Violence against women doesn’t just start – it grows from a young age and it begins with disrespect. When adults make excuses like “he did it because he likes you”, they unwittingly allow violence against women to grow.

STOP IT AT THE START is a direct, compelling, no-nonsense invitation to Australians to address violence against women at the seed of the problem: DISRESPECT and our conditioned acceptance of it as adults.

The national campaign launched via a press conference supported by the campaign website and media hub (containing the video).

The confronting film shows how violence against women doesn’t just start – it grows from a young age and it begins with disrespect. When influencers make excuses like “he did it because he likes you”, they unwittingly allow disrespect that can lead to violence against women grow.

Four days later, paid advertising launched on television, cinema and online, reinforced by print and outdoor executions.

Digital advertising directed people to Respect.gov.au where they find information and resources to help them have conversations with young people.

Creative was adapted for Australia’s culturally diverse and Indigenous communities, and translated into 29 languages.

Generational change through primary prevention is at the strategy’s heart. It is arguably premature to provide population statistics on changed attitudes and behaviours, and impact on reducing violence against women.

However, so far, the campaign has had an unprecedented impact, generating hundreds of earned media pieces across TV, digital, radio and newspapers.

It has sparked a community conversation involving hundreds of thousands of Australians, and a global debate.

The online film received more than 16.3 million views after just two weeks (>6.5 million views before it even aired on TV) and more than 473,000 reactions, comments and shares on social media.

Its proposition to the public psyche has been instant, dramatic and started redirecting the mentality of “them” (perpetrators/victims) to “us” (community). It has intentionally questioned our unconscious conditioning.

True success will only be seen in future generations.

Through this campaign, we start the journey of making it stop.