Chick Chat FAQs
Frequently asked questions
- What does WEEO WISER mean?
- What is ‘domestic violence’?
- Types of abuse:
emotional, social, physical, sexual, financial, stalking - Why do we only work with young women?
- What about boys?
- Is there violence in same sex relationships?
- Why are the WEEO WISER workshops run in year 9?
- Why are there 5 workshops in a program?
- Why ‘peer education’?
- Why do the peer educators work in pairs?
- Who are the peer educators?
- Why is there a ‘support person’ at some workshop sessions?
- Who are the support people?
- Why does WEEO WISER focus on Liverpool?
What does WEEO WISER mean?
Women Educating Each Other, Women In Safe &
Equal Relationships. Local young women came up with
this name and also designed the logo.
The name captures the heart and soul of the project.
What is ‘domestic violence’?
Domestic violence is: Violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour carried out by an adult against a partner or former partner to control and dominate that person. Domestic violence causes fear, physical and/or psychological harm. It is most often violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour by a man against a woman. Living with domestic violence has a profound affect upon children and young people and may constitute a form of child abuse
(NSW Department of Health 2003).
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/topics/domestic.html
Types of abuse
Domestic violence is when one partner consciously tries to, or does, manipulate and dominate the other. It is about power and control. It happens across all communities, social classes, ages, cultural backgrounds and geographical areas.
(adapted from http://ssdv.acon.org.au/information/whatisdv.php)
Domestic violence can take many forms. Many of these don’t include physical violence.
Emotional abuse
is any type of ongoing behaviour by one partner (or ex-partner) to make the other feel afraid or worthless. It can include:
- Threatening their children.
- Hurting their pets.
- Putting them down like, telling them that they are ugly, useless or stupid.
- Humiliating them in front of friends, family or in public.
Social abuse
is any behaviour by one partner to control the other’s social life. It can include:
- Stopping them from seeing friends or family.
- Abusing or fighting with their friends or family so they stop visiting or calling.
- Cutting off the phone or monitoring calls or bills.
- Locking them in the house.
- Isolating them from their cultural background or preventing them practicing their religious beliefs.
Physical abuse
is any type of physical violence that an abusive partner inflicts on the other. It can include:
- Hitting, kicking, pushing, slapping, strangling or burning.
- Breaking possessions or punching/kicking walls.
- Withholding or stopping their partner from getting medication or treatments.
Sexual abuse
is any behaviour where one partner forces the other to perform sexual acts they don’t want to. It can include:
- Pressuring them to have sex when they don’t want to.
- Pressuring, forcing or tricking them into having unsafe sex.
- Making them have sex with other people.
- Sexually assaulting (raping) them.
Financial abuse
is any behaviour by one partner to control the other’s money against their will. It can include:
- Taking their money or controlling their income.
- Refusing to give them money or making them account for everything they spend.
- Selling or destroying their possessions or making it difficult for them to work.
- Threatening to withdraw financial support as a means of control.
Stalking
is any behaviour by which one partner (or ex-partner) tries to intimidate or harass the other. It can include:
- Following them when they go to work, home or out.
- Constantly watching them, their house or work.
- Calling, texting or e-mailing them or their family, friends or work colleagues more often than is appropriate or when asked not to.
For more info see:
What is abuse in relationships?
Domestic violence in families
Why do we only work with young women?
Because we know that violence and abuse is a big problem for many young women, or that it might be soon. We want to try and give young women knowledge, attitudes and skills to expect to feel safe, equal and respected in their relationships. Young women have told us that they find it easier to talk about relationship issues when it’s just girls.
What about boys?
We love the idea of a similar work being done with young men - but focused on promoting men taking responsibility for their part in creating respectful, equal and safe relationships in their lives, especially with their girlfriends or boyfriends. What a great idea for a group of passionate male teachers, health and community workers to get their teeth into!
Is there violence in same sex relationships?
Domestic violence is most commonly perpetrated by a male partner (like a boyfriend) against a female partner (like a girlfriend). However it happens in all types of intimate relationships. This includes in heterosexual relationships, same sex relationships, between family members and sometimes even in close friendships.
Most gay and lesbian relationships are built on love and respect. Some are built on abuse and control. Abuse and control in a relationship is domestic violence… Domestic violence in same sex and heterosexual relationships share many similarities, including the types of abuse and the impact on the abused partner
(Taken from Another Closet: Domestic Violence in Same Sex Relationships, produced by ACON NSW).
Domestic violence is never okay and it is never the fault of the person experiencing the fear and control. Lesbians and gay men often face additional barriers to accessing support and leaving violent relationships due to homophobia. Click here for more info about domestic violence in same sex relationships.
Why are the WEEO WISER workshops run in year 9?
Lots of young women are starting to be in or think about getting into more serious relationships in around this time. Some earlier, some later. But we want girls to think about relationship stuff and have some ideas about what to do before things get really serious and maybe even dangerous.
Why are there 5 workshops in a program?
So there’s time for all the young women to really get to know each other. Once everyone’s relaxed into the workshops a bit there’s quite a bit to talk about! Sometimes we wish there was even more time. Lots of the girls in the workshops tell us this too.
Why ‘peer education’?
Because girls like talking with other girls- shocking hey!!! There’s also a whole bunch of research that says that peer education, when done with good training and support works. Why? Because… well like we already said girls like talking with other girls & listen to what they say.
So what we’re saying is that the young women who run the workshops are similar to the young women who are in the workshops (all are girls who live in or around Liverpool and are from diverse cultural backgrounds)
Why do the peer educators work in pairs?
So we work in pairs so we can…
- prepare together
- support each other
- pack-up together
- arrive & leave safely together
- talk about how it went and give each other feedback
- share the load
- learn from & challenge each other
And because different girls learn different things from different peer educators.
Who are the peer educators?
We are a diverse group of 15 young women from South West Sydney Women aged from about 18 to 30 years who have trained to be peer educators. We are fabulous, strong and caring bunch of young women who want to make a real difference of other girls.
Want to know more about who we are and what we do?
Why is there a ‘support person’ at some workshop sessions?
They are called ‘support people’ because they support the peer educators. To do this they talk with the peer educators about how it’s all going, listen to the peer educators, help the peer educators to work together and give them feedback. Sometimes support people come into the workshops so they can see how things are going. They are also an extra set of hands sometimes.
Who are the support people?
Support people are all local health and community workers who have trained to support the WEEO WISER peer educators. They are all women who, like the peer educators, are passionate about preventing violence against women.
Why does WEEO WISER focus on Liverpool?
WEEO WISER is a project of the Liverpool Women’s Health Centre and the Centre is familiar with many local women (young and old) and some of the issues that matter to them, including relationships. Domestic violence is a serious and widespread issue. The Centre has been supporting women in and around Liverpool who have lived through domestic violence for over thirty years. It was time to do something at the other end and try and prevent it. That’s why are so excited to be working with young women.
