Case Study: Wangaratta Rural City Council

'She is Not Your Rehab' Men's Event

Wangaratta Rural City Council partnered with the Centre Against Violence to bring Matt and Sarah Brown of ‘She is not your rehab’ to Wangaratta.

Two events featured these speakers in our community, including a men’s event, which was promoted as ‘Wangaratta’s call to action: Men Against Violence.’

Matt Brown shared his story at this event, including his experience of family violence, his journey to healing and the global anti violence movement he inspired.

Over 120 male attendees from Wangaratta (52.6%), Rural Wangaratta Region (21.1%), Albury and Wodonga (each 10.5%), and Beechworth (5.3%) attended the event.

Male attendees indicated a significant improvement in their knowledge of the role men can play in preventing violence (from 3.53/5 pre-event to 4.32/5 after the event). Overall male attendees indicated their perspectives on masculinity and violence prevention experienced a high level of change, and that they were highly motivated to make personal changes and engage with others in our community about violence prevention after attending. Overwhelmingly, men also indicated interest in attending future events, training and workshops on this topic.

The event was successful in bringing men from the community together; to understand the impact they could make on an individual and collective level, to prevent family violence and violence against women. Participants who indicated interest in future training opportunities will be contacted with offers for future training, including upcoming bystander training in our community.