MEDIA RELEASE Wednesday, 13 December 2023
The findings for young Australians from the 2021 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) are here. The periodic survey, conducted by ANROWS, shows that young Australians’ (aged 16 to 24) understanding of violence against women and attitudes towards this violence and towards gender inequality are improving slowly over time.
The report shows that 27 to 43% of young respondents have an advanced understanding of violence against women and advanced attitudes towards this violence and gender inequality. However, the report also highlights concerning trends, including that improvement in attitudes towards domestic violence had plateaued among young people. Between 2017 and 2021, young Australians’ understanding of violence against women, rejection of gender inequality, rejection of violence against women and rejection of sexual violence have significantly improved.
The latest NCAS report reinforces the need for continued focus on supporting young people to contribute to a culture that rejects violence against women and fosters gender equality.
KEY FINDINGS:
The report draws on the evidence to highlight implications for prevention across programs and initiatives, respectful relationships education, and further research. These include the need to:
Acting CEO Jane Lloyd notes, “This research provides the evidence-base needed to direct ongoing preventative work with our younger generations to stop violence against women. We know from the data, that while there has been improvement across the board there exists a concerning cohort of younger Australians who still hold problematic attitudes on sexual consent and domestic violence.
“The NCAS report shows more needs to be done to ensure the next generation learn from the earliest age not to embrace harmful attitudes against women, which in many cases normalise violence against women. This is a difficult task because young people are awash with information – and are often deliberately targeted and recruited in online environments.
“On a positive note, and benchmarked against the 2017 iteration of the NCAS, there were a number of trends indicating young people had shown improvement in 2021, including the increased understanding of violence against women and rejection of gender inequality, and sexual violence against women”.
Assistant Minister for Social Services and Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, Justine Elliot, welcomed the new findings, saying “The latest data from the NCAS demonstrates broad improvements regarding young people’s attitudes towards sexual violence, violence against women, and gender inequality. However, the report also highlights a minority of young people that exhibit some concerning views. We therefore must continue to invest and deliver targeted prevention and education campaigns, in order to ensure all young people develop respectful and positive attitudes towards women”.
The report will be launched on Wednesday 13 December at 11am. ANROWS Board Chair Sam Mostyn AO will be joined by Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, Justine Elliot, Director of the NCAS Dr Christine Coumarelos, and youth advocate Mack Kohn (Youth Family Service).
Registration is available here.
ANROWS is Australia’s independent research organisation building the evidence base to end violence again women and children in Australia.
For further information, contact the Office of the CEO at ANROWS on +61 0410449544 or email jane.lloyd@anrows.org.au
Media Inquiries: Amy Smith 0459 846 926 or
amy.smith@secnewgate.com.au
Media Enquiries:
Email:
media@anrows.org.au
NCAS 2021 Findings for young Australians
Media release
NCAS 21 State and Territory Report
Media release
NCAS 21 Media release
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