Being an Active Bystander

Free

Overview

*This credential is only available to current RMIT students


Even with crime rates in Australia at a historic low, statistics show that women face violence at rate that's dramatically higher than men, usually at the hands of their spouses or partners. This kind of violence doesn't just happen: research shows that it's fuelled and supported by unhealthy attitudes towards women attitudes that spring directly from an environment of inequality between the genders.


Raising awareness around gender equality, and taking steps to reduce it, has a direct effect on decreasing this kind of gender-based violence which means every single one of us has a role to play in preventing violence against women.


This course gives you the fundamentals on why gender-based violence happens, and lays out practical strategies to challenge the attitudes that promote gender inequality, both in our workplaces and in our personal lives, and gives you the tools you need to help make violence against women a thing of the past.

Skills and learning outcomes

  • Recognising common forms of men's violence against women 
  • Identifying gendered drivers of violence against women and their link to sexism and discrimination
  • Understanding the role of the active/positive bystander in preventing violence against women
  • Building confidence and skills to be an active bystander and understanding of why to act as a bystander

Content

  • Introduction to Violence Against Women
  • VAW: normalised, minimised and privatised
  • Underlying causes of VAW - Change the Story Framework
  • Insights into bystander behaviour and tools to speak up
  • Identifying language that dismisses and minimises violence against women
  • Identifying and overcoming barriers to bystander action

How does it work ?

By completing scenario-based case studies and an online assessment, the earner of this credential showed an awareness of why gendered violence occurs, and an understanding of strategies that can be used to challenge attitudes that promote gender inequality.

When can I do it ?