Shaping violence prevention practice and policy

Posted by Brigid on 22 January, 2019

Associate Professor Michael Flood gave three presentations, two as keynote speaker, on violence prevention practice and policy in November and December 2018.

Dr Flood provided a keynote address to the Connexions 15th Annual Domestic Violence Conference (Central Coast, NSW, November 26), titled “Engaging men in the prevention of men’s violence against women: How to get men in the door, inspire and mobilise them, and reduce resistance.” He contributed to a panel discussion on the role of men in ending violence against women at Griffith University’s conference, #Be someone who does something: MATE Conference (Gold Coast, November 28-29).

Michael also provided a keynote address to one of the major annual domestic violence conferences in Australia, STOP Domestic Violence Conference Australia (Gold Coast, December 3-5). His presentation was titled “Mobilising men to build gender justice: Strategies for effective movement-building”. Michael explored an important but under-utilised strategy for preventing domestic and sexual violence, community mobilisation. He assessed existing initiatives to mobilise men as violence prevention advocates and outlined the elements of effective community mobilising.

Dr Flood also gave further presentations to audiences of policy makers, including presentations to the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women (Brisbane), the Domestic and Family Violence Community of Practice in the Department of Home Affairs (Canberra), and the Office for Women (Canberra).

Launch of report on attitudes to gender in Australia

Posted by Brigid on 16 October, 2018

CJSDRC member, Associate Professor Michael Flood spoke at the launch of a new report on attitudes to gender in Australia. The report, From Girls to Men: Social attitudes to gender equality in Australia, involved a national survey of over 2,100 people in Australia aged 16 and over, and was launched at Old Parliament House, Canberra, on September 5.

Author and commentator Clementine Ford facilitated a panel comprising Dr Jessa Rogers (UNE); Associate Professor Michael Flood (QUT); Ashleigh Streeter (COO Jasiri); and Michael Livingstone (Jesuit Social Services). Flood and others at the event noted that while there is widespread awareness among women and men of gender inequalities in Australia, there is also among men in particular a troubling emphasis on how men have been ‘forgotten’ in or excluded from measures to improve gender equality.

Formation of a national Engaging Men Alliance

Posted by Brigid on 21 August, 2018

Organisations and networks around Australia are involved in work to engage men in building gender equality, across such fields as violence prevention, men’s health, and parenting. CJSDRC Member Associate Professor Michael Flood from the School of Justice was part of a recent meeting in Melbourne intended to bring this work together under a national Engaging Men Alliance. This new body will contribute to policy advocacy, the development of best practice in ‘men’s work’, and community awareness-raising. Dr Flood was invited because of his longstanding research and advocacy work on men, gender, and violence. Organisations and networks represented at the meeting included White Ribbon Australia, Domestic Violence Victoria, Male Champions of Change, No To Violence, Survivors And Mates Support Network (SAMSN), Communicare, and the Department of Social Services. Participants in the meeting affirmed that the Engaging Men Alliance will be attentive to gender inequalities, to intersecting forms of social injustice, and to both privilege and disadvantage in men’s lives.