Change in Awareness Levels and Effectiveness of National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women

This article discusses the change in awareness levels of victims, community, and bystanders regarding domestic violence and the effectiveness of the National plan to reduce violence against women and their children from 2010-2022. It explores the implementation of operational planning and collaborative approaches to address domestic violence. The article also highlights the impact of mass mobilization and media reporting on domestic violence, along with the need for privacy protection for victims. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of collaboration and sector-based reforms in addressing domestic violence.

Change in the awareness levels of the victims, community and bystanders and
effectiveness of National plan to reduce violence against women and their children 2010-
2022
The presence of a policy and its implementation are two different exercises. The gap between
knowledge and information present between these stages can be managed effectively by
implementing operational planning. The key elements of this plan were to foster collaborative
approaches among the key stakeholders to bring down the number of incidents of domestic
violence. Another major concern of this program was associated with the awareness levels of
the individuals related to domestic violence (“Violence against Women in Australia”, 2017).
In the year 2013, the addition of theme five in the main framework changed the results of this
program. Theme five is associated with cross-sector development. The awareness levels of
the urban population were high, they were aware of the definitions of domestic violence.
However, the rural sector of the country was unclear. For instance, women in the rural areas
of Australia were unaware of the fact that an act of violence performed by an intimate partner
is a crime and the offender can be booked under adequate laws.
Prior to the certain campaigns, many women were not aware of their rights during court
proceedings. (National Symposium on Violence against women and girls with disabilities,
2013).
In the year 2016, the Australian government initiated "Stop it and Start Campaign." This
campaign created a model for many NGO's and other socially concerned bodies. Many more
NGO’s joined the frontline by launching similar campaigns. Reclaim the Night (RTN), and
“White Ribbon Australia” (WRA) are primary among them. This example gives a clear
picture where the addition of implementation of theme five in the existing program creates
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Certain forums for the mass mobilization. Bystanders of the community and media started
noticing domestic violence and collaborated with an intention to mobilize the weakest link in
the chain, which is the victim (“Special Rapporteur on violence against Women”, 2017).
It is true that mass mobilization is a great way of achieving certain targets, however, here we
cannot ignore the fact that mass mobilization should be a controlled affair otherwise it can
invite some repercussions. The case of media reporting of domestic violence gives us an
example. Prior to 2010, most of the media houses were publishing domestic violence as any
other crime. They were presenting the commentary of the legal bodies over the issue, this
trend continued until 2016 when they started presenting commentary of the victims. It was a
positive step. Watching a victim telling her story is more inspirational rather than listening to
the crime data from a news anchor. Media started reporting these events more aggressively in
order to gain viewership. The privacy issues and human rights of certain subjects or the
victims were compromised. The cause was noble; however, the violation of privacy was an
additional agony for the victim.
In order to keep a check on the invasion of the privacy done by the media, many state
authorities developed certain codes and conduct. The guidelines issued by the state of
Victoria in 2015 were implemented with some changes for the same purpose. Other social
institutions of the society started awarding positive journalism in this genre. The present
example gives us an idea that how the main policy can be implemented with success while
revising other policies.
Conclusion
In the present case, we can clearly see that the purpose of the policy was to strike
collaboration among the forces working for the same purpose. The performance of the policy
in the rural region was a dark area. Theme five introduced a sector-based reform structure.
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The initiative taken by the government created a model for the NGO's. The NGO’s in return
implemented it to the next level by mobilizing the masses.
Reference
National Symposium on Violence against women and girls with disabilities, (2013), Sydney,
WWDA(Online) Available at
http://wwda.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/STV_Background_Paper_FINAL.pdf
Special Rapporteur on violence against Women (2017), Sydney, Australian Human Rights
Commission (Online) Available at
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/AHRC_20170120_violence_against_wom
en_submission.pdf
Violence Against Women in Australia An overview of Research and approaches to
primary prevention, (2017), Victoria, VicHealth (Online) Available at :
https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/-/media/ResourceCentre/PublicationsandResources/
PVAW/Violence-Against-Women-Research-Overview.pdf?
la=en&hash=FE35B4870E2DAD8FFC92C2ADBD49CE6D9C94CC9C. (Accessed
24-03-19)
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