Prevention programs and policy bibliography

'Taking the tackle: respect is for everyone' is an educational resource to promote respectful relationships and prevent violence against women. The resource is aimed at young men aged 15-24 playing Australian Rules Football at the local level, and features a DVD and facilitator's manual for running group sessions. Topics in the DVD include: the nature of violence against women; statistics and misconceptions; community attitudes to violence; sexual consent and sexual assault; family violence and the law; bystander issues and mateship; and what men can do to prevent violence against women. The resource builds upon two current initiatives: the Australian Football League's Respect and Responsibility Program and AFL Victoria's Fair Game Respect Matters Program.

The Sexual Assault Prevention Program for Secondary Schools (SAPPSS) was developed by CASA House in 2004 and has now been implemented in many schools across Victoria. This article describes the program model and the role of partnerships with schools in addressing sexual assault.

This article summarises three recent initiatives in preventing violence against women. All three share several characteristics, including: being multi-site; emphasising primary prevention; taking a whole-of-government approach; and identifying phased goals. Firstly, in June 2010, the New South Wales government released 'Stop the Violence, End the Silence', a domestic and family violence action plan. Also in 2010, the Victorian government released 'A Right to Respect: Victoria's Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women 2010-2020', which is a 10-year framework to engage with the underlying factors relevant to family violence and sexual assault. These follow on from 'Building on Our Strengths: A Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012', which was launched by Northern Territory government in 2008.

This document sets out Australia's plan for reducing violence against women and children. The plan covers the period 2010 to 2022, and was developed the Commonwealth Government in conjunction with state and territory governments. It is based on the recommendations of the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, as published in their report 'Time for Action: The National Council's Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, 2009-2021'. The National Plan targets domestic and family violence and sexual assault, and explains the six national outcomes it works towards, the implementation strategy, and State and Territory initiatives.

This review focuses on bystander action in relation to preventing violence against women. It outlines the theories relating to bystander behaviour and examines a range of programs that are designed to increase prosocial bystander action. The review also sets out principles for effective practice in this area, with a particular focus on the potential role of bystanders to influence peer cultures and social norms.

The National Union of Students' (NUS) 'Talk About It' survey examined the perceptions and experiences of 1,549 female university students on sexual assault and harassment, safety on campus and residential halls, the availability of information and services, and reporting sexual assault. Based on these findings, the NUS has proposed 30 recommendations for change aimed at universities and students - the 'Safe Universities Blueprint'. This report presents the findings of the survey, details the recommendations for action, and includes endorsements key agencies.

The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) is a global project that promotes research on sexual violence in order to improve policy and service delivery. In March 2010 the Global Forum for Health Research commissioned an external evaluation of the SVRI. This report details the methods and findings of that evaluation.

Partners in Prevention (PiP) is a Victorian statewide network for workers involved in the delivery of violence against women primary prevention education projects that target young people. The project provides regular email bulletins, forums, seminars and evaluation support to a growing network of over 200 violence prevention workers in Victoria. In this interview, the PiP coordinator, Kiri Bear, talks about networking, information sharing and evaluation in the violence against women prevention education field. She elucidates some of the key issues around the primary prevention of sexual assault, including the usefulness of standards and frameworks that assist in identifying best practice. She also includes an insightful response on the changing culture toward building in evaluation as part of program design.

This article explores human rights frameworks and how they might be harnessed in the fight to eradicate all sexual and physical violence against women. In particular, the article examines the implications for Australia of signing the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

This article is part of a discussion series focusing on public education media campaigns. The article summarise the current research on public media campaigns, social marketing, public education, and social norms campaigns in the area of sexual assault prevention. It outlines the differences between these campaign styles, their aims and strategies, and issues and challenges in evaluating their success.

This book explores young people's views and experiences regarding love, sex, relationships, and negotiating consent. Drawing upon interviews with 117 young people in Australia, aged 14-24, the book examines the 'unwritten rules' of gender and power in which sexual negotiations take place, as well as the impact of sex education and popular culture. Chapters include: Generation Y: problematic representations of 'youth' and 'sex'; Sex: the 'new' rules of engagement; Power: framing sexual violence in young people's everyday encounters; Consent: negotiating consensual sex; Technology: unauthorised sexual images and sexual violence; Education: sex, power and consent in schools; Prevention: policy, programs and practical strategies; and Rewriting the rules, preventing sexual violence.

Sexual assault, domestic and family violence are human rights violations, harming and limiting the lives of one third of Australian women. This report states that no woman should be a victim of domestic and sexual violence, and it focuses on strategies and actions of early intervention, prevention, improved services and justice. The report makes recommendations designed to confront the unacceptable level of injustice against women, and it gives both governments and communities a plan of action that need to be implemented to ensure safety, equality and justice for Australian women. It works towards the outcomes of: Communities are safe and free from violence; Relationships are respectful; Services meet the needs of women and their children; Responses are just; Perpetrators stop their violence; and Systems work together effectively.

This document sets out the Victorian Government's new strategy to reduce and prevent violence against women, 'A right to respect: Victoria's plan to prevent violence against women 2010-2020'. The Plan features a system wide framework of goals, strategies, and priority actions, drawing upon the international evidence base of drivers and policy enablers. This document describes the guiding principles, proposed government approach, immediate actions, implementation plans, performance monitoring and evaluation, and governance and accountability. Strategies include establishing partnerships across government and non-government agencies, building organisational capacity, and embedding violence prevention and gender equity in policy, regulation, and legislation.

Haley Clark interviewed performer Nelly Thomas and secondary school nurses Maureen Weir and Margaret Chigros about the secondary school sexual assault and consent education show, 'The No Means No Show'. From their different positions as writer/performer of the show, and educator/audience member, Nelly, Maureen and Margaret discuss how the show came about, what it's about, and how the young women and schools who make up the target audience have received it.

