Further empowering local sporting clubs to promote gender equality and help prevent disrespect and violence toward women across the community is front and centre of the next phase of the Malinauskas Labor Government's Raiise program.
Further investment will see sporting clubs across the state take the next step so that girls and women can equally, safely and actively participate in sport and in every aspect of their lives, and so that boys and young men are confident in speaking up and acting against violence and for respect and equality.
Pledging a further $150,000, the investment will deliver additional Raiise Respectful Environments Program sessions to sport and recreation organisations and clubs around the state.
The Raiise program teaches participants the importance of gender equality in sporting environments and beyond, and how to challenge stereotypes and bias and promote respectful behaviour. 2,700 board members, coaches, players, volunteers and officials from 75 clubs have participated in the initial round of training with 56 workshops delivered across the state.
In this next stage, clubs will complete an in-depth assessment of their environment and develop a Gender Equality Action Plan to make changes that provide and advance equal opportunities for girls and women and build people's capacity to speak up whenever they encounter disrespect and violence toward women.
For more information about Raiise programs, visit: www.raiise.com.au/
As put by Katrine Hildyard
Preventing and eradicating disrespect and violence toward women and advancing equality is everybody's business. The Raiise program brings this important mantra to life in a really impactful way. It takes the conversation about these issues into spaces where in the past these conversations haven't always occurred and recognises the power of sport to influence change on the issues we confront.
Fostering mutual respect in sporting environments has a long-lasting impact that goes beyond the playing field. To date, Raiise has seen almost 3,000 people involved in sporting clubs trained in recognising bias and inequality and how to speak up whenever disrespect toward women occurs.
The important work Raiise has been doing in educating young people has drawn overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants and is making a real difference in how our aspiring athletes treat each other and in how confident they feel about tackling disrespect and violence. I encourage more clubs to get involved.
We are getting on with the job of advancing gender equality by empowering sporting clubs to look at ways their policies, culture and practices promote fairness, respect and safety and the role everyone can play in creating a safe and respectful future.
As put by Aria Bolkus, Labor candidate for Colton
As a former nipper myself, I know how important it is talking about respectful relationships in surf lifesaving, and how important it is to ensure girls and young women feel safe, protected and importantly empowered to enjoy community sports.
Raising awareness on gender equality in our grassroots sporting clubs will have an enduring beneficial impact in our Colton community and beyond.
As put by Raiise Director Ross Wait
This next phase of the Raiise program ensures we can continue to build on the gender equality education we have already delivered to the 2,700 participants across South Australia. This extension of Raiise creates a pathway for those clubs to further develop their knowledge to create tangible changes in the way they approach respect and create a safe environment for women and girls.
Too often good programs are run as a one off and don't lead to systematic change, I applaud Minister Hildyard and the Office for Women for their continued commitment to allowing us to continue this important gender equality education on a deeper level.
Clubs and organisations which provide an equal, welcoming and supported environment for women from governance to participation have better outcomes across the board, Raiise can help provide an actionable pathway to achieve this.
As put by Tracy Ellis, Director of People and Culture, West Beach Surf Life Saving Club
Already we have seen this community club grow and thrive from the educational program Raiise, and I thank the State Government for investing the future of our young people so they can get healthy through sports.
It's been so heartening to see our young boys and girls feel empowered to call out harmful behaviours and unconscious bias when they see and hear it.
