This report examines how Australia can strengthen and better coordinate work with men and boys to prevent gender-based violence. It reports on a national consultation held in Melbourne on 21 May 2024, involving 50 stakeholders from violence prevention, early intervention, response, recovery, and men’s health and wellbeing sectors. The consultation focused on two aspects of prevention infrastructure: coordination, collaboration and quality assurance; and workforce and sector development.
Violence
There is consistent evidence that men’s likelihood of perpetrating violence against women is shaped by the contextual features of the settings in which they live, play, and work. This includes research on fraternities on university (‘college’) campuses, sports, workplaces, and the military.
Following another series of alleged killings of women across Australia, the country has once again found itself asking familiar questions. How many more women have to die before we act? What more should governments do? Why does this violence keep happening?
How can the Australian Government strengthen efforts to engage men and boys in the primary prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence? This submission to the Consultation on the Second Action Plan (National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032) provides guidance on effective ways forward. See the short summary below, and the full submission here.
There is a growing symphony of voices reminding us that violence and hate cannot be stopped with more violence and more hate. Cancel culture has taken a powerful hold on our society and we are seeing the damage of this perpetuation of harm. So, what other options do we have, and how can this inform efforts to engage and mobilize men?
Nearly one in two women has experienced domestic violence (DV) in her lifetime, yet accountability remains elusive: Nearly half of survivors never report their abuse to law enforcement, often out of fear of retaliation. Many minimize the harm or shield their abuser’s behavior, telling themselves, “That’s just how men are,” or “He didn’t mean it.”
We are a group of organisations that are committed to bridging work to address both violence against women and girls (VAWG) and men and boys’ wellbeing.
This new report explores how a care-centered approach can strengthen efforts to prevent men’s violence against women and girls. Produced by Equimundo for the MenCare Changemaker Summit 2026, the report examines how empathy, caregiving, relational accountability, and gender equality can help foster healthier masculinities and safer communities.
Drawing on global research and decades of violence prevention work, the report highlights practical strategies for engaging men and boys as caregivers, allies, and active partners in building a more just and non-violent world.
The fact that we stand in solidarity to stop violence against women is crucial. What we do when we leave here is a matter of life and death. We cannot afford not to change the world as we know it right now.
And I am here to speak specifically to men. Those of us who believe that women MUST be able to speak freely, to live a life free of manipulation and abuse, to achieve all that they strive to achieve- must dedicate ourselves to the struggle to stop domestic violence now. To look closely at the role men as a group play in the perpetuation of domestic violence.
Online misogyny is a global challenge with far-reaching consequences for equality, safety and public health. It directly fuels gender-based violence (GBV) and technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) against women, girls and LGBTQ+ communities. While women and girls remain the primary targets, boys and young men are also affected both as potential participants in misogynistic environments, and victims of the same systems and norms that drive them.