BIG Respect Queensland Campaign & 16 Days of Activism
UN Woman 16 Days of Activism is an international campaign against gender-based violence, with this year’s theme: UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls. There is still a lot more work to be done by nationally and globally to addressing gender-based violence, with more conversations, awareness, education, and recourses needed.
Here in Australia:
- On average one woman a week is murdered by a current or former partner.
- 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.
- 1 in 2 women has experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime.
(OurWatch, 2023)
To help kick start the conversations in Queensland, in the lead up to the 16 Days of Activism campaign DVConnect, VicitmConnect, 54 Reasons, and photographer and activist, PollyannaR partnered together to deliver ‘Big Respect Qld’, across four days.
We travelled across Queensland and had pop up photobooths in Gold Coast, Brisbane, Townsville, Mt Isa, and Toowoomba, encouraging communities to come be a face to the cause of ending violence against women and girls. This campaign connected communities right across Queensland in an inclusive, creative, and engaging manner to start and continue conversations around domestic, family, and sexual violence.
It was a beautiful way for friends, family, coworkers to be part of the conversation and help bridge the gap between community conversations and a topic that for many can deem confronting and challenging to talk about. It is our hope through community engagement on domestic, family, and sexual violence we will all be equipped to have these conversations, where we can support victim/survivors and call out abusive and violent behaviours.
How can I make a difference?
We know that silence hides the violence. Therefore, we need to talk more freely and openly about domestic, family, and sexual violence. These steps could include:
- Having respectful conversations and training opportunities available in workplaces.
- Making it known to those within your community that you are here for them and would support them during circumstances that include domestic, family, and sexual violence.
- Having age-appropriate conversations with your children around respect, consent, sharing, healthy relationships and how to communicate emotions in a respectful manner. These conversations should start in early childhood and continue through to late teens.
- Demonstrating respectful behaviors in daily life and setting an example of what this looks like
- Standing with victim/survivors and calling out abusive and violent behaviours.
- Acknowledging if you are choosing to use abusive and violent behaviours and seeking assistance. The DVConnect Mensline works with men using domestic and family violence to help them change their behaviours.
#NoExcuseForAbuse #EndGenderBasedViolence
