HSH703: Health Promotion Action Report on Violence Against Women

This report critically appraises two health promotion strategies, "Preventing Violence Together (PVT 2030)" and "Building a Respectful Community (BRC 2017-2021)", aimed at combating violence against women. It begins by identifying violence against women as a key health issue, influenced by socio-ecological determinants. The report then provides a detailed analysis of each strategy, summarizing their approaches and interventions. It evaluates the strategies against the Ottawa Charter, the CSDH areas of action, and Kickbush's determinants of health, providing insights into their strengths and weaknesses. The report highlights the interventions' focus on workplace, community, and family environments, as well as personal skills development and health service reorientation. While both strategies demonstrate an evidence-based approach, the report concludes by noting their limitations, particularly regarding environmental sustainability, while emphasizing their distinct target areas: workplace and personal skills (PVT) versus families, marketing, and support services (BRC).

Appraising Health Promotion Action for the 21st century
Topic
ID: Name
ID: Name

Socio-ecological determinants
and Violence against Women
•What is the health issue for the population group? The issue of violence against the population group of
women is the targeted cause of concern which shall be emphasised. According to ANROWS, it has been
estimated that 1 out of 3 Australian women and 1 out of 5 Australian women experience physical and sexual
violence.
•Socio-ecological determinants influencing violence against women, have been estimated to be: marriage at a
young age, low income and education level, absence of social or family support, alcohol and substance
abuse and history of trauma.
Main argument:
•The Western Region Strategy to Prevent Violence Against Women (PVT 2030) strategy, adopts an evidence
based, advocacy associated policy framework in combating violence against women, through encouragement
of organizational change and community participation.
•The Building a Respectful Community (BRC 2017-2021) strategy, also adopts an evidence based approach of
policy managing violence against women, but focuses on provision of a gender equitable approach at the
organizational and community level.

Socio-ecological Determinants
Map
Violence against
Women

Interventions
PVT : Preventing Violence Together (2030)
< https://whwest.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PVT_strategy_2017.pdf >
• To increase awareness regarding violence
against women and promote gender equality at
individual, community and organizational level.
• To decrease attitudes which contribute to
violence against women
• To provide scope for women engaging in
decision-making and leadership at the
community, family and workplace level.
• To combat stereotypical and stigmatised roles of
gender which promote violence.
• To promote and normalise cultures and
attitudes of gender equality.
BRT: Building a Respectful Community (2017-2021)
< https://www.whin.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/04/Building-a-Respectful-
Community-Strategy-2017-2021.pdf >
• To utilise an upstream, holistic approach to
combat drivers of violence, like gender inequality
at the organizational and social marketing level.
• To undertake early preventive strategies such as
screening families for violence and educating
families on violence against women.
• To prevent recurrence of violence by providing
decision-making strength to survivors in convicting
the perpetrators.
• To provide long term crisis management such as
services of housing assistance, counselling, legal
and behaviour mitigation for men and ensure
safety for the survivors.

i. Health framework
- Ottawa Charter
PVT : Preventing Violence Together (2030)
1. Builds a healthy public policy by targeting the workplace,
family and community. However no information on financial
measures.
2. Provides supportive environments at both personal,
professional and community levels. However no mention on
environmental sustainability.
3. Strengthens community actions by encouraging workplace
organizations and families to act against gender violence.
4. Develops personal skills by enhancing women’s leadership
and decision-making abilities.
5. Reorients health services by encouraging gender-equality
environments.
6. Moves into the future by normalising gender equality.
Building a Respectful Community (2017-2021)
1. Builds a healthy public policy by targeting families and the
workplace. Additional measures include provision of housing
resources.
2. Provides supportive environments by encouraging families
and the workplace to assist women. No mention on
individual empowerment or environmental sustainability.
3. Strengthens community actions by educating the
workplace, families and social marketing to prevent gender
violence.
4. Develops personal skills by provision of counselling
services.
5. Reorients health services by educating and screening
families on violence.
6. Moves into future by providing long term support services
at legal and community levels.

