Jessica Stojkovski: how men must play their part in putting an end to family and domestic violence

I’m lucky enough to have many good men and boys in my life. Those who show love, leadership, courage and kindness. Many of us have good male role models in our lives who would agree family and domestic violence has no place in our community. But how can they be part of the solution? Whether it be at work, school drop off and pick up, or on the sporting sidelines, it’s a question I’m often asked. That’s why the Cook Government’s 16 Days in WA campaign, which runs until December 10, will focus on young men and boys stepping up to help. Now in its ninth year, the campaign’s theme is Stopping Family and Domestic Violence: Play Your Part. And what we’re asking of young men and boys, and the wider community, is this: Stand up. Speak out. Step in. Champion respect and call out the behaviours and attitudes that fuel violence against women and children. Demonstrate what real respect looks like. As a government, we will always be focused on supporting victim-survivors and holding perpetrators to account. But we must also work to prevent violence before it starts. There is no question that perpetrators are responsible for their actions. But family and domestic violence is often fuelled by beliefs, behaviours and attitudes that we as a community accept as respect — and what we excuse. While not all disrespect leads to violence, all violence starts with disrespect. Men and boys across Western Australia are still confronted with messages and attitudes that normalise disrespect towards women, whether it be via family, mates or social media. Reaching them early and where they are is a growing challenge that we must face head on. Nobody wants their son, brother, nephew or loved one to be violent or abusive, or think that it is acceptable. As part of the campaign, we have recruited leaders in our community to do just that and be our 16 Days “Agents of Change”, including Fremantle Dockers captain Alex Pearce, Perth Scorcher Aaron Hardie and youth advocate Daniel Principe. They are using their influence to be part of the solution, to promote respect, challenge harmful attitudes and model positive behaviour. Another important focus of our campaign is championing strong leadership directly in our communities by engaging grassroots sport. Sporting clubs are environments where we can create inclusive environments, raise awareness of respectful relationships, and role model respectful behaviour on and off the field. We have teamed up with some of the State’s major sporting teams and codes, which are pledging to play their part to help prevent family and domestic violence. By signing up to the 16 Days in WA Sports Pledge, these sports are committing to building a culture of respect and calling out violence whether it shows up on or off the field. We can all create change by supporting individuals, families and friends to join in and educate, motivate and advocate within their local communities. 16 Days in WA is part of the Cook Government’s continued commitment to ending family and domestic violence. Since 2017 we have injected more than half a billion dollars of new investment to support victim-survivors, hold perpetrators accountable and raise awareness. We established the first-ever Ministry for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence in WA and are delivering bold, system-wide reform to overhaul the way government, Police and the community respond. We are supporting victim-survivors by increasing refuge capacity, providing more support services and expanding the Safe at Home program. We’re also driving unprecedented law reform including tightening our gun laws, introducing GPS tracking for high-risk offenders and strengthening violence restraining orders. We will criminalise coercive control this term of government. The State Government is committed to building safe and inclusive communities, so that all Western Australians feel secure at home, at work and in the community. We will not stop until every woman and child is safe, but to end this violence we need every Western Australian to play their part. Jessica Stojkovski Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic