THE Hobart Women’s Shelter program, Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP), is seeing great results as the pilot reaches the half way mark.

Delivered in partnership with Engender Equality, Women’s Health Tasmania and the Women’s Legal Service Tasmania, MVP is an exciting leadership program that views all participants as empowered bystanders who can confront, interrupt or prevent violence.

Hobart Women’s Shelter CEO Janet Saunders said the program gives people the chance to explore and challenge the attitudes, beliefs and cultural norms that underpin gender based violence.

“It is a really good opportunity for local people in the community that are wanting to make a difference,” she said.

“The six-hour workshop discusses what family violence is, what some of those red flags are and how to be an effective bystander.

“We look at different scenarios and really encourage discussion around issues such as sexual assault, harassment, consent, family violence and gender equality.”

Since receiving a grant from the Tasmanian Community Fund (TCF) in 2020 the program has trained 570 participants from right across the state.

“The grant has been pivotal in delivering this program,” Ms Saunders said.

“The generous funding is allowing us to spread this message state-wide and develop communities that are talking about family violence.

“We want everyone who completes a workshop to walk away with an increased understanding and a greater sense of confidence of how to be an effective bystander.”

At each workshop participants partake in a pre and post-evaluation survey and the results already speak for themselves.

“The results we are seeing are incredible,” Ms Saunders said.

“98 per-cent of the participants said their understanding of family violence had increased and that they would be more likely to intervene in violent situations.”

Many communities are calling for additional workshops as the program enters its second stage of delivery.

“Before conducting a workshop in any area, we have discussions with local groups about prevalent issues in the community,” Ms Saunders said.

“We want each workshop to be tailored to local needs.”

TCF Chair Sally Darke said the programs success so far is an indicator of how important this program is in Tasmania.

“It’s great to see a community centred project take shape to equip people to tackle a prevalent issue in our