What We Do » Violence Against Women

Violence Against Women

Why is the prevention of violence against women a priority?

Women’s Health Victoria is committed to the prevention of violence against women. For Victorian women aged 15 to 44, violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness ¹. With one in three Victorian women experiencing intimate partner violence in their lifetime ², the health and economic costs are considerable. The prevention of violence against women is one of our priorities because:

Women who have experienced violence are more likely to suffer from mental health issues and ongoing physical conditions ¹.
Women represent nearly 90% of reported rapes and 76% of reported sexual assaults ³.
After financial difficulty, domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness in Victoria, with women and children still being forced in the majority of cases to flee the family home ⁵.
There are influences within Australian culture that encourage a tolerance of violence against women and discourage men from taking responsibility for their violence. This is evident in the reporting of violence, representations of women, and conviction rates for crimes involving violence against women ¹.

Take A Stand workplace program

Women’s Health Victoria has developed a whole-of-business program to help prevent violence against women before it occurs. Take a stand against domestic violence: it’s everyone’s business provides organisations and individuals with the knowledge and the tools to challenge traditional attitudes and beliefs that may trivialise and/or condone violence against women. The program includes workplace policy development, awareness-raising, and training. This is an Australian-first, whole-of-organisation approach to preventing violence against women, and supporting employees who are experiencing it. The program was pioneered at logistics company Linfox as part of the Working Together Against Violence Project, described below.

Visit the Take A Stand website

For more information, or to register your interest, call us or email Take a Stand.

Everyone’s Business violence prevention workshop

This half-day workshop informs the practice of primary prevention of domestic violence within the context of private business and the workplace. The workshop provides participants with the necessary theoretical base and practical skills to start planning and implementing a workplace program aimed at the primary prevention of violence against women and is recommended for local government, community and women’s health organisations.

Everyone’s Business workshop further information

Working Together Against Violence project

Women’s Health Victoria’s Working Together Against Violence Project used workplaces as a setting for the primary prevention of violence against women. The project aimed to strengthen the organisational capacity of a male-dominated workplace (Linfox) to promote gender equality and non-violent norms. The project was funded by VicHealth and ran from 2007 to 2011. The work at Linfox informed the development of the Take A Stand workplace program, and the Everyone’s Business workshop, described above.

View the project final report.