1. Reducing Violence against Women and their Children Grants Program
Community Crime Prevention
Reducing Violence against Women and their Children Grants Program
Program findings
Presenter: Leila Ismail
Title: Senior Policy and Program Advisor
Date: 15 June 2016
TRIM ID: CD/xx/xxxxx

2. The RVAWC grants program
Community Crime Prevention
The RVAWC grants program
From , eight communities around Victoria were supported to develop local partnerships for the prevention of violence against women ($4.8 million).
The RVAWC grants program has contributed to the evidence base to inform future work to address violence against women and children in Victoria:
Our Watch was engaged to undertake an overall review of the outcomes and learnings from the RVAWC program, and
Each of the eight RVAWC projects was required to undertake an independent evaluation.

3. Community Crime Prevention
Related initiatives
Four prevention and early intervention projects were supported through Koori Community Safety Grants ($2.4 million)
A RVAWC Community of Practice was established to bring the eight regional projects together to share challenges and ideas during the three years of the program.
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) was also supported to deliver the Local Government Preventing Violence Against Women initiative.
Reports and more information available at

4. The RVAWC projects Community Crime Prevention TARGET PROJECT
KEY ACTION AREAS
Region-wide primary prevention partnerships and settings for primary prevention action
Gippsland Regional Preventing Violence against Women Strategy
Develop a regional preventing violence against women strategy
Work with a range of settings (e.g. local government, workplaces) to coordinate region-wide prevention action
Social marketing campaigns - ‘Make the Link’ (Gippsland); Courageous Conversations (‘Hume’)
Hume Regional Preventing Violence against Women Strategy
United: Working Together to Prevent Violence against Women in the West (Western metropolitan region)
Leverage an existing regional strategy to shift organisational culture and embed violence prevention and/or gender equity within the workplaces of partners
Organisational-level changes through delivery of workplace programs
(Grampians region)
Influence structural and systemic organisational change to promote gender equitable/non-violent workplace cultures
Loddon Mallee Takes A Stand
Influence structural and systemic organisational change to reduce the acceptance of violence-condoning attitudes and behaviours, and to strengthen positive bystander behaviour
Direct participation and individual skills development
CHALLENGE Family Violence (Southern metropolitan region)
Work in local government and faith-based settings to train and build the capacity of male leaders in preventing violence against women
Baby Makes 3 (Eastern metropolitan region)
Promote equal and respectful relationships between men and women during the transition to parenthood
Undertake professional capacity development activities with sector professionals
Baby Makes 3 Plus (Warrnambool)

5. Community Crime Prevention
Key achievements
took their communities one step closer towards stopping violence against women from occurring in the first place
established (and in some cases sustained) effective partnerships for prevention
worked closely with over 40 workplaces and achieved organisational change in the direction of improved gender equity
reached over 1,600 first time parents through a group-work program for improved gender equality in relationships
generated assets by way of numerous resources for primary prevention
trained around 170 facilitators, mentors and leaders for local prevention activities, and ignited the leadership of many others in their communities.

6. Key findings – Our Watch review
Community Crime Prevention
Key findings – Our Watch review
Prevention partnerships require capacity development in themselves
Strong relationships with settings-based partners are essential and can make all the difference
Direct participation program activities can be transformational and ought to be measured for this
Prevention partnerships require capacity development in themselves
We often think of capacity development as an activity for individuals or organisations, but prevention partnerships need this work too. This is where formal terms of reference, partnership agreements, and other documents that outline the roles and responsibilities as partners can help. But effective partnerships must also develop a strong, shared understanding of primary prevention action: what it involves and doesn’t. This means expertly incorporating capacity development activities into the work of the partnership itself and keeping track of the impacts.
Strong relationships with settings-based partners can make all the difference
Building relationships is a continuous activity for all primary prevention projects. It is essential for developing and maintaining prevention partnerships (above) and in delivering programs or activities in settings such as workplaces and MCHS. The heightened community and public awareness of the problem of violence against women in recent years might well give projects a gentler path to engaging settings-based partners for their programs or activities.
Direct participation activities can be transformational and ought to be measured for this
Participants get a lot out of direct participation programs, as evidenced by the results contained in the final project and evaluation reports of the RVAWC-funded projects. CHALLENGE Family Violence highlighted the transformative experiences of male mentors and community leaders involved in the roundtables, and showed us that individual transformation can (and ought to) be explicitly named as a desired impact of primary prevention, and measured as a hallmark of project achievement. “Transformative social justice occurs when people research a deeper, richer, textured understanding of themselves, their location and power in their world and [when] they are prepared to act on these new learnings (CHALLENGE Family Violence, Final Evaluation Report, p. 23).”
Representatives of grant recipient organisations at the funding announcements, October 2012

7. Key findings – Our Watch review
Community Crime Prevention
Key findings – Our Watch review
Deep organisational transformation requires commitment and time
Communicating consistent messages is a critical success factor
Prevention projects generate many transferrable assets that can be used to continue the work of primary prevention
Deep organisational transformation needs commitment and time
Each of these projects showed gains having been made in the direction of non-violent norms and gender equity in their workplace partners; for instance, through the development of values or leadership statements, in undertaking gender equity audits or policy development, by prioritising prevention in planning documents, and through embedding organisation wide staff training. Notwithstanding these achievements, two projects in particular highlighted just how hard it is to achieve lasting transformation in organisational culture.
According to the United project, transformative organisational change requires employers and employees at all levels ‘to change their mindset and adopt radically different ways of making sense of and interacting with the world around them’ (citing Anderson and Anderson 2011).
Communicating consistent messages is a critical success factor
Make the Link, a social marketing campaign developed for the Gippsland Regional Preventing Violence against Women Strategy in its first year of implementation, was a source of key consistent messages for all the other activities occurring in the region. Meanwhile, for the contemporary and catchy brand, logo and merchandise all helped to give the program a high profile in the region. Both projects might have benefited from the strategic inclusion and use of social marketing and branding to support core project activities.
Prevention projects generate many assets
Make the Link website (and Make the Link resources)
Paving the Way Implementation Kit (for local governments) forthcoming
Courageous Conversations website
Why Gender Matters guide and video, and Speaking Publicly about Men’s Violence against Women, both available at the PVT online hub
Indicators by which to measure organisational change towards gender equity, in United: Working Together to Prevent Violence against Women in the West, Final Project Report
Action Manual and associated resources,
Promoting Equality and Respect: An interfaith collaboration on preventing family violence
Michelle Hunt, Program Manager, with a selection of workplace resources

8. Community Crime Prevention
Future directions
Ongoing work in local communities and councils to drive cultural change
Royal Commission into Family Violence:
Rec. 187 – primary prevention strategy
Rec. 189 – whole-school approach to respectful relationships
Rec. 192 – public-sector workplace reform
Our Watch Change the Story framework for primary prevention (building on Vic Health 2007 framework)

9. What change looks like…
Community Crime Prevention
What change looks like…
Above: First-time fathers (from left) Mailors Flat’s Andrew Maher holding Nate, four months, Port Fairy’s Ashley Price with Sophie, three months, and Warrnambool’s David Harrington holding Julia, 16 weeks (Source: ‘Baby Makes 3 program helps new parents adjust’ The Standard 12 July 2014)