NTV | #ShiftTheBurden: 2022 Federal Election Statement

About the campaign

Family and domestic violence is everyone’s problem. But it begins – and ends – with men.

After 30 years working with men who use violence, we know that we cannot stop family and domestic violence until we stop men using violence and abuse.

For too long, victim-survivors have carried the burden of navigating a system that meets their cries for help with disbelief or bureaucracy; a system that requires women to relive their trauma by repeatedly sharing their stories; a system that puts women at risk because it focuses on what women should do to avoid violence, instead of what men should do to stop using violence.

We need to shift the burden: to remove it from the victim-survivors and place it firmly on the men who use violence.

Ahead of the Federal Election, No to Violence has identified five key initiatives that must be included in the National Plan Ending Violence against women and children 2022-2032 to keep more women and children safe by enabling us to work effectively with more men – and achieve our vision of a world free from male violence.

NTV is calling for:

1. Secure funding for the national Men’s Referral Service – a dedicated phone line for men who use violence to call and get help – and for the specialist programs that work with men to stop them using violence.
2. A fully resourced national evaluation framework to rigorously assess what programs work to stop men using violence.
3. A national partnership agreement between the Commonwealth, States and Territories to provide cooperation, funding, and accountability to end men’s family violence.
4. Funded training in risk assessment for all employees who work with people impacted by family, domestic and sexual violence to properly identify perpetrators.
5. Funding to support the families and children of those enrolled in perpetrator intervention programs. Working with perpetrators also means supporting victim survivors during these programs to keep them safe.