The National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) is a large-scale survey administered by ANROWS, that measures Australians’ understanding and attitudes regarding the complex issue of violence against women. Running every four years commencing in 2009, the survey provides us with a snapshot in time of how well Australia understands violence against women as an issue; how much people in Australia support gender equality; and how strongly we condone or reject violence against women.
OPEN attended the 2021 report launch, run by ANROWS on May 24 2023. The launch spoke to the significance of the data in the report as well as to the challenges that remain, such as the misconceptions and myths regarding violence against women and gender inequality prevalent around the country. Speakers highlighted positive changes but emphasised the considerable distance still ahead in altering community perspectives of violence against women. Details of the research findings are below.
The NCAS is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (the National Plan 2022–2032).
Method
Findings
Findings from the survey indicate that while there have been gradual improvements in community understanding of gender inequality and sexual violence between 2017 and 2021, with an improved understanding of diverse forms of violence and a gradual rejection of problematic beliefs about gender, the survey revealed that attitudes rejecting domestic violence have stalled.
This suggests that there is still a long way to go in terms of changing attitudes towards violence against women;
Understanding of Violence against Women:
Over the last decade, Australians’ understanding of violence against women has improved. The understanding of diverse forms of violence has also increased. For example:
Attitudes towards Violence against Women:
Over the last decade, there has been a slow increase in Australians’ rejection of problematic beliefs and attitudes about violence against women. Attitudes towards domestic violence have plateaued since 2017, but attitudes towards sexual violence have shown improvement. For example:
Attitudes towards Gender Inequality:
Since 2013, Australians have increasingly rejected problematic beliefs and attitudes related to gender inequality. Australians are increasingly rejecting attitudes that support gender inequality. For example:
Support for the National Plan:
The NCAS findings support the Australian Government’s direction in the National Plan and ongoing work on issues such as coercive control, gender inequality, sexual harassment, and respectful relationships. The survey highlighted areas where more work is needed to address key issues, such as:
Challenges
Understanding and attitudes towards violence against women and gender inequality are improving, but there is still a long way to go. Concerningly, many Australians still hold problematic beliefs and attitudes. For example:
The survey also found that too many people hold views that entrench inequality, and that there is widespread misunderstanding of the issue of domestic violence. Researchers and advocates have warned that further effort is necessary to address harmful myths and misconceptions about violence and victims and tackle “backlash” and resistance to gender equality.
What does this mean for the sector?
The findings of the 2021 NCAS demonstrate that positive changes to community understanding and attitudes regarding gender inequality and violence against women are slowly occurring, suggesting movement towards achieving the aspiration of an Australian community that is safe and free from violence. However, more effort is still required to intervene where harmful individual and social norms prevail.
It is still necessary to:
What does this mean for practitioners?
The NCAS is a useful tool for highlighting areas where further research, evaluation and monitoring could be beneficial. The findings point to many opportunities across the primary prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing continuum that can potentially contribute to realising the aspiration of ending violence against women and building a culture that supports safety, respect and equality for all Australians.
Important Resources
