Women’s Health in the South East (WHISE) shares a vision with all Australians who work to prevent violence: communities where everyone can live free from harm, where relationships are based on respect, and where children grow up safe and supported.

We believe that preventing violence is everyone’s responsibility, requiring sustained commitment across sectors, communities and generations. We value the expertise of practitioners, the courage of survivors, and the wisdom of communities in driving this vital work forward.

It is with these shared values in mind that we offer this response to Jess Hill’s Quarterly Essay “Losing It.”

Bridging Urgency and Long-Term Change: The Prevention Challenge

We acknowledge the profound frustration Hill expresses at the beginning of her essay—a frustration we all share when confronted with the ongoing reality of violence in our communities. Each reported murder, assault, or abuse case represents a devastating failure of our systems to protect those at risk.

This urgency is real and valid. Families need immediate protection. Communities need swift action. Survivors need justice now, not in some distant future.

Yet the complex nature of violence demands both immediate intervention and sustained prevention efforts. This is not an either/or proposition—it’s both/and. We need robust crisis response systems operating alongside prevention initiatives that address root causes and create lasting change.

The challenge is not that prevention takes too long, but that we haven’t sufficiently invested in the full spectrum of responses needed. We need strengthened crisis services, enhanced early intervention programs, AND comprehensive prevention initiatives working in tandem. When properly resourced and coordinated, these approaches complement rather than compete with each other.

We cannot allow impatience—however understandable—to undermine the foundations necessary for lasting change. History shows that sustainable social transformation requires persistent effort across generations, even as we work urgently to protect those at risk today.

Our Shared Commitment: Safety, Respect, and Dignity for All

Violence prevention is grounded in the fundamental belief that every person deserves safety, respect, and dignity. Australia’s prevention framework has continuously evolved to better uphold these values for all people, recognising that:

• Everyone deserves to live free from violence, regardless of gender, ability, sexuality, cultural background, or socioeconomic status
• Children have the right to grow up safe and to heal from trauma when harm occurs
• Communities thrive when relationships are based on respect and equality
• Prevention requires addressing all factors that contribute to violence

The prevention sector’s work is guided by these core values, even as approaches adapt and evolve in response to new evidence and changing contexts.

The Strength of Connection: Prevention as a Community-Wide Effort

Primary prevention is not an isolated theoretical exercise, but a lived practice embedded within communities and connected to the broader family violence response system. Our strength lies in collaboration across:

• Family violence services supporting survivors
• Mental health clinicians applying trauma-informed approaches
• Emergency services planning for and responding to immediate risk
• Local governments implementing community safety initiatives
• Community services supporting vulnerable families
• Educators fostering respectful relationships
• Health professionals recognising early warning signs
• Sports clubs fostering inclusivity and respect, and
• Businesses ensuring workplaces free of harassment and discrimination.

This interconnected ecosystem of practitioners brings together diverse perspectives and experience, ensuring that prevention work remains grounded in real-world understanding. We value these connections as essential to effective prevention.

Honouring Complexity: Beyond False Binaries

We believe in acknowledging the full complexity of violence and its prevention. Contrary to Hill’s portrayal, contemporary prevention work recognises that:

• Gender inequality intersects with other forms of discrimination and disadvantage
• Trauma-informed practice is essential to prevention and recovery
• Regulation of harmful industries must accompany social change efforts
• Community-led approaches must be tailored to diverse populations and contexts

This nuanced understanding has been central to evolution of frameworks like “Change the Story”, “Changing the Picture”, “Men in Focus”, and “Changing the Landscape,” which explicitly address multiple, intersecting factors in violence prevention.

Building on Progress: Strengthening Our Collective Impact

We believe in building on progress rather than dismantling it. The prevention sector has established vital foundations that must be strengthened, not abandoned:

1. Long-term vision over short-term politics: Prevention requires commitment beyond electoral cycles, with funding and accountability mechanisms that support generational change.
2. Genuine accountability for outcomes: Government investments must be tied to measurable targets and robust evaluation to ensure resources deliver meaningful impact.
3. Learning from global best practice: International frameworks can strengthen Australia’s response, providing proven approaches and leveraging commitments under treaties like CEDAW.

Moving Forward Together: Collaboration Over Division

We believe that ending violence requires unity of purpose and collaboration across sectors. Rather than creating false competition between approaches, we must:

1. Increase investment across the spectrum of prevention, early intervention, response and recovery
2. Enhance partnerships between sectors including health, education, justice, and social services
3. Strengthen regulation of harmful industries and digital platforms
4. Expand trauma-informed support for children and families
5. Continue evolving prevention approaches based on evidence and community feedback

Our Invitation: Partnership in Prevention

We invite Jess Hill and all Australians concerned about violence to partner with us in strengthening prevention. We believe that meaningful dialogue respects the expertise of practitioners, recognises the complexity of the work, and builds on rather than diminishes existing efforts.

By honouring our shared values—safety, respect, equality, and collaborative action—we can create the transformative change needed to end violence against women and children.

Together, we can build communities where everyone lives free from violence and the threat of violence, where equality and respect are the foundation of all relationships, and where every child grows up safe, supported, and able to thrive.

We put this statement forward for, and on behalf of those workers in our region that are working hard and making the changes required to stop gendered base violence in all its forms. It is their story we honour.

Women’s Health in the South East (WHISE)