EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Addressing gender-based violence in volatile and polarising times
Background
Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a significant problem in Australia, disproportionately affecting young women and gender and sexuality diverse communities. While public awareness, prevention initiatives and education addressing GBV have expanded, these efforts are unfolding within an increasingly volatile and polarised gender politics. Growing backlash narratives, online misogyny, anti-feminist sentiment and the racialised framing of GBV sit alongside strong advocacy for gender equality and violence prevention. This contested environment can generate defensiveness, confusion, fatigue and disengagement among young people. There is therefore a pressing need to understand how diverse young people interpret and respond to contemporary GBV discourse and prevention initiatives, and what shapes their engagement or disengagement.
Aim
The project aims to understand how diverse young people aged 18–34 interpret and respond to contemporary public and media discourse about gender-based violence (GBV) and the growing range of initiatives designed to address it. It will investigate the factors shaping young people’s engagement, resistance, fatigue and disengagement, including identity, lived experience, emotions, values, relationships, and digital and real-world contexts. By centring young people’s voices and recognising their agency, the project seeks to identify more inclusive and meaningful ways of engaging young people with GBV prevention. Ultimately, it aims to generate new knowledge and practical strategies that strengthen gender justice messaging and initiatives.
Methods
The project uses a multi-method qualitative design involving 100 young people aged 18–34 across metropolitan and regional sites in Victoria and Queensland. Stage 1 involves facilitated workshops where participants engage with public and media discourse and GBV initiatives, mapping their responses along an engagement–disengagement spectrum. Stage 2 involves digital storytelling workshops with 20 participants to explore factors shaping these responses through creative narratives. Stage 3 uses focus groups and co-design workshops to test and refine findings and develop a youth-led social media campaign. Data will be thematically analysed, attending to intersectional, emotional and contextual influences on engagement and disengagement.