A Catholic boys school in Ballarat, Victoria, is taking part in a program organised by a local community health service to help drive change in the fight against gender-based violence. Source: ABC News.
Leading Senior Constable Kane is part of a program organised by Ballarat Community Health that visits local schools to discuss respectful relationships, mental health, compassion, mateship and empathy.
“When these young men hear about the statistics about violence against women in particular, they’re actually quite shocked and disappointed,” Leading Senior Constable Kane says.
“At this age, they’re the voice of change … this is where it starts, it really does.”
In a St Patrick’s College classroom, a cohort of year eight students are passionate and vocal, proffering enthusiastic answers about terms such as “consent”, “toxic masculinity”, and “gendered violence”.
Ballarat seemingly became the epicentre of violence against women in early 2024, after the highly publicised deaths of Samantha Murphy, Hannah McGuire and Rebecca Young, who all allegedly died at the hands of men.
Not long after, 60 kilometres east in Bacchus Marsh, graphic deepfake images of female students were circulated online by peers.
In May, a Melbourne school expelled two male students after they were found ranking female pupils in a spreadsheet.
Experts say incidents like these have shown the importance of engaging with boys early before they form troubling mindsets that can lead to even more concerning behaviours.
St Patrick’s College acting deputy principal Carol Roberts says the school wanted to participate in the gendered violence prevention program to push against unhealthy stereotypes of masculinity and ensure the students knew to seek help.
“There were stereotypes in the past of things like bottling your emotions up, unhealthy risk-taking, of not reaching out for help when you need it, of that macho-type stereotype,” Ms Roberts says.
“We’re seeing a big shift and a big change in challenging those things.”
FULL STORY
Schools having ‘vital’ discussions with boys to prevent gendered violence (By Laura Mayers, ABC News)
