Research Highlights Schools' Crucial Role in Combating Gender-Based Violence
Gender-based violence remains a significant issue within society. In the Australian context, one in four (23%) women and one in 14 (7.3%) men have experienced violence by an intimate partner since the age of 15 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021-2022).
Research led by Faculty of Education academic Emeritus Professor Helen Cahill, with contributions from research fellows Anne Farrelly and Natalie Calleja, in partnership with SNA Toolbox, has highlighted the crucial role that schools can play in prevention efforts aimed at reducing these alarming statistics.
This research project assessed the impact of the Resilience Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program on the social health of Year 7 and 9 students in six Victorian secondary schools.
Published by the Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) and funded by ANROWS, the study found that early intervention programs in an educational setting are a vital step towards ending gender-based violence.
More specifically, research-informed comprehensive social and emotional learning and respectful relationships programs, as demonstrated through RRRR, can improve student resilience, their respectful regard for others, and their social and emotional capabilities. It also led to reductions in the perpetration of bullying and sexual harassment.
The findings revealed that students who hold pro-gender equality attitudes are more likely to be friends with like-minded others. In parallel, students who sexually harass others are close friends with and prefer to work with others who also sexually bully people.
Additionally, boys held significantly higher pro-violence attitudes and lower gender equality attitudes than girls and gender-diverse students. Furthermore, Year 9 boys were less likely to intervene if a boy in their class sexually harassed a girl, compared to Year 7 boys, falling from 20.2% to 12.8%. In contrast, over a third of girls and gender-diverse students said they would do so.
Student ratings showed that a large majority of students found the program very useful, including that it was important to learn about gender and equality (girls 85.6%, gender-diverse 82.6%, boys 76.9%), and about the effects of gender-based violence.
A Year 9 male student, reflecting on his involvement in the RRRR program, expressed, “I'd probably say the most important thing was consent just because when we went over it, went over a bunch of things like what's acceptable, what is and what isn't consent ... So having the whole of Year 9 learn that was probably the most important thing.”
Most importantly, results show that the program led to reductions in bullying and sexual harassment, with a decrease in students who said they sexually bullied others, from 8.7% to 5.9%, along with a decrease in self-reported bullying of others, from 11.8% to 10.3%.
The study draws attention to the importance of providing teachers with training, strong guiding resources, and adequate time in the timetable for robust provision.
See the ANROWS website for a more detailed snapshot report and access to the full report on the findings.