The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) welcomes the Australian Government commitment of $18.8 million third phase of the national campaign to reduce violence against women and their children to mark International Women’s Day.
The Stop it at the Start campaign encourages everyone to “unmute” themselves and empowers them to take actions that will have a positive influence on the attitudes and behaviours of young people.
“Each and every one of us has a role to play in ensuring disrespectful attitudes and behaviours towards women are not cultivated in the early years of life and propagated throughout people’s lives.” Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward FACN, Chief Executive Officer, the Australian College of Nursing said.
“We all need to turn around the disrespectful culture and set the acceptable standard, recognising our own unconscious behaviour and understand the influence such behaviour can have on others, including the next generation. Everyone needs to take ownership of the issue rather than using arguments to justify disrespectful behaviours. The behaviour we walk past is the behaviour we accept.”
Note: A suite of tools and resources will be available online at www.respect.gov.au in mid-March to help parents and other adults to model positive behaviours and start a conversation about respect with the young people in their lives in the next few weeks.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.
