Developing the power to say no more to violence against women: An investigation into family and domestic violence primary prevention programs in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

This report is a deep qualitative investigation of the Northern Territory-based NO MORE program and the South Australian Power to End Violence Against Women programs. Incorporating a research partnership between Centacare Catholic Family Services, CatholicCare NT, Power Community Limited, and the Australian Centre for Community Services Research, this comprehensive report provides an exploration of two primary prevention programs aimed at the eradication of violence against women and girls. The NO MORE program is wider in scope and works across multiple communities, while the Power to End Violence Against Women is delivered in schools to male students. For both
programs, sport, football in particular, is used to capture the interests of participants, to engage with men and boys around awareness and behaviour change, and as site to mobilise for change.

Silence is a killer. A mask that obscures male domination and power, a distortion that subjugates the everyday. Built on fear, anguish and hatred, silence binds our complicity. Socialised silence defines our social structures and denies our agency. This is the essence of patriarchy. What it is to be a man – a sense of masculinity – is shrouded in silence and does not speak of the cutting out and removal of the emotional self. An act of self-mutilation that if not performed will harness the energy and ill intent of other men who are keen to belong and reinforce ritualised systems of privilege (bell hooks, 2005).