For Family and Domestic Violence Prevention Month this May, we sat down with Isabel from Desert Blue Connect to learn more about what the month represents, what prevention really looks like, and how we can all play a part.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do at Desert Blue Connect.
I work as the Primary Prevention Coordinator at Desert Blue Connect. I’ve spent about the last 16 years working in the area of health promotion and behaviour change, both here in Geraldton and internationally. In my role in primary prevention, I’m working in the area of trying to stop violence before it starts.
May is Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month. Tell us a bit about the month—what’s it all about?
Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month is an annual event. It’s really an initiative to raise community awareness about family and domestic violence, but also to go beyond that and learn how we can actually prevent family and domestic violence from happening.
When we look at family and domestic violence, what actually is that? What does it look like?
Family and domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behaviour in intimate or family relationships. It’s where one person seeks to control and dominate another. It can show itself in different ways—it can be physical, sexual, financial, emotional or psychological. Ultimately, it’s about power and control, and it can happen to anyone in any community.
People often think violence is just physical, but it’s so much more than that, right?
Absolutely. If we keep coming back to looking at the power and control aspects, you can see different scenarios—like finances being withheld as a way to control someone, or trying to control medical decisions, particularly for our elderly. That kind of stuff can come under the banner of family and domestic violence.
So when we look at primary prevention, what is that? How can we work on a primary prevention level?
As I mentioned before, primary prevention is all about stopping violence before it starts. A lot of our current programs and focus on family and domestic violence are in the areas of response and recovery, and that’s vital—but the reality is that we can’t end violence unless we prevent it.
Primary prevention takes a step back and looks at the contributing factors that lead someone to perpetrate family violence. We look to change those underlying factors, which we call the gendered drivers.
What type of work do you do in your role for prevention?
My work is purely in that primary prevention space, looking at ways to work across the whole community to prevent family and domestic violence. In particular, I work on a project called Community Respect and Equality. This project addresses the underlying drivers of family and domestic violence, and it’s the first of its kind in WA.
It was launched in Geraldton in 2017 by an alliance of organisations who wanted to take action. So far, we’ve had almost 40 organisations—businesses, schools, sporting and community groups—sign up. Once they join, they commit to preventing family and domestic violence. We guide them through actions they can take, provide resources, and link them to training. They’re also invited to participate in community events and media campaigns, helping to raise awareness both within their organisation and across the broader community. By working across the community, we can reach more people, and the change will be much greater.
You mentioned there are quite a few organisations involved. How do people sign up or learn more about the agreement? Do you want more organisations to get involved?
Absolutely—yes. They can just contact me at Desert Blue Connect, and I can guide them through the process. I can come and speak to the leaders of their organisation or the staff and go from there to see what works.
You mentioned there are a number of drivers of family violence. What are some of those?
There are four main gendered drivers for violence against women. These include attitudes that condone, excuse or minimise violence; a lack of independence for women in public and private life; disrespect and gender discrimination; and rigid gender roles in particular.
Looking at the Midwest, what does the picture currently look like in terms of family and domestic violence?
Like every community, Geraldton is not immune. We definitely have family and domestic violence here. We’ve seen a trend over the last few years of it increasing—particularly using WA Police data around sexual offences, family violence, and threatening behaviour towards family. Geraldton and the Midwest have much higher rates than the state average, metro, or most regional areas.
This work is really important then, obviously.
Absolutely. But the good news is that it is preventable, and there are things that everybody can do. It’s not something that has to be left up to the services—we all have the power to make change in this space.
So let’s dive into that. What are some things everyday people or organisations can do to prevent family violence?
There are quite a few things. As I mentioned before, those gendered drivers stem from social norms, systems, and practices across our communities. If we can change some of those social norms—particularly around gender stereotypes and outdated roles—we can make a big difference.
At home, think about who does the cooking, cleaning, child care, or fixes the car. Maybe try mixing it up to role model different actions for kids. The same goes for workplaces—look at who’s making the tea or taking the meeting minutes and try sharing those tasks differently.
For children, we know they form gender roles from a very young age. Let boys play with kitchens and dolls, and let girls play with toy trucks. It helps expand their thinking as they grow older.
Modelling respect in relationships is also vital—especially in front of children. And if there’s disrespectful behaviour or language, call it out. There’s some great training available, like the Standing Up, Speaking Out About Disrespect workshop from the WA Centre for Rural Health. If people aren’t sure how to step in but want to, that’s a really good place to start.
Ultimately, just keep learning—learn about the root causes of violence and how we can all take action to prevent it.
A big thanks for sharing all of this, Isabel. It’s really meaningful work and we hope many more people and organisations will take steps to get involved.