Primary Prevention FAQs

Gender-based violence is any act of abuse committed against someone because of their gender. The United Nations defines it 'physical, sexual or psychological harm'. It can also include threats, stalking, cyber abuse, emotional, verbal, financial, cultural and reproductive coercion. It includes physical and non-physical acts that intimidate or create fear.

Sometimes it's a one-off event. For others, it is a pattern of abuse over a long period of time.

The context where abuse happens means that we use terms like domestic and family violence, lateral violence, domestic abuse, sexual assault, or workplace harassment.

Gender-based violence is a product of patriarchy - a system that benefits and prioritises men and does not give women the same opportunities. It shapes our family structures, systems of government, business, law and communities. It limits freedom and choice.

Primary prevention challenges us all to address the gendered drivers of violence. Violence is preventable and the evidence tells us that gender equality is the answer.

There are five actions that will reduce violence and the conditions that allow it to occur. They are:

1. Promoting gender equality
2. Empowering women and girls
3. Challenging gender stereotypes
4. Building respectful relationships
5. Challenging violence against women in all its forms

Starting a conversation and taking action can happen in all sorts of places, like government, businesses, organisations, schools, workplaces, and even around the family dinner table. It's most effective when we're all on the same page.

Just as we've changed our thinking and behaviour around other things that impact our health, like smoking, HIV, and COVID-19, we can work towards creating a society where the next generation don't support or excuse violence.

You can watch a video explainer about preventing gender-based violence here.

On average, every 9 days in Australia a woman is murdered by her current or former partner. Since the age of 15:

• 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence
• 1 in 3 women have experienced physical violence
• 1 in 4 women have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner

These statistics are similar globally. The UN estimates that 35% of women worldwide have experienced gender-based violence.

In Australia, First Nations women, women with disability, women from culturally diverse backgrounds, and LGBTQIA+ people experience gender-based violence at even higher rates.

But these numbers don't tell the whole story.

Many more are impacted by non-physical coercive control - a pattern of intimidation, violence, humiliation, threats and manipulative behaviour that isolate and leave a person living in fear. The ripple effects mean children, families, and communities may be impacted too.

Each person's experience is different and abuse may happen in more than one relationship. Somebody might be experiencing coercive control from an intimate partner, be financially abused by their sibling and also experience racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia on the street.
Impacts of violence and pathways to recovery are personal, but anyone experiences abuse should be able to access the support they want.

You can watch a video explainer of the impacts of gender-based violence here.

1. Give children the freedom to develop their own interests, skills, and attributes. Don’t assume or imply what they should like, be good at, or behave like, based on gender.
2. Encourage children to do a range of different activities. Let them know it’s okay for girls to play outside and get messy, and for boys to do arts and crafts.
3. Allow children of all genders to feel and express the full range of emotions in a healthy way. Let them know it’s okay for boys to cry, and it’s okay for girls to be angry.
4. Provide books, toys, games, music, and posters which encourage girls to be strong, brave, leaders, smart, adventurous, solve problems and develop STEM skills.
5. Provide books, toys, games, music, and posters which encourage boys to be gentle, cooperative, kind, respectful, seek help, and to care for other people and animals.
6. Avoid saying things that reinforce gender stereotypes e.g. calling girls ‘bossy’ instead of assertive, and never use gender as an insult e.g. saying a boy ‘runs like a girl’.
7. Challenge any limitations that other parents, carers, family or community members place on your child based on gender stereotypes and roles.
8. Role model and encourage positive, equal, and respectful relationships with other people and animals, and never excuse or tolerate disrespect, aggression, or bullying.
9. Reward children’s caring and cooperative behaviours and encourage children to work and play with, and actively include children of all genders and backgrounds.
10. Create opportunities for all children to take turns being the leader, creating the rules for activities and games, and making decisions about different things.

The simple answer is yes, men can and do experience abuse in relationships but its less likely to be physical and they are half as likely to report living in fear of injuries or their life. Men are much more likely to experience emotional abuse in an intimate partnership than any other type of violence.

The Australian Personal Safety Study tells us that 1 in 6 men report having experienced emotional abuse in a current or former relationship.

Men’s experiences of physical violence tend to be at the hands of other men and outside intimate partnerships. Regardless of who is experiencing violence, men are the overwhelming the majority of those perpetrating the violence