Campaign takes anti-violence message to schools, sport

THE campaign aiming to engage men and boys in conversations about preventing violence against women recently took its message to almost one hundred young males at several Ballarat schools.

The Women’s Health Grampians (WHG) Communities of Respect and Equality (CoRE) Alliance sessions, known as a community blitz, were also held for Basketball Ballarat.

WHG reported that more than 95 males between the ages of 16 and 23 took part at Basketball Ballarat and the St Patrick’s, Damascus, Mount Clear and Phoenix colleges.

For the past few years, WHG has worked with the National Rugby League and Melbourne Storm’s social impact teams to bring a different style of training and education to the region.

Melbourne Storm’s Stand Up, Speak Out and Take Action project, funded by Sport and Recreation Victoria, and the NRL’s Voice Against Violence program have been delivered to CoRE member clubs and schools to increase participants’ awareness and understanding of the issue.

Movement-based training is delivered by former elite male rugby league players and is designed to strengthen knowledge of gender-based violence.

It includes high-performance drills and locker-room conversations about prevention and being an active bystander to call out disrespect.

While the training was originally designed for the rugby league community, it is transferrable to any sporting code and setting.

“We all know how community-minded sporting clubs are,” WHG’s gender and sport lead Dee Micevski said.

“The issue of violence against women affects them too and many clubs want to do more to support cultural change.

“Clubs have a loud voice and big stage to raise awareness of these issues, and more importantly, being traditionally male-dominated spaces the access to men and boys is enormous.”

Basketball Ballarat CEO Neville Ivey said the organisation had been a CoRE member since 2018.

“This is a priority for everyone at the club, from the board to the coaches and players,” he said.

“We know the statistics around violence against women and we are trying to play our part to reduce those statistics.”

More information about the program can be found at whg.org.au or by emailing Ms Micevski at [email protected] .