In an effort to curb the high rate of domestic violence in Wagga, the council has launched an initiative to raise awareness among men in predominately alcohol-filled environments.
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A part of the state-funded DV Project:2650 strategy, the Reflect Respect campaign will centre around distributing a tongue-in-cheek booklet entitled A Modern Day Guide For Gentlemen through the city's pubs and clubs.
Featuring 24 tips for the modern man, pages of the book have also been printed on coasters.
"It's a part of this ongoing campaign, it's a three-year project to raise awareness of gender equity and also domestic violence in this city," Mayor Greg Conkey said.
The campaign has come in response to a survey conducted by the Wagga Women's Health Centre and Charles Sturt University in 2016 that revealed the city's rate of domestic violence is 29.4 per cent higher than the state's average.
"That research showed some really disturbing trends and perceptions of young people and particularly young men in our community," said Genevieve Fleming, acting president of the Wagga Women's Health Centre.
"Things around a woman's place in our community and in relationships, that men should have more power in relationships. We know that those attitudes lead to men lashing out in violent ways, those are the attitudes that we're trying to address."
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Recognising that domestic violence situations do not always discriminate against age and location, the campaign will be rolled out across community congregation points and well-trafficked areas.
"It's a campaign that really needs to happen in this city, because of the high instances of domestic violence," Mayor Conkey said.
"We certainly need to raise awareness of that appalling [29.4 per cent] figure. So part of this campaign is to encourage people to get behind it and embrace awareness, and also get the message out to hotels and clubs to start that conversation."
The booklet has been designed by advertising company Dutch Media and borrows from a strategy rolled out a year ago in Wodonga.
"It's a really irreverent and humorous way to get across some very serious messages," Ms Fleming said.
"We're really hoping to help men understand that those trivial things that they say that put women down or sound sexist are really damaging."
After only a year in circulation, the results of the Wodonga's campaign are yet to be fully known.
But the campaign organsiers say targetting pubs, clubs and other likewise environments will subliminally and overtly challenge attitudes towards gendered violence, and normalise the need for respect.
"It certainly takes on from what Wodonga [Council] put forward, the graphic designers all came from Wodonga, so it's a campaign we've piggy-backed from. I believe it's had good success down there," Mayor Conkey said.
While the booklets will also be made available through the Wagga Women's Health Centre office and council chambers, distributing them among the city's licensed venues is intended to create a citywide conversation.
"We know that gender inequality can lead to domestic violence, so this is a way to try and address some primary prevention," Ms Fleming said.
"We do a lot in the area of helping people who are impacted by domestic violence, and this is work that we're doing to try and stop it before it stops."