Eliminating violence against women is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Awareness of the problem has grown exponentially, and solutions towards its elimination is the focus of a new ARC funded Centre.
In 2024 the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) was established. With headquarters at Monash University, CEVAW comprises 13 chief investigators at six Australian institutions, 14 partner investigators worldwide, and 35 partner organisations. This Centre is the first of its kind and aims to transform our understanding of the problem by examining the structural drivers that cause and compound violence against women, and pioneering new, evidence-based approaches to radically improve policy and practice across Australia and the Indo-Pacific.
The Centre’s research is guided by a three-tiered approach: Interdisciplinary, Indigenous-centred, and Indo-Pacific engaged, to build much-needed evidence to inform and mobilise industry, sector, community and government partnerships to deliver scalable approaches to eliminate violence against women across the diverse communities in Australia and the Indo-Pacific.
On Thursday 30 May, the Centre will host the first in a series of public webinars bringing together two of the Centre’s workstreams, the Harnessing of Technology for VAW Prevention workstream led by Associate Professor Asher Flynn, and the Engaging Perpetrators and Bystanders workstream led by Professor Patrick O’Leary. This date has been selected in recognition of Domestic Violence month in Australia.
The webinar titled ‘Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV): Insights from across the Indo-Pacific’ explores how technologies and online spaces have become powerful tools for perpetrators, but also for creative responses to prevent, address and intervene in violent behaviours.
CEVAW Research Fellow and Moderator for this Webinar, Dr Freya McLachlan says,
“Now more than ever, we must recognise the pivotal role technology plays not only in enabling violence against women but also in shaping our responses. In addressing the dual role technology plays, we should consider how integral technology is in connecting with our communities and support networks and the impact technology-facilitated gender-based violence can have on these connections.”
With the aim to further understand the opportunities and challenges associated with TFGBV, this webinar will reflect on lessons learnt in the digital industry, first responder, research and civil society sectors across the Indo-Pacific. The panel includes representatives from Meta, Black Rainbow, eSafety Australia, the University of South Pacific, DV Connect and UNFPA who will share their reflections on TFGBV, and what the future might bring in responding to TFGBV across the Indo-Pacific region.
Deputy Director of the Centre, Professor Sara Davies says “These combined engagements on issues of deep concern to researchers, service providers, industry sector and policy makers, is indicative of how the Centre intends to support discussions on meaningful violence against women prevention and responses that consider the specific and broader Australian, Indigenous and regional contexts.“
The second webinar event in the series ‘Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in the Indo-Pacific: What is a survivor-centred approach in context? ’ will be held on Wednesday 19 June. The Webinar will focus on the Indo-Pacific region as a site of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. Attendees will hear experiences from actors engaged in reporting, advocacy, and justice across five locations in the Indo-Pacific region: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines, and discuss priorities for realising a survivor-centred response across different contexts within the region.
If you are interested in registering for this and future CEVAW Webinars and events please contact: [email protected]
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