That’s according to an evidence-based new template which provides solutions to address the serious and pervasive problem of gendered violence in Australia’s schools.
Our Watch’s Respectful Relationships Education: A blueprint for preventing gender-based violence through education systems is calling for stronger investment in respectful relationships education (RRE) in all schools.
The blueprint produced by the leading organisation in the prevention of violence against women outlines the urgency for governments to prioritise and fund a ‘whole of school’ approach to RRE, rather than one-off programs or a few classroom lessons.
Our Watch CEO Patty Kinnersly says it has arrived at a crucial moment for Australian students and teachers who are facing alarming rates of gendered violence and are looking for answers.
“It is deeply concerning that nearly every week there is a new incident in the school environment – whether that be young men sharing deep fake porn of young women they know, or female teachers leaving the industry because they fear for their safety.
“Research shows a clear connection between sexism, disrespect and gender-based violence.
“This landmark blueprint not only outlines the problems but also provides an evidence-based roadmap for governments on how the education system can help prevent gender-based violence.”
RRE focuses on addressing gender-based violence through age-appropriate lessons about healthy relationships, gender and respect, alongside changes to school policies, structures and environments.
Research into RRE has shown reductions in sexual bullying, improvement in classroom behaviour, increased knowledge about gender and abuse, and schools developing more equal cultures.
But while it’s been around for a decade or so, every state and territory is on its own journey, and only one state government has embraced a holistic approach.
The blueprint provides a practical, evidence-based framework for governments on how to successfully implement, coordinate and monitor an evidenced based approach to respectful relationships education.
Victoria is spending $10 million each year and implementing RRE aligned to the whole-of model in line with the evidence.
“This [blueprint] has really come about because we have both governments and schools requesting more of a step-by-step about how to implement a whole-of-school approach to RRE,” Kinnersly tells EducationHQ.
“But also, we wanted to help people understand that it can be scaffolded, that it’s not just a one-off class, that in order to do RRE appropriately and as per the evidence, it does need long-term funding and planning and a phased approach.
“We respect that schools are on the journey, but this is actually a call for governments to stay the course, to keep funding it, to understand that it’s a long-term investment.”
“So while the Federal Government committed in its last term to $77 million to support RRE nationally, Kinnersly says “we’re also going to need every state and territory to lean in”.
With more media focus on young people and their use of social media, the encroachment of misogyny into teenage boys’ lives and TV shows like Adolescence, awareness is increasing and along with it a keenness to be better informed.
“I do feel like young people have been living in a secret world that most adults have got no idea about,” Kinnersly suggests.
Shows like Adolescence and perhaps some of this other data that’s coming out are really starting to open people’s eyes up a bit.”
Kinnersly says journalists and media outlets at present are shining a welcome light on gender-based violence in schools because community sentiment is perhaps changing.
She says young people are increasingly exposed to harmful messaging about sex and relationships and report wanting more information and support.
The age of young people first accessing pornography is getting younger, more and more young people are thinking choking is a normal sexual act, and the eSafety Commissioner just last week posted data that young people are starting to think that it’s normal in a relationship for a couple to know where each other are 24 hours a day.
“So tracking is a normal part of relationships and it’s normal for men to have more control over women once they’re in a partnership,” Kinnersly says.
The exposure of young men in particular to aggressive and misogynistic violent content online is essentially unregulated.
New Our Watch research has found that young men with supportive attitudes towards rigid forms of masculinities (such as being tough, stoic and hypersexual) are much more likely to have perpetrated physical (54 per cent), verbal (66 per cent) and online (56 per cent) bullying.
The blueprint also found 40 per cent of 16 to 17-year-olds had experienced sexual harassment in a place of study, while most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people (aged 14-17) have been exposed to potentially harmful online material such as violent images or sexual content (76 per cent).
While the Government is doing its bit to try to limit the access of those 16 and under, Kinnersly says more needs to be done.
“We’ve got to increase young people’s exposure to content about respect for relationships, education and consent at school, in the family life, at sport, everywhere really.
Our Watch has recently launched The Line, an award-winning campaign made up of hundreds of articles, quizzes, clips and interviews with and for young people.
The Line provides tools and resources for parents and educators along with helping young people find answers to questions about consent, dating, sex and relationships.
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via www.1800RESPECT.org.au, or text 0458 737 732.
