With children in the Northern Territory who are just 12 years old starting unhealthy relationships, those who are at the forefront of domestic violence welcome a new resource designed to teach respect.
Key points:
- Frontline workers say people as young as 12 in NT are entering unhealthy relationships
- A new resource has been developed to create conversations about secure relationships
- Talking about respect includes interviews with young people and animations
The NT has the highest rates of domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia, with Aboriginal women among the world’s most victimized groups.
Cassandra Fraser, a Tennant Creek front-line worker, sees these statistics being made daily in her community.
“It’s not just about adults, the younger generation is also getting into unhealthy relationships,” he said.
“At just 12 and 13, that’s what I’m seeing in my community.”
She says many of these unhealthy relationships include coercive control and jealousy, and adds that indigenous communities are fragmented after decades of intergenerational trauma and poverty.
The resulting suffering is evident in the high rates of domestic violence in the community, with social media now playing a role as well, Ms Fraser says.
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It takes a whole community
For all these reasons, he said he is “very eager” to participate in Talking Respect, a set of teaching resources for teachers, youth workers and social workers.
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At the heart of Talking Respect is a series of interviews with young people from across the region, reflecting on issues such as consent, pornography, nudity, and jealousy.
Ms. Fraser, who works at the Tennant Creek Women’s Refuge, drove around town recruiting young people to share her views.
“It was a lot of fun, in fact, and it opened my eyes,” he said.
He saw the interviews “planting seeds” in young people, “so they could start seeing when something was wrong and talk.”
“I’d like to see him across Tennant Creek. We need him,” he said.
“Stopping this behavior requires a whole community.”
Connie Shaw says some young people have a hard time asking for help. (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)
Breaking the ice
Connie Shaw, 23, works as a youth worker in her community and is a member of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group (TWFSG), which works to stop gender-based violence in the Alice Springs city camps.
At 17, she was interviewed for the project and said she had learned a lot since then.
Support for young people and families
“I feel like I should have known more at the time,” he said, but as a young man, “there aren’t many resources.”
As a youth worker and TWFSG member, Ms. Shaw says she sees first-hand how important resources like Talking Respect are.
She said she was happy to be part of the resources and hoped they would make a difference.
“I wish young people could ask me about their relationships, because I know how to look for signs of a bad relationship.
“But many of these children will find it difficult to ask for help,” he said.
Ms Shaw said the videos would be waiting for “a puzzle” to start conversations about young people’s lives.
Maree Crabbe says Talking Respect is the first such project. (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)
Model healthy behavior
Maree Crabbe developed Talking Respect in collaboration with local women’s shelters to help erode gender inequality, attitudes, and beliefs that underpin domestic violence.
“These resources are primary prevention resources, so they will not stop the violence tonight or tomorrow,” he said.
“But they are designed to be part of a series of ways to deal with violence before it happens in a year, a decade.”
In addition to the videos, a specially designed website offers manuals, Power-point slides, and discussion questions that anyone can download and use.
Talking Respect also includes animations that “model” healthy behavior in situations that could have led to unhealthy behavior.
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Ms Crabbe said that while this was by no means the only primary prevention resource aimed at young people in Australia, there were not many and Talking Respect was unique for the cultural diversity it reflected.
The interviews involved young people from a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
He said the resources were sensitive to the current impacts of colonization and focused on relating to young people in a way that encouraged participation.