Respect Ballarat supports and coordinates primary prevention and early intervention work to accelerate progress towards reducing the prevalence of gendered violence in Ballarat, with a particular focus on intimate partner violence.
It does this through:
- supporting implementation of tailored and contextually appropriate work to challenge how the gendered drivers of violence play out for individuals, communities, organisations and systems across Ballarat
- strengthening partnerships with and across local and state-based organisations contributing to and delivering prevention and early intervention initiatives in Ballarat
- supporting community mobilisation to strengthen support for and uptake of prevention efforts across Ballarat.
What is community mobilisation?
Community mobilisation is a community-led approach to social change. The evidence tells us it’s a critical element in the success and sustainability of place-based initiatives like this one.
In the context of Respect Ballarat, it means supporting community groups, individuals and organisations as they build their own approaches to and momentum for challenging the gendered drivers of violence. Support might include providing communities with tools, education, information and resourcing.
Community mobilisation helps connect and reinforce the outcomes from settings-based interventions in the model, by increasing their collective reach and influence across Ballarat. It is especially important for ensuring that communities historically underserved by prevention efforts are connected to the vision and efforts of Respect Ballarat.
What is Respect Ballarat trying to change?
Respect Ballarat aims to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that enable and lead to gendered violence. In particular, the model focuses on challenging the norms, practices, and systems that enable gendered violence, particularly in intimate partner relationships. This means violence that is perpetrated in the context of romantic and sexual relationships, including dating, hookups and long-term relationships.
What are social norms?
Social norms, or ‘norms,’ are the informal and unwritten ‘rules’ of how our society operates. In this context, they refer to how we expect people to behave, express themselves, appear and interact with others, according to their gender. For example, the idea than men are ‘breadwinners,’ don’t show fear or sadness, and are always in control.
Norms influence our attitudes and behaviours, and reinforce the way our communities, systems and structures operate. For example, sports clubs that encourage a culture of 'locker room banter’ and aggression in men’s sport.
To prevent harmful behaviours from occurring, the evidence tells us we need to identify the positive behaviours we want to see. Together with local Ballarat communities and violence prevention experts, Respect Ballarat has identified two groups of behaviours for collective action over the life of the model.
The first group of behaviours will be targeted during the foundational phase of the work:
- community leaders and organisations consistently model and promote respectful, non-violent behaviour and create safer spaces for conversation about gendered violence
- people engage in informed, compassionate conversations about gendered violence that value survivors' experiences and avoid harmful stereotypes
- men demonstrate care, empathy, and express emotions in non-harmful ways with partners, children and others.
The second group of behaviours will build on the first three, and will be targeted following the foundational phase:
- men engage in shared decision-making, shared household labor, and childcare in partner relationships
- boundaries and consent are respected by partners in intimate relationships
- people speak up when they hear sexist jokes and slurs, or observe controlling behaviours, such as naming the harm and encouraging respectful alternatives.