- Published:
- Monday 17 June 2019 at 5:08 pm
Young people have limited understanding or awareness of what constitutes violence against women, new research shows.
The Young Australians’ Attitudes towards Violence against Women and Gender Equality report presents findings from more than 1,700 young Australians aged 16-24, who took part in the 2017 National Community Attitudes Survey towards Violence Against Women Survey (NCAS).
NCAS is the world’s longest-running survey of its kind, measuring knowledge and attitudes to violence and gender equality.
The latest report released by ANROWS highlights some key areas for concern, including:
The belief that control is a normal part of a relationship
20% of young men don’t understand that repeatedly keeping track of location, calls or activities through mobile phone or other devices without consent is a form of violence against women.
The lack of understanding about sexual consent, which can result in victim blaming
Nearly a third of young men (32%) believe that ‘a lot of times, women who say they were raped had led the man on and then had regrets’.
The likelihood of young people intervening as a bystander to sexism and abuse is less than in those aged 25-64
The majority of young Australians say they would be bothered by seeing verbal abuse of a woman (97%) and sexist jokes (73%); however only 71% and 37% (respectively) said they would take action.
While the majority of young Australians reject attitudes supportive of violence, the proportion of young people that recognises family violence is mainly committed by men has declined by 11%.
Updated