National violence prevention organisation Our Watch has welcomed today’s release of the updated Victorian Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationship teaching and learning resources for schools, a key component of schools’ work to prevent gendered violence.
The latest resources highlight that Victoria is leading the country in supporting young people to develop healthy respectful relationships and to help prevent gender-based violence before it starts.
The updated teaching and learning materials for the whole-of-school approach include age-appropriate materials on consent, gender equality, relationships, pornography, healthy masculinities and hate speech. There is also a strong focus on the resources being inclusive for all students, including First Nations students, students with disabilities and students of all genders and sexualities.
Our Watch CEO, Patty Kinnersly, said these new resources were crucially needed as recent research showed young people’s earliest relationships commonly involve violence with almost one in three Australian 18 to 19 year olds having experienced partner violence in the previous 12 months. Also, a Young Women’s Alliance survey showed 90% of young women believed sexual violence was inevitable.
“These findings are deeply disturbing, which is why the new Victorian teaching and learning materials on consent and gender-based violence are an important part of responding to this crisis.
“We know the importance of teaching and equipping young people with age-appropriate skills during pivotal times in their development, and education continues to be one of our biggest levers to prevent gendered violence.
Ms Kinnersly said Our Watch has been involved with developing the evidence-base for respectful relationships education for over ten years. This also includes contributing to the evidence around young people’s use of, and access to, online pornography.
“Ensuring young people can understand the differences between pornography and healthy and consensual relationships is a significant addition to the resources, as our research shows that one in two 13-year-olds has accessed pornography, and studies show that nearly 90% of pornography on popular platforms depicts violence and abuse of women.
“The new materials also include a focus on masculinities and the impact of gender stereotypes, including how to challenge outdated gender roles like men must be ‘tough’, or ‘stoic.’ It's vital that we're working with young men and boys in constructive ways to promote healthy and positive ways of being a man,” Ms Kinnersly said.
“This has become increasingly important with social media algorithms sending violent and misogynistic content to young men and boys simply because of their gender. These resources will help equip young men and boys to identify and critically analyse harmful gender stereotypes.”
Ms Kinnersly said the resources were more than just a ‘one-off’ lesson but part of a ‘whole of school’ approach where everyone from the principal, to students, staff and parents were part of teaching and modelling respect and equality in a school community.
“We commend the Victorian Government’s long-term vision and investment in young people, and we encourage other states and territories to extend their commitment to respectful relationships education.”
The resources are publicly available for all schools and available on the Victorian Department of Education website.
Please contact media@ourwatch.org.au or call 0448 844 930.
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Our Watch is a national leader in Australia’s work to stop violence against women and their children before it starts. The organisation was created to drive nation-wide change in the practices, norms, and structures that lead to violence against women and children. Read more about Our Watch here.