Media Release: 10 June 2004

HOWARD GOVERNMENT DUMPS VIOLENCE PREVENTION FOR A POOR CURE

Women's Health West this week joined family violence and sexual assault services around Australia to condemn the Federal Government's watered-down campaign on violence against women.

Last week the Federal Government confirmed it would waste millions of dollars by cancelling the original ground-breaking 'No Respect, No Relationship' anti-violence campaign, which focussed on violence prevention by encouraging young people to develop healthy and respectful relationships.

PM John Howard pulled the plug on the original campaign - based on extensive research about how to stop violence before it begins - just days before it was to be launched in December last year. Since then debate has raged about what the Government would and should do about the campaign.

"The new, watered-down campaign is about cure, not prevention, and a poor cure at that," says Melissa Afentoulis, Chief Executive Officer of Women's Health West. The new 'National Elimination of Violence Against Women' campaign features media advertisements and a booklet delivered to every household with a message from the PM about what to do once a sexual assault or other violent incident has occurred.

"Young women lose out the most from this decision," says Ms Afentoulis. "To stop sexual and domestic violence in the future, we must reach out to youth as they are starting to form relationships. The original campaign provided both positive relationship models and information about how to respond to violence. It's also a shame to lose the youth focus - the 1996 ABS Women's Safety Survey showed that single women aged 18 to 24 are more at risk of sexual assault than any other group."

Women's Health West and other services have also criticised the announcement of a new 24 hour helpline. "This is an unbelievably wasteful duplication of existing services," says Ms Afentoulis. "It would bypass established state-based services and create confusion for those seeking help." There is a proposed allocation of $100 per referral from the helpline, which she condemns as "woefully inadequate - a figure pulled out of the air, without consultation with expert services about the real cost of supporting victims".

"Violence includes much more than physical abuse," says Ms Afentoulis. "Emotional and psychological violence - such as threats to hurt a woman or her children, or controlling who she sees or where she goes - create deep and lasting harm, and are often precursors to more physical violence. The 'No Respect, No Relationship' campaign really tackled this issue, based on evidence that 99 percent of Australians understand that physical violence is abusive, but know less about the effects of other forms of violence."

Scrapping the original campaign has meant cancelling innovative programs, including one tackling family violence in Indigenous communities, school curriculum materials on healthy relationships, and 'Coaching boys into men' - a booklet to help sports coaches promote respectful attitudes to women amongst young men. "Given recent allegations about sexual violence and the culture of disrespect for women in many sporting clubs, cancellation of this component is yet another wasted opportunity," says Ms Afentoulis.

FIND OUT MORE about support available to women and children affected by family violence.

MEDIA CONTACT

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact our Chief Executive Officer Melissa Afentoulis or our Communications Officer on 9689 9588 or via email.