Preventing Family Violence and Violence Against Women

Change the Story is the national framework and evidence base that state and local governments use to guide action for preventing men’s violence against women. The framework outlines the four drivers of violence against women and the five actions that people can all take to prevent violence against women.

Drivers of violence against women: 

• condoning of violence against women
• men's control of decision making and limits to women's independence
• stereotyped gender roles and ideas about how men or women should act
• disrespect towards women and male peer relations that emphasise aggression.
    

Actions to prevent violence against women: 

• CHALLENGE condoning of violence against women
• PROMOTE women's independence and decision making
• CHALLENGE gender stereotypes and roles
• STRENGTHEN positive, equal and respectful relationships
• PROMOTE and normalise gender equality in public and private life.

If you want to better understand the drivers and actions to prevent family violence and violence against women, below are some resources that you might find useful.

GenWest - Act To Prevent Men’s Violence Against Women 
OurWatch - Let’s change the story: Violence against women in Australia 
Safe + Equal - Preventing Violence Before It Occurs 

All violence is wrong, regardless of the sex or gender of the victim or the perpetrator. However, there are gendered patterns in how women and men are perpetrators and victims of violence. Many services and communities focus on preventing men's violence against women, as the research shows that women experience violence perpetrated by men at a much higher rate, with greater severity and impacts:

• around 95% of all victims of violence, whether women or men, experience violence from a male perpetrator
• women are almost three times more likely than men to have experienced violence inflicted by a partner since the age of 15
• women are more likely than men to be afraid of, hospitalised by, or killed by an intimate partner
• family violence and/or intimate partner violence is the leading cause of serious injury, disability and death for women aged 15 – 45 in Australia.

Certain people, identities and communities within Australia are at a greater risk than others and experience violence that overlaps with other forms of discrimination such as racism or ableism:

• women with disability in Australia are twice as likely to have to have experienced sexual violence than those without disabilities
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 31 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence related assaults than non-Indigenous women
• women from migrant or refugee backgrounds are more likely to experience different forms of family violence, such as financial abuse and reproductive coercion and control.
    

Violence against any person is always unacceptable. This webpage has been specifically developed to assist the community to learn more about and to take action to prevent violence against women.  Promoting gender equality and respectful and non-violent relationships will benefit the whole community, including men.

If you want to better understand the gendered nature of family violence, below are some resources that you might find useful:

GenWest - Act To Prevent Men’s Violence Against Women 
White Ribbon Australia – Preventing Violence 
Respect Victoria – What drives violence? 

Melton City Council is committed to taking action to prevent family violence and violence against women. In 2018, Council launched the Equality and Respect 2030 strategy that demonstrates the long-term vision and commitment for how Council will work towards achieving gender equality in the City of Melton.

The strategy guides Council’s approach to addressing gender inequality as the root cause of violence against women through taking an evidence-based approach to preventing violence against women before it occurs. It also represents an alignment with the significant, recent changes in national, state and local policy environment.

The Equality and Respect 2030 strategy outlines a vision that The City of Melton is a gender equitable community, where everyone:

• lives free from violence and discrimination
• is treated with dignity, respect and fairness
• has equal status, rights, opportunities and representation
• is empowered and included

… in their relationships, workplaces and in all areas of life. 

Download: Equality and Respect 2030 Strategy(PDF, 7MB) 

Read the 2023/24 Communtiiy Monitoring Report(PDF, 84KB)

Melton City Council has welcomed the introduction of the Gender Equality Act 2020 (the Act). Under the Act, Council is required to implement several obligations, one of which is the development and implementation of a Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP).

The existing Equality and Respect 2030 strategy has provided Council with a strong foundation to work towards achieving gender equality within our municipality and organisation in the coming years. There are several strategies that Council will implement to deliver on obligations under the Act which are aligned with the goals in the Equality and Respect 2030 strategy:

Goal 1: the City of Melton is a gender equitable, safe and inclusive community
Goal 2: Melton City Council is a gender equitable, safe and inclusive organisation 

Download: Melton City Council Gender Equality Action Plan(PDF, 600KB) 

There are several actions people can take to improve gender equality and ensure that women and girls can grow and thrive in communities where they feel safe and respected.

Participate in a local event or campaign

Each year Council recognises and participates in evidence-based campaigns, including 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, International Women’s Day and This Girl Can, to strengthen action and improve gender equity in the City of Melton.

Head to the relevant Council webpage to find out how you can get involved in upcoming initiatives.

Stay up to date with the latest evidence

Familiarise yourself and stay up to date with trusted organisations that develop and follow evidence-based frameworks to prevent family violence and violence against women. You can do this by signing up to their newsletters or following them on social media. Some examples include GenWest, OurWatch, Safe + Equal, ANROWS and Women’s Health Victoria.

Build your capacity through formal training

There are many free and low-cost training opportunities available for people who want to further their knowledge and understanding of gender equity and preventing violence against women.

Women’s Health Victoria – Introduction to Gender Equality

This short, FREE online course is available for anyone who wants to understand why gender equality is important. The course covers: 

• what gender and gender equality are
• the difference between equality and equity
• what intersectionality is
• how gender inequality works
    

Women’s Health Victoria – Introduction to the Prevention of Gender Based Violence

This short, FREE online course is available for anyone who wants to further their understanding of preventing gender-based violence. The course covers: 

• When prevention of gender-based violence is
• Gendered drivers of violence and gender inequality
• Types of prevention
• Intersectionality

There are several ways that Council and organisations in Melbourne’s west are taking action to prevent violence against women.

Preventing Family Violence Advisory Committee

Council’s Preventing Family Violence Advisory Committee (the Committee) meets quarterly to coordinate a whole of community and agency partnership to prevent family violence and violence against women. The Committee works to support the implementation of the Equality and Respect 2030 strategy and the Gender Equality Action Plan and:

• share knowledge, wisdom, successes and challenges
• support members to develop skills and expertise
• identify prevention priorities and develop collaborative action
• stay up to date with relevant trends and evidence
• encourage partnerships with other sectors
• make recommendations to Council for advocacy

View the recent meetings minutes of this Committee

Preventing Violence Together: Western Region Partnership Strategy

The Preventing Violence Together partnership was established by GenWest (formerly Women’s Health West) in 2010 and includes representatives from local councils, community health and the education and sporting sectors.

The partnership works together to share resources and take collective action to prevent violence against women in Melbourne’s west. Melton City Council is a member of this partnership and is regularly represented on the partnership’s governance, implementation and project working groups.

The partnership works to implement actions within the ‘Preventing Violence Together 2030: Western Region Strategy to Prevent Violence Against Women’ to ensure an effective approach to this work.

Western Integrated Family Violence Committee

The Western Integrated Family Violence Committee (WIFVC) is a representative, whole-of-sector reference group comprising of stakeholders involved in the family violence service system reform process in Melbourne’s west, including Council. The role of the WIFVC – like its counterparts across the state of Victoria – is to ‘operationalise’ the state-wide family violence reform agenda (underway since 2006) in locally meaningful ways.

Safe + Equal Associate Member

Safe + Equal is the peak body working across family violence response and prevention, recognised as the statewide voice of specialist family violence services.

Council is one of 80 associate members of Safe + Equal across Victoria working in partnership on important issues of policy, practice development and continuous quality improvement.