Primary prevention is the long-term, proactive work of addressing the underlying causes of violence and creating social conditions where violence is less likely to occur.
Rather than focusing on responding to violence after it has happened or intervening when someone is already at risk, primary prevention works to change the attitudes, behaviours, social norms, practices, structures and systems that contribute to violence in the first place.
Primary prevention is about building a society where everyone can live with safety, dignity, equality and respect.
Violence is shaped by the social, cultural, political and economic conditions in which we live. These conditions influence how power is distributed, whose voices are valued, how people relate to one another, and what behaviours are accepted, excused or challenged.
Evidence shows that gender inequality is a key driver of men’s violence against women. Our Watch’s national framework, Change the story, identifies four gendered drivers that most consistently predict and explain the gendered patterns of this violence:
Attitudes, beliefs and social norms that excuse, minimise or justify violence against women, or shift responsibility away from people who use violence.
Unequal power and decision-making in relationships, families, workplaces and wider society, including restrictions on women's autonomy, choices and participation.
Narrow expectations about how women and men should behave, including beliefs that reinforce male dominance and entitlement and women's subordination.
Social environments in which aggression, disrespect towards women, sexual entitlement and controlling behaviours are encouraged, rewarded or go unchallenged.
These drivers are interconnected and reinforce one another. Addressing them means actively promoting gender equality, challenging harmful social norms and gender stereotypes, supporting women’s independence and decision-making, and strengthening positive, equal and respectful relationships.
Gender inequality is experienced differently across communities and is compounded by other forms of discrimination and structural disadvantage. Systems of oppression, including colonialism, racism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia, shape how violence is experienced, enabled and addressed. They influence who holds power, whose experiences and knowledge are valued, who has access to resources and opportunities, and whose safety and autonomy are prioritised. They can also create additional barriers to having violence recognised, accessing support and achieving justice.
An intersectional approach to primary prevention recognises that these systems are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Effective prevention therefore requires addressing gender inequality alongside the broader structures, systems and power imbalances that enable and sustain violence, while recognising the different experiences, strengths and priorities of diverse communities.
The examples below highlight some of the intersecting systems of oppression and inequality that shape experiences of violence, and for which established frameworks and resources provide guidance for prevention. They are not exhaustive: other forms of discrimination, structural inequality and disadvantage also intersect with gender inequality and influence how violence is experienced, enabled and addressed. The ways these systems interact will vary across individuals, communities and contexts.
Colonialism has dispossessed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of land, culture, sovereignty and self-determination, with ongoing impacts including intergenerational trauma, systemic disadvantage and the disruption of cultural and community structures. Racism operates at individual, institutional and systemic levels, reinforcing unequal power and privilege and shaping whose knowledge and experiences are valued. Together, colonialism and racism contribute to the conditions in which violence is experienced, enabled, recognised and responded to. Preventing violence requires addressing the ongoing impacts of colonisation and systemic racism, while supporting Aboriginal self-determination, cultural strength and community-led approaches to safety and wellbeing.
Heteronormativity assumes heterosexuality is the norm, while cisnormativity assumes that everyone identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth. These assumptions reinforce rigid expectations about gender, sexuality, relationships and identity, privileging heterosexual and cisgender people while marginalising people with diverse sexualities and gender identities. Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia reinforce these norms through prejudice, discrimination and hostility, contributing to social exclusion, unequal power and environments where discrimination and violence are normalised or go unchallenged. Preventing violence requires challenging rigid norms and expectations around gender and sexuality, addressing discrimination and exclusion, and promoting the rights, safety, visibility and self-determination of people with diverse sexualities and gender identities.
Ableism privileges non-disabled people and assumes that particular ways of moving, communicating, thinking and experiencing the world are the norm. It operates through attitudes, environments, policies and systems that exclude people with disability and restrict their autonomy, participation and decision-making. Ableism can also create conditions of dependency and unequal power that increase vulnerability to violence and make it harder to access support, safety and justice. Preventing violence requires challenging ableist attitudes, structures and practices, promoting the autonomy and self-determination of people with disability, and creating inclusive environments where everyone can participate, access support and exercise their rights.
In Western Australia, primary prevention efforts are guided by Foundations for Change: A Western Australian framework to guide primary prevention of violence against women, developed by Preventing Violence Together.
