The Stop it at the Start campaign is an Australian Government initiative aimed at breaking the cycle of disrespect towards women and children by encouraging conversations about respect. Through education and awareness, the campaign seeks to shift attitudes and challenge behaviours that contribute to gender-based violence. Now in its fifth phase, the campaign highlights that while not all disrespect towards women leads to violence, all violence against women starts with disrespectful behaviour.
The campaign highlights how new and significant influences are emerging on social media, from memes to influencer content that normalise disrespect. Social media algorithms, designed to tailor your feed based on what you’ve engaged with, can unintentionally amplify harmful messages, exposing young people to disrespectful and violence-supportive attitudes. This constant exposure can shape the views and behaviours of young people, ultimately influencing the kind of person and partner they become. It may not always be possible to monitor everything young people see online. However, fostering open discussions about these influences is essential in helping them develop healthier perspectives on respect and relationships. Parents and adults should understand and educate themselves on the trends of disrespect, to have informed and meaningful conversations with young people.
Parents and caregivers play a fundamental role in shaping young people’s understanding of respect. Young people learn from the behaviours they observe at home. When respect is not modelled effectively, they may struggle to recognise its importance in their own interactions. Moreover, encouraging open conversations about respect and equality can help challenge these perceptions and create positive change for future generations.
Recognising different cultural understandings of respect while reinforcing the importance of equality, consent, and positive communication can help foster an open conversation. The Stop it at the Start campaign website respect.gov.au/translated provides translated resources for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community members, to help you have that conversation. Resources are available in Arabic, Filipino (Tagalog), Hindi, Hazaragi, Korean, Nepali, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese.
Respect.gov.au to learn more about breaking the cycle of disrespect.
(This article was paid for by the Australian Government’s Stop it at the Start campaign)