Respectful relationships project
The Inner West Respectful Relationships Project is a ground-breaking partnership which will make the Inner West a safer and more respectful place to live.
The project seeks to create generational change to end domestic and family violence in our community by providing every child and young person in the Inner West Local Government Area with the opportunity to participate in respectful relationships education.
Inner West Council has partnered with NAPCAN and Western Sydney University to scope the development and implementation of the project. The scoping phase, which began in September 2016 has involved extensive community consultation including the establishment of a community steering group.
Inner West Respectful Relationships Project – Scoping Study Report (PDF 1.4MB)
Prepared by Western Sydney University and NAPCAN
UPDATES:
Council will be meeting with all sporting groups in March to discuss how the project can be rolled out for community sports clubs. For further details call 9392 5271.
What has the Respectful Relationships study uncovered so far?
The Study has highlighted that the community wants to work together to ensure that a generation of inner west kids grow up understanding how to have a respectful relationship.
What does Respectful Relationship education look like?
Consultation for the project has highlighted four key themes for respectful relationship education:
Emotional education
- Recognising uncomfortable feelings
- Responsibility for feelings and needs
- Increasing self-esteem and confidence
Safety and consent
- Sexual assault and consent issues
- Recognising abuse
- Boundaries and personal safety strategies
- Bystander behaviour
Gender analysis
- Understanding what gender violence and sexual harassment are
- An approach that addresses the link between gender power relationships and violence against women
- Challenging stereotypes
- Developing empathy
Skills for positive communication about healthy relationships
- Teaching children what respect looks like, how it feels and what it means
- Communicating and listening skills
- Role modelling (and discussing) respectful relationships
- Teaching skills for calling out disrespectful behaviour
What does the community want?
The community engagement for the study, showed that the community wanted to tackle violence against women and children across the whole community, as a whole community.
For more, please read the Inner West Respectful Relationships Project – Scoping Study Report (PDF 1.4MB)