Factors critical to success

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Collaboration between agencies

The sharing of a similar philosophical base by both agencies has been an important ingredient in the success of the program. Both WHISE and SECASA utilise a pro-feminist and community development framework. This is because we believe that the philosophy offers something to both young women and young men. Both male and female components of the program complement each other through their audience-specific conceptualisations of domestic violence issues. Peer educators have had a high level of input into the program content and development. As well as this the peer education team supports each other and socialises together.

While project workers have changed in both the young women's and young men's workshop program several times over the four years of the program, a positive relationship between all project workers has existed throughout the project. Good relationships have meant that ideas can be shared and nurtured, and difficulties overcome.

Collaboration between the agencies running the project and schools who have utilised the program have been particularly successful, and this has meant that once the program has been run in a school, we have been asked back again each successive year. Initially, the work to gain access to schools was difficult and time consuming; requiring many telephone calls and visits. With the program established, administration time and cost has been cut considerably. This has allowed more time for program development.

A well trained and resourced peer educator team

Peer educators are trained to provide support, advice and appropriate referrals. They initially attend a three-day training program, which is primarily interactive, experiential and skills-based. Training was designed to raise the peer educators' awareness of issues relevant to youth, and to teach best practice. Through this training, peer educators become aware that it takes a lot of courage for young men and women to approach them. Although not legally mandated to report sexual abuse and violence, the peer educators are both "morally mandated" and skilled in empowering young people to take action, with a view to maximising their safety.

Agency backing

It would be difficult to envisage the ongoing viability of Respect, Protect, Connect without the level of agency backup that both WHISE and SECASA have provided. In terms of specialist service, sexual assault counsellors from SECASA have been able to provide both counselling and support to workshop participants with sexual abuse issues, while WHISE has provided referrals for young women experiencing domestic and relationship violence, family and other, non-specified issues. Both agencies have also provided administrative support, the lack of which can see programs founder due to hidden expenses and time commitments. The use of vehicles, an office, telephones, computers, backup staff, and postal services means that all the funding for the program goes into actual program delivery.

Peer educator outcomes

An important consideration for the program was to provide the peer education team with useful skills, which could he utilised to gain ongoing employment. Over the last three years, the majority of peer educators who have left the program have done so to move on either to full time work, or to return to study. As an example of this, a survey of peer educators who worked in the program in 1998-99 indicated that six had gone on to full time employment within their chosen fields, while 11 had engaged in study. Further, seven had become involved in other programs.

Participant response to the program

The effectiveness of Respect, Protect, Connect is difficult to comment upon, due to a lack of critical evaluation. This is cited as a problem with a majority of violence prevention programs (Indermaur, Atkinson, & Blagg, 1998). Many evaluations rely on measuring attitudes towards violence post and pre-treatment, rather than investigating changes in behavioural expressions of violence. Although program facilitators and peer educators have asked, from time to time, how participants will utilise information from the workshops, it has not been possible to investigate any changes of a behavioural nature.

In 1999, Respect, Protect, Connect ran a series of workshops with year 9 groups in a large secondary college in the southeast region of Melbourne. A question sheet was handed out to the students at the end of each session comprising four questions regarding the sessions. The questions and selected responses for the boys' workshops and comments from workshop participants about what they found helpful are outlined in Appendix A.

Outcomes: Cultural change

I now know what happened to me happens to others. I WILL SURVIVE and I thank you for making me feel less like a freak" (Year 9 female workshop participant).

Excellent feedback from school students and staff has indicated that exposure to the program promotes cultural change within schools. These changes were illustrated primarily by post-program actions taken by schools, including:

• review and promotion of bullying and harassment policies
• planning and implementation of anti-violence related professional development sessions
• planning and implementation of follow-up sessions conducted by school staff utilising the WHISE/SECASA workshop manuals
• requesting WHISE/SECASA to provide sessions on a semester or annual basis.

These actions indicated a shift in thinking towards prevention/intervention and a renewed commitment to student welfare issues. They came about as a result of the holistic approach by which the program and project team operates. This effectively ensured that program delivery extended beyond core contact requirements.

Sponsor

SECASA

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