Freedom From Fear - Australia

The campaign's primary strategy is to approach potential or actual perpetrators with a non-punitive tone, asking them to seek help to change their violent ways. The logic is that if violent men voluntarily change their behaviour, this will not only reduce the incidence of violence but reduce the fear felt by their partners and children.

Using this strategy, three 30-second television commercials were produced and aired - "Nightmare", "Horror Movie", and "Backseat" - in addition to one additional 15-second commercial called "Break the Cycle". These ads were designed to create awareness of campaign messages and to lead men who were "at risk" to call the Men's Domestic Violence Helpline. The Men's Domestic Violence Helpline offered information about domestic violence, telephone counselling by people trained in counselling men about domestic violence, and active referral into men's behaviour change programmes. The Helpline was provided by Family and Children's Services and was staffed 24 hours every day of the week, although counselling was only available after 9am daily.

Newspaper advertisements were used to support and reinforce the television messages and to promote the Helpline number. Six 45-second radio commercials (and six 15-second cutdown versions) depicted a range of potential conversations between a caller (perpetrator) and a Helpline counsellor in order to reduce the stigma attached to calling a helpline. Two posters focussed on the impact of domestic violence on children and also encouraged men to use the Helpline. These posters were designed to raise awareness of the issue among the general community as well, and were made available to domestic violence professionals, health professionals, and worksites.

From the design stages of the campaign forward, feedback from men who perpetrate violence against women and children was a central strategy. In 1996, organisers conducted market research by dividing 120 15- to 40-year-old men (and 20 perpetrators) into focus groups. The research provided information about the awareness, level of knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours of the men. One notable finding was that a powerful way to motivate men to give up their violent ways is by highlighting the effects of their behaviour on their children. The television campaign advertisements incorporated this and other findings from participatory research. Organisers conducted pre-tested in qualitative concept screening sessions and quantitative pre-testing of selected advertising executions.

A number of publications were produced to support the campaign. They were designed to inform stakeholder groups and to provide potential perpetrators with information about domestic violence and help services. A sample of each publication, together with a resource order form, was distributed through direct mail to counselling service providers, women's refuges, stakeholder and advocacy organisations, legal professionals, police, school principals and teachers, and selected trade union delegates. All 16 of Western Australia's Regional Domestic Violence Committees were encouraged to promote the campaign in their local communities. Campaign information (like factsheets), press releases, and display packs were distributed to all regional committees to support these efforts. Briefing sessions were also held with Magistrates, court staff, and service providers prior to the launch of the campaign. Over 181,000 resources were distributed free of charge in the first month of the campaign. The Freedom From Fear site was also developed to improve access to campaign information and publications.

As part of the project, six new men's perpetrator programmes were established in regional Western Australia (in Kalgoorlie, Albany, Narrogin, Bunbury, Mandurah/Rockingham, and Geraldton). In addition, five country victim counselling services and three children's counselling services were established.

Violence, Children, Women, Men.

Estimates of the prevalence of domestic violence against women vary widely because of definitional and response issues. However, organisers cite data from various surveys to support the need for Freedom From Fear. For example,

• Domestic violence is the most common form of assault in Australia. On average, over 600 Violence Restraining Orders are issued in Western Australia every month. For instance, over a period of 12 months during 1996/97, 53% of all homicides were the result of domestic violence.
• Women tend to be the victim of this form of assault. In 1994, Western Australian females were victims in 91.4% of domestic violence cases. Since the age of 15, 30% of women had experienced physical violence and 18% had experienced sexual violence from a male. 42% of women (1.1 million) who had ever been in a previous relationship reported an incident of violence by a previous partner.
• Some women are more at risk than others. Women between the ages of 18 and 24 are at more risk of domestic violence than women from any other age group. Aboriginal people are approximately 45 times more likely to be a victim of domestic violence than non-Aboriginal people.
• Women who are pregnant or have children are also victims. 42% of women (292,100) who had experienced violence by a previous partner, and who had been pregnant at sometime during that relationship, reported that violence had occurred during the pregnancy. Also, 68% of women (682,200) who experienced violence by a previous partner reported that they had children in their care at some time during the relationship and 46% (461,200) said that these children had witnessed the violence.
• Women do not always report violence. Over a 12-month period, only 19% of women who were physically assaulted and 15% of women who were sexually assaulted reported the incident to the police.
• Domestic violence is costly from an economic standpoint, as well. Over half the costs ($800 million) related to addressing domestic violence are borne by the women themselves.

In 1999, Freedom From Fear won a number of awards, including the Novelli Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Social Marketing, The Australian Marketing Institute Award, WA Premier's Overall Award for excellence in public sector management, Premier's Award for Innovation, Australian Violence Prevention Award, and Best Paper Award at the National Market Research Society Conference.