The report 'Framing Best Practice: National Standards for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Assault Through Education' recommended the development of the National Sexual Assault Prevention Education Standards to provide a framework to guide current and new programs in developing 'best practice' based on international and local research evidence. In this current issues paper, three of the authors of that report discuss a number of challenges that programs are likely to face in the effort to formulate best practice in sexual assault prevention education. The discussion is based on findings from interviews conducted with 32 prevention educators and program writers during a research project in which questions were asked about program development. Some of the challenges include: the distinctiveness of the prevention education role, conceptual underpinnings in programs, program development and evaluation, working in schools, choosing a pedagogical approach to work with young people, and program adaptation for the purposes of cultural relevance.

There is no argument about the pervasiveness and impact of sexual violence. The challenge we face is how to prevent it. This issues paper begins by exploring the evolution of ideas in how to prevent sexual assault, including the role of feminist campaigns in gaining public recognition of the issue and how the goal of prevention is understood, and the theoretical ideas that informed these developments. The paper then considers local, national and international frameworks that promote multisectoral responses to sexual assault, discussing the effectiveness of current strategies, unintended consequences of various approaches and initiatives, and what can be learned. Public health approaches, the participation of men, relationship education, and risk avoidance are discussed. Lastly, the paper explores the key role of prevention education in preventing sexual violence, and the theoretical shifts that are occurring.

Sophie Gale, Council Health Planner, was interviewed by ACSSA's Haley Clark about the City of Yarra's Sexual Violence Taskforce Report and Action Plan. The Taskforce was charged with the task of examining best practice models for local government in sexual violence prevention and recommending strategies for addressing sexual violence prevention in the City of Yarra, and their proposals endorsed by Council in 2006. In this article, Ms Gale describes the Taskforce's development; the role of Council's in violence prevention for it's residents, visitors, and staff; and framing violence prevention as a publc health issue.

Chief Petty Officer Angela Ballard is the Australian Navy's most experienced sexual offences support person. Based at HMAS Cerberus, the Navy's principal training establishment, she co-established the Sexual Offence Support Persons Network (SOSP) with founder, Commander Fiona Sneath, in July 2002. The 'Cerberus Model' for responding to and providing support to sexual assaults has been benchmarked across Navy establishments and fleet units. Angela has been proactive in finding ways to continually improve the practices and procedures of prevention and intervention of sexual assaults at HMAS Cerberus. She speaks with ACSSA's Haley Clark about responding to sexual assault within the Australian Navy.

Haley Clark interviews Libby Lloyd. Libby chaired the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, which was charged with producing a national plan to address violence against women and their children. 'Time for Action' was released in April 2009. Here Libby and Haley reflect on the work of the council.

This section outlines key developments in sexual assault prevention policy from the last few years. It highlights areas of debate and provides information on accessing documents. In regards to prevention frameworks, a major development was the release of the National Council's report, 'Time for Action: The National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children' in 2009. This followed on from the 2008 Amnesty International report, 'Setting the Standard: International Good Practice to Inform an Australian National Plan of Action to Eliminate Violence Against Women'. In prevention education, a significant report was the 2009 'Framing Best Practice: National Standards for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Assault Through Education'. Debates in prevention work have been ongoing, in particular the discussion on the role of men in preventing violence against women, and how central feminism is or should be to prevention work. At the end of 2008 at least two forums considered these issues at length.

The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women brings together all levels of government, the nongovernment sector and the wider community. The Plan will identify how the work of police, courts, legal systems, health and community services and education can contribute to a reduction in the levels of domestic violence and sexual assault. This document looks at the immediate government actions of the national plan, and the measures the Australian government will fund to reduce violence against women. It looks at six key outcome areas: communities are safe and free from violence; relationships are respectful; services meet the needs of women and their children; responses are just; perpetrators stop their violence; systems work together effectively. It concludes by listing the 20 high priority actions the government agrees to act on immediately.

In this interview, sexual assault support worker Rowena Harper provides a snapshot of the challenges of providing counselling and prevention services to diverse communities in Far North Queensland. The interview explores: the reasons for the sexual assault service being attached to a Family Planning Queensland clinic and education service; the client groups that the service works with; the opportunities presented by locating the sexual assault team in the family planning sphere; and the geographic area serviced and challenges posed by providing a service to such a large area. It also outlines some recent examples of the community capacity building approach adopted by the service.

Though sex education is widespread in Australian schools, many young people feel ill-prepared in their sexual relationships. In response, this book proposes a focus on teaching sexual ethics - to provide the skills in developing healthy sexuality and preventing sexual assault. Part 1 of this book draws upon a survey of 16-25 year olds from urban and rural Australia, about their sexual experiences, negotiating sexual intimacy, sex education in schools, and what they would like to see taught in sex education courses. Part 2 introduces the sexual ethics approach to sex education, and presents findings from a trail-version of a sexual ethics education group, which includes the topics of consent and the responsibility of friends.

"This Wrap provides information about young people's experiences of sexual assault, the barriers they face to disclosing such experiences, the process of disclosure for young people, what you and your school can do to support somebody who has disclosed sexual assault and why it is so important to provide positive and supportive responses. Australian schools have made a significant commitment to reducing violence, including sexual assault, in schools and supporting students who have been victims of violence. For example, the National Safe Schools Framework prioritises young people's safety as a whole-of-school issue. It can also be seen in the efforts of states and territories to provide guidance to schools in responding to sexual assault in schools. This Wrap aims to supplement these national and state and territory initiatives."