The Line domestic violence campaign targets young attitudes towards relationships, sex

Extract from ABC News

By Jayne Margetts

Posted 33 minutes ago

Photo: The campaign found one in three young people believed exerting control over someone was not a form of violence. (Flickr: Hibr)

Related Story: Vigils held to remember children and women lost to domestic violence

A new campaign to combat domestic violence has revealed some worrying attitudes among young people about what is acceptable in a relationship.

Three thousand 12 to 24-year-olds were interviewed as part of a campaign being launched in Sydney today called The Line.
The survey found one in three young people believed "exerting control over someone is not a form of violence".
Questionnaires revealed one in four people did not think it was serious if a man who was normally gentle slapped his girlfriend when he was drunk.
One in six respondents believed women should know their place, and one in four thought it was normal for men to pressure women into sex.
The campaign's ambassador, former AFL player Luke Ablett, said he was shocked.
"That's borderline rape. So that is a really concerning thing that that's how young boys and young girls are entering into their first sexual experiences, where they think its normal to pressure or force someone into that," he said.

Children getting misinformation from porn, pop culture

The research was carried out by Hall and Partners Open Mind and commissioned by Our Watch, the national foundation to prevent violence against women and their children.
Chair of Our Watch Natasha Stott Despoja said the report showed parents were not talking to their children about relationships and sex.
"Young people desperately want information and guidance from people they look up to, especially parents and teachers," she said.
"Instead they get information from their friends, pornography, media and popular culture role models.
"These settings can perpetuate gender stereotypes and condone and encourage violence."
Mr Ablett said the problem was compounded by the number of young people accessing pornography at a young age.
"A lot of the porn that young people are accessing is really violent, is really degrading, it's very much about male dominance," he said.
"It promotes this idea that if you keep doing it ... the girl that you're with will actually really enjoy it.
"These attitudes don't exist in just bad kids from bad families in bad neighbourhoods.
"These attitudes exist across all socio-economic divisions, across all races, across all religions."
Mr Ablett said the survey also found one in four young men believe that controlling and violent behaviours are signs of male strength.
"It can seem like a bit of a stretch for some people but the two women we're seeing murdered every week in Australia at the moment can directly be related back to these attitudes and that's why they're so concerning," he said.
Through a website and Facebook page, The Line aims to break the cycle of violence by challenging gender stereotypes and sexism.

Domestic violence survivor not surprised by findings

Domestic violence survivor Christine Craik told the ABC she felt lucky to be alive after being in a violent relationship for 20 years.
"There'd be punching, hitting, shaking, being thrown down stairs, whatever, he would just erupt," she said.
"In between times, of course, there was emotional and psychological abuse so there was the look that he was going to erupt if I didn't agree or I wasn't quiet."
Ms Craik was not surprised to hear the views of many young people surveyed by The Line.
"The generation of men that are killing their partners and their wives are the fathers and the step-fathers of these young people, so I don't think that young people have great role models at the moment around good relationships," she said.

She welcomed today's campaign launch but said education about respectful relationships should begin in primary school.