazards. Gender-based violence is considered by WorkSafe as an occupational hazard, and as such, employers have a responsibility create workplaces where everyone is safe and respected. Under the Equal Opportunities Act, all organisations also have a positive duty to prevent discrimination, sexual harassment as violence as far as possible. 

The 16 Days of Activism represents an opportunity for organisations to build on the momentum of the global campaign, and achieve great outcomes for their employees and the community. 

Our workplaces are where we spend a large amount of our time. Workplace policies and culture can have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of employees. 

Workplace approaches to family and gender-based violence have knock-on effects for the broader communities who engage with their services, as well as the families of employees. This is particularly true in regional communities, where certain large workplaces such as councils and hospitals can be the biggest local employers, and come to act as community hubs. 

Primary prevention initiatives in the workplace might look like: 

• Creating policies that put the responsibilities on workplaces to prevent and respond to violence, rather than on employees. 

• Building organisational cultures that normalise consequences for people who use violence, and support victim-survivors. 

• Addressing the representation of women in leadership positions and male-dominated industries. 

• Offering flexible working arrangements to allow everyone to take up roles as parents and carers. 

• Ensuring equal gender representation in public forums and meetings so that all voices are heard and valued. 

• Monitoring and reporting on the representation of women in the workplace. 

• Ensuring workplace programs build cultures that break down ‘boys clubs’.

For more examples of how you can take action to address the drivers of family and gender-based violence, check out Safe and Equal’s Driving Change resource. 

The 16 Days of Activism is a great time of year to focus on implementing internal policies and organisational commitments to change, highlighting the issue of family and gender-based violence as a priority.  

To find out more about how you be prepared to have safe and supportive conversation about family violence in your workplaces, check out Safe and Equal’s free Are you Safe at Home? eLearn. 

Across Victoria and in many different sectors, people and organisations are working to prevent family and gender-based violence. 

Some organisations specialise in prevention of family and gender-based violence, while others undertake this work as part of their larger remits as hospitals, schools, councils, community organisations and more. Some have funding or staff designated for this work, while others have limited budgets and staff who undertake it on top of their normal responsibilities. 

The 16 Days of Activism is an opportunity to draw attention to all the amazing work that happens year-round, and build collective action to strengthen our efforts. The campaign shows our communities that we are committed to ending gender-based violence, and supporting their safety and wellbeing. 

Organisationally, the 16 Days is an opportunity to showcase the achievements of those who take this work upon them, to thank them, and to re-commit to supporting them into the new year. 

While the campaign itself only lasts 16 Days, the impacts of the activities can be felt year-round. Staff that attend awareness-raising training will consider what they learned and apply it in an ongoing way. Resources or materials produced during the campaign can be reproduced and distributed throughout the year. 

Perhaps most importantly, the conversations sparked by the 16 Days campaign can continue and build, and may even grow into new primary prevention initiatives. The impact of the 16 Days builds on itself year on year, to increase the overall impacts, and lend support to the broader efforts of those working to prevent violence in Victoria.  

Maintaining an ongoing focus on gender equality, and addressing all forms of inequality and discrimination, can have significant impacts on the wellbeing of your staff. 

Evidence shows that workplaces with gender equal practices and diverse workforces are likely to have: 

• Increased organisational performance 

• Better capacity for innovation 

• Higher retention rates 

• Stronger organisational reputation 

• Improved ability to attract talent11 

Promoting gender equality and the prevention of family and gender-based violence doesn’t have to be too resource-intensive, and can be embedded into everyday operations to ensure it remains a running thread without drawing down on too much staff time. 

Impactful 16 Days of Activism campaigns also don’t need to cost a lot or take up a lot of staff time, with many organisations around Victoria running great campaigns with limited funding every year. 

Some ideas for campaign activities that can be impactful on a small budget include: 

• Encouraging staff to decorate the workplace in orange 

• Adding 16 Days banners to staff email signatures 

• Facilitating conversations in the workplace about equality and respect 

• Lighting up buildings in orange to highlight the 16 Days 

• Screening films that explore concepts of discrimination and equality 

• Hosting a local walk on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women 

• Running communications campaigns that include resource guides, reading lists, and information on other local activities 

You might also consider partnering with other organisations working in your local area to pool your resources and increase the overall impact of your campaign. 

Having conversations about family and gender-based violence can be challenging. Sometimes people might be resistant to having these discussions, or even push back against the changes you are trying to make. 

People can be resistant to primary prevention work for a number of reasons. They might not feel that it aligns with certain values they hold, such as values around family, security or tradition. People might have a lack of understanding around gender equality, and this can make them feel threatened, or like they are losing something. 

The 16 Days of Activism is a great opportunity to start conversations about preventing family and gender-based violence, which can give you a better understanding of the kinds of concerns people might have. This can help you design great initiatives that are informed by the particular strengths and needs of your community, and to make sure people feel like they are coming along on the journey with you. 

To shift people towards change, we need to start our conversations and messages with a positive vision for the future, and make sure we end with suggestions for action, and practical solutions everyone can get behind. 

Framing primary prevention as a way of building healthy, happy communities where everyone feels safe and respected is a great way to get people on board. Approaching conversations with openness and empathy can make people feel safe to express their concerns, and you can work through them together. 

If you are concerned about some of the stronger kinds of resistance and backlash that gender equality work can illicit, there are plenty of great resources around to support you. 

Safe and Equal’s Overcoming Backlash and Resistance is a great place to start. On our website you can find this webinar delivered by John Fulcher, specifically addressing the issue of managing resistance during 16 Days campaigns.