We Do Respect: New campaign launched

A community-wide campaign designed to empower individuals to speak up when they see or hear disrespectful and inappropriate behaviour has launched in Wagga Wagga this week.

The We do Respect campaign uses ambassadors from the community and a range of industries to capture and encourage Wagga Wagga residents to be active bystanders in the workplace, at home, at school and on the street.

The campaign further embeds the efforts of theDVproject:2650, which Wagga Wagga City Council runs in partnership with Wagga Women’s Health Centre, to address the city’s higher than average rates of domestic and family violence.

Equity Project Manager Maryna Bilousova said the campaign is extremely important in raising awareness of the role respectful behaviours play in ending violence against women and their children and other members of the community.

“We know that disrespect towards women doesn’t always result in violence. But all acts of violence against women start with disrespectful behaviours,” Ms Bilousova said.

“We do Respect aims to increase bystander actions in our community, by providing a safe response for individuals when they hear disrespectful comments or statements, no matter the setting.

“It’s a tagline we want the community to be familiar with, and take ownership of, to promote an equitable and respectful community for all. It is also an opportunity to start a conversation with your children, friends and family about the importance of the respectful behaviours in the prevention of violence against women and their children.”

Local ambassadors have lent their voices to the campaign, showing that it takes a whole community response to begin to change the conversation around disrespect and inappropriate behaviour.

Danielle Wait, Director of Flywheel Consulting HR said people need to know how to speak up at work, in their homes and socially to start changing attitudes and behaviours.

“We want to build a community where our people know what is acceptable and what isn’t. This campaign promotes that it only takes a simple response to let someone know what they’ve said is not acceptable,” Ms Wait said.

“It might be difficult to call out a friend, colleague, or a stranger but the more we do it, the more we set a standard that disrespect shouldn’t be tolerated or ignored.”

To find out more about the campaign, or to download resources, visit: https://wagga.nsw.gov.au/wedorespect