Mobilising Society to End Violence
A nationwide approach to promoting positive values to tackle violence and other antisocial behaviour.
Australia has invested billions of dollars in addressing domestic violence through stronger laws, frontline services, education, prevention programs and the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. These measures are important, but government cannot build a peaceful society on its own.
In the following video, we consider what may be a missing piece in Australia's response: broader community involvement.
The same principle extends beyond domestic violence to the abuse of retail workers, workplace bullying and intimidation, violence and abuse directed at healthcare and other frontline workers and violence against teachers from students and parents.
There is also growing concern about the influence of the online environment on the socialisation of young people. Recent reports of misogynistic attitudes associated with the so-called "manosphere" entering Australian classrooms have included teachers describing sexualised behaviour, verbal abuse and physical intimidation.
The Australian Secondary Principals' Association has described the trend as worrying while making an important point: responding to these influences cannot be left to teachers and schools alone. Families, governments and the wider community also have a role.
These are different problems with different causes and circumstances, but they share an important social dimension: how do we continually reinforce the behaviours that allow people to live and work together peacefully?
The Yes, We Signed! campaign proposes a practical way to involve the broader community in that process, beginning with a common vision.
Why do we need a common vision?
Every successful organisation understands the value of a clear statement of purpose. A mission establishes what an organisation does, a vision establishes where it wants to go, and measurable goals provide a means of getting there. The same principle can be applied to the broader community.
The Freedom Declaration for Peace provides a common vision based on behaviours and principles that are already widely accepted — respect for others, personal responsibility, compassion, honesty, self-restraint and the peaceful resolution of differences.
It is not another law or government program, nor is it intended to replace the work already being undertaken. Its purpose is to provide a common point around which those efforts can be reinforced and extended throughout society.
Signing provides a simple first step. It enables individuals and organisations to demonstrate their commitment while giving political, business, sporting and community leaders a practical opportunity to lead by example.
Supermarkets could provide an important entry point for taking this idea from a declaration into everyday Australian life.
Coles and Woolworths interact with millions of Australians and their families every week. They have also demonstrated through highly successful collectible promotions their ability to engage children and parents around simple ideas.
The same approach could be applied to positive behaviour. Collectible characters could represent kindness, sharing, caring, helping others, honesty, courage and respect. Each character could provide parents with an opportunity to talk with their children about what that behaviour means in everyday life.
This is socialisation at its simplest: small messages reinforced repeatedly through families and communities. It would also enable supermarkets to extend their existing efforts to protect staff from violence and abuse beyond warning signs and security measures to participation in a broader preventative initiative.
A major supermarket joining the campaign could provide an important starting point for wider participation by businesses, schools, sporting organisations and community groups.
Schools are increasingly being asked to respond not only to behaviour originating within the school environment, but also to attitudes and influences young people encounter online.
The growing concern about manosphere content illustrates the difficulty. Teachers can challenge misogynistic behaviour and schools can provide respectful relationships education, but they cannot control the wider social environment shaping children outside the classroom.
The Yes, We Signed! campaign provides an opportunity to reinforce the same basic standards across different parts of a child's life — at home, at school, in sport, in shops and eventually online. Rather than placing additional responsibility on teachers, the objective is to make their work easier by ensuring the broader community is reinforcing the same positive behaviours.
Many organisations are already working to prevent violence, protect workers, improve mental health and strengthen communities. The objective is not to replace or compete with these initiatives, but to provide a way of connecting and reinforcing them.
Unions could encourage members to participate as part of existing efforts to address workplace violence, bullying and intimidation. Organisations such as White Ribbon Australia, Movember and Our Watch could continue pursuing their respective missions while supporting a common society-wide initiative.
Sport could play a similarly important role. Sporting organisations could sign the Declaration and invite players, coaches and administrators to do the same, providing highly visible examples of the standards they expect and an important influence on young Australians.
The longer-term objective is participation across shops, schools, workplaces, hospitals, sporting organisations, community groups, governments, websites, media organisations and online platforms.
No single organisation can prevent violence, and governments cannot regulate every human interaction. But governments, businesses, unions, schools, families, sporting organisations and community groups can work together to strengthen the social environment in which those interactions take place.
The proposal therefore begins with a deliberately simple action: establish a common vision, ask organisations and individuals to sign it, and then use their respective reach and capabilities to reinforce the behaviours it represents.
Yes, We Signed! provides a mechanism for doing that.
This is the first simple step that can opens the path to true and lasting solutions to the growing incidence of violence in the community, starting with domestic violence.