GETTING a bright orange sticker on your morning coffee over ensuing days from participating cafés in the Southern Grampians is to start conversations around ending gender-based violence, and what respect is.

The campaign started on Friday, November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and marked the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.

It provides everyone with the important opportunity to reflect, call out bad behaviour and spread the message of choosing to lead with respect in relationships, workplaces, schools, universities, and homes.

Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) chief executive, Tony Doyle, and deputy mayor, Helen Henry, were keen to get the conversation started and said the campaign was a success in previous years in promoting conversations around respect and gender equality.

“The reality is we need to be having these conversations,” Cr Henry said.

“We (women) are still overrepresented as a gender in all sorts of violent situations and statistics - and then underrepresented in leadership across the world.

“I mean this is global, so we need to keep having these conversations about how we create a respectful culture for women.”

Mr Doyle endorsed Cr Henry’s comments and said the campaign was a great opportunity to get talking about respect and gender equity.

“Education and dialogue are incredibly important,” Mr Doyle said.

“As Helen said, the stats around domestic violence are frightening.

“There’s hundreds and hundreds of years of paradigms built up about people’s views on what the role of women is in our community - some of those views result in domestic violence - and we just need to be better than that and move on.

“In this era, when we would like to consider ourselves to be enlightened - we’re not, we are absolutely not.

“Equality is how you get the best outcomes.

“Where you’ve got a real diversity of ideas and thoughts - whether it is at a community level or business level - embracing all thoughts is how you have the best outcomes, and until we have true diversity, we won’t have that.”

Moyne Shire Council is also supporting the campaign, and its offices in Mortlake and Port Fairy will be bathed in orange as a public show of support for the 16 days of activism.

Mayor, Karen Foster, said while lighting the buildings was a public display of support, Council’s work towards ending gender inequality and gender-based violence was happening 365 days a year.

“It’s something we take very seriously,” she said.

“Because gender inequality is the soil in which violence against women grows, we are determined to ensure that the places we live, work and play are fair and equal.

“As a public organisation we have responsibilities under the Gender Equality Act, and we complete gender impact assessments on every policy and program to create better and fairer outcomes and to make sure all people have equal access to opportunities and resources.

“Council is a large employer, and we know that workplaces can have a major influence on people’s behaviours.”

Cr Foster said she would host a Women Leading Locally event in Mortlake next week, aimed at encouraging more women to put their hand up and run for local government.

“Cr Lauren Dempsey from Northern Grampians and former Moyne councillor, Jill Parker, will join me for a conversation about our experiences as women in local government and the importance of a diversity of voices at the Council table,” she said.

The campaign will conclude on December 10, which marks International Human Rights Day, but it is hoped the conversations will continue and work towards bringing an end to violence against women.