ii. Areas of action identified by the
CSDH
(WHO 2008, p. 43)
PVT : Preventing Violence Together (2030)
1. Improve conditions of daily life by improving
workplace and community environments for women.
Does not focus adequately on domestic
environments.
2. Tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money
and resources by encouraging gender equality at the
workplace and the community.
3. Measure the problem, evaluate action, expand the
knowledge base, develop a workface that is trained in
the social determinants of health, and raise public
awareness of the social determinants of health, by
combating gender stereotypes, stigmatised roles and
actions which may promote violence against women.
Building a Respectful Community (2017-2021)
1. Improve conditions of daily life by improving
workplace, organizational and family
environments for women.
2. Tackle the inequitable distribution of power,
money and resources by encouraging survivors to
act against their perpetrators.
3. Measure the problem, evaluate action, expand
the knowledge base, develop a workface that is
trained in the social determinants of health, and
raise public awareness of the social determinants
of health, by screening and educating families for
violence and promoting long term counselling and
legal services for women.

iii. 2 key determinants of health
(of the 5 defined by Kickbush 2012)
• Social determinants by focusing
upon workplace violence,
gender stereotypes and
promoting gender equality.
• Behavioural by focussing on
strengthening women’s
awareness and scope of
leadership and decision making.
• Social determinants by screening
families for violence and
educating families on acting
against it.
• Behavioural determinants by
focusing on empowering
survivors to act against the
perpetrators.
PVT : Preventing Violence Together (2030) Building a Respectful Community (2017-2021)

iv. Systems thinking approach?
- Allender et al. (2015)
• Consults the key stakeholders (women)
by aiming to enhance their scope in
leadership and decision-making and
combating against gender stereotypes.
• Consults broad stakeholders
(community, workplace) by
encouraging the workplace to act
against violence and normalising
gender equality across the community.
• Consults the key stakeholders
(women) by aiming to strengthen
survivors in their fight against their
perpetrators and providing
counselling, housing and legal
services.
• Consults broad stakeholders (family,
men) by educating families and
altering men’s behaviours which may
promote violence against women.
PVT : Preventing Violence Together (2030) Building a Respectful Community (2017-2021)

v. Health equity and/or action on
environmental sustainability?
- Baum and Fisher (2010)
• Does not address environmental
sustainability.
• Decreases social stratification by
targeting gender stereotypes.
• Reduces vulnerability by
encouraging leadership and
decision making among women
• Provides equitable healthcare by
encouraging gender equality.
• Does not address environmental
sustainability.
• Decreases social stratification by
educating families and empowering
survivors.
• Reduces vulnerability by screening
families and improving workplace.
• Provides equitable healthcare by
providing long term support services.
PVT : Preventing Violence Together (2030) Building a Respectful Community (2017-2021)

Conclusion
• Both interventions sufficiently addresses issues of violence against
women by adopting evidence based approach.
• Both interventions do not highlight environmental sustainability.
• The PVT strategy primarily targets the workplace and personal skills of
women to fight against violence.
• The BRC strategy targets families, marketing and availability of
support services against women.

References
• Allender, S., Owen, B., Kuhlberg, J., Lowe, J., Nagorcka-Smith, P., Whelan, J. and
Bell, C., 2015. A community based systems diagram of obesity causes. PloS
one, 10(7), p.e0129683.
• Baum, F. and Fisher, M., 2010. Health equity and sustainability: extending the work
of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Critical Public
Health, 20(3), pp.311-322.
• Baum, F. and Fisher, M., 2010. Health equity and sustainability: extending the work
of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Critical Public
Health, 20(3), pp.311-322.
• Tekkas Kerman, K. and Betrus, P., 2018. Violence against women in Turkey: a social
ecological framework of determinants and prevention strategies. Trauma,
Violence, & Abuse, p.1524838018781104.

Bibliography
• Whin.org.au (2019). Building a Respectful Community (2017-2021).
[online] Whin.org.au. Available at: https://www.whin.org.au/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2018/04/Building-a-Respectful-Community-
Strategy-2017-2021.pdf [Accessed 14 May 2019].
• Whwest.org.au (2019). Preventing Violence Together 2030:. [online]
Whwest.org.au. Available at:
https://whwest.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PVT_strategy_2
017.pdf [Accessed 14 May 2019].