Sports Focus is excited to launch a campaign to prevent gender-based violence in regional sport across the Loddon-Campaspe region, developed in partnership with La Trobe University.

The Supporting the Readiness of Regional Sports to prevent and respond to Gender Based Violence (RRPV) campaign aims to identify, raise awareness, tackle, and prevent gender-based violence in sport.

The campaign was developed following a two-year research project that examined gender-based violence in regional sport and worked with the community to develop an initiative to support community sport to prevent such violence.

Women in rural and regional areas are at a higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence than women in other areas and such violence is prevalent in regional community sport.

Research lead Associate Professor Kirsty Forsdike said women often faced disrespect, abuse and violence in sports settings, which could range from inequalities, sexist comments to sexual assault, but it was often normalised and ignored.

“This is a particularly insidious problem in rural and regional areas where sports participants are so connected across their sport, family, social and work lives.

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People feel that speaking up could lead to being judged and socially isolated by their friends, neighbours and workmates, but our campaign aims to supports people to speak up when they see gender based violence in sport and to support our sports to respond.

The awareness campaign’s slogan is: ‘We see something. We say something. We do something’ and outlines common scenarios in a range of videos and posters that local sporting clubs are encouraged to share and display.

The campaign addresses physical sexual violence where a coach inappropriately touched a sports player; how an image of a netballer garnered sexual comments online; sexist comments made during a mixed-gendered soccer game; abusive comments; and gendered stereotyping.

Associate Professor Forsdike said these scenarios were all too common in regional and rural sport and involved everyone from coaches and committee members to volunteers and spectators.

“We spoke to sports leaders and participants across Loddon-Campaspe and found that men and women had witnessed online misconduct,  sexist comments or jokes, verbal abuse, sexual harassment and even sexual assault in the past 12 months” Dr Forsdike said.

“Of the women we spoke with, 5% had experienced sexual harassment in their local sport in the past 12 months”.

“We also gathered information from sporting organisations about their awareness of violence against women. While some had examples of such violence and had polices in place to address it, others were unaware such policies existed”.

As part of this project Sports Focus will be speaking to clubs about how to support them as they work to prevent gender-based violence such as reviewing policies.

“Sporting clubs can play a really powerful role in creating safe, respectful and welcoming environments that work to prevent gender-based violence. But they need to be able recognise inappropriate behaviour and then know what to do.

“These resources aim to build the capacity our local sporting club members to know how to respond and where to get support when they need it”, Lauren Fawcett, Club Development & Special Projects Lead – Sports Focus.

To view the campaign resources, or for further information and support in responding to gender-based violence, visit our I’ve Got an Issue – Gendered Violence and Disrespect page.