Foundations for Change builds on the national Change the story framework and draws on research, practice expertise and community consultation, including the knowledge and leadership of Aboriginal people and women with lived experience of violence.
The framework provides a shared foundation for understanding what effective primary prevention looks like in practice. It identifies seven key components of effective prevention:
Foundational knowledge: Understanding the nature and impacts of violence, its underlying drivers, the socio-ecological model and a primary prevention approach.
Creating social change: Addressing gendered and intersecting drivers of violence, the ongoing impacts of colonisation, and responding to resistance and backlash.
Engaging with evidence: Ensuring prevention efforts are informed by evidence and contributing to the growing evidence base.
Embedding Aboriginal expertise: Supporting culturally secure, healing-informed and Aboriginal-led approaches.
Working in partnership: Building relationships and collaborations that support collective impact and respond to local contexts.
Promoting safety and wellbeing: Prioritising safety, wellbeing, trauma-informed practice and Aboriginal empowerment and self-determination.
Sustainability and longevity: Supporting the long-term commitment and investment needed to create meaningful social change.
The framework emphasises that preventing violence is not solely the responsibility of specialist prevention practitioners and organisations. Governments, institutions, organisations, communities and individuals all have a role to play, with different opportunities and responsibilities to contribute to change.
No single organisation or initiative can address all the conditions that contribute to violence. While some organisations and practitioners lead dedicated primary prevention initiatives, others contribute through the way they develop policies, deliver services, engage communities, make decisions and shape organisational cultures.
Meaningful and lasting change requires collaboration, shared responsibility and coordinated action across different sectors and settings. At the same time, the framework recognises the importance of a skilled and supported specialist primary prevention workforce. Effective prevention requires dedicated expertise, evidence-informed practice, critical reflection, cultural knowledge, community leadership and a sustained commitment to long-term social change.
The conditions that contribute to violence are reinforced across all levels of society. Primary prevention needs to work across these interconnected levels, recognising that lasting social change requires action from individuals, communities, organisations, institutions and governments.
This includes:
Individual and relationship level: Challenging harmful attitudes and behaviours, building respectful relationships, and supporting people to recognise and challenge inequality in their everyday lives.
Organisational and community level: Creating cultures, policies, practices and environments that promote equality, safety, inclusion and respect. This includes schools, workplaces, sporting clubs, community groups and service settings.
Systems and institutional level: Influencing the policies, laws, institutional practices and resource allocation that shape people’s opportunities, rights, safety and access to power.
Societal level: Shifting the broader social norms, cultural beliefs, values and expectations that reinforce inequality and make violence more likely.
These levels are interconnected. Change at one level can support and strengthen change at others.
Primary prevention is one part of a broader continuum of work needed to end gender-based violence. It is distinct from, but deeply connected to, early intervention, response and recovery.
Works to prevent violence before it occurs by addressing the underlying drivers and conditions that enable it. It takes a whole-of-population approach.
Identifies and responds to the early signs of violence, or works with individuals and groups at increased risk, to prevent violence from occurring, escalating or recurring.
Provides immediate and ongoing support to victim-survivors, promotes safety and holds people who use violence accountable.
Supports victim-survivors to heal, rebuild their lives and achieve long-term safety and wellbeing.
These approaches are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Creating a future free from violence requires strong action and investment across the entire continuum, responding to violence happening now while working to change the conditions drive violence.
Effective primary prevention involves action across different settings and levels of society. This includes on-the-ground initiatives that engage individuals and communities; whole-of-setting approaches that embed equality and respect into organisations and institutions; and broader efforts to influence laws, policies and systems.
In practice, this might look like:
Working with individuals and communities: Supporting communities to identify and challenge harmful attitudes and social norms, promoting respectful relationships, and engaging men and boys to reflect on gender, power and privilege.
Creating change in organisations and institutions: Supporting schools to embed respectful relationships and gender equality across their curriculum, policies and everyday practices; or working with sporting clubs to challenge harmful cultures and create safer, more inclusive environments.
Influencing systems and structures: Advocating for policies, laws and institutional practices that promote gender equality, address discrimination and support the redistribution of power and resources.
Primary prevention initiatives will look different depending on the setting, community and issue being addressed. What connects them is a deliberate focus on addressing the underlying drivers of violence and contributing to broader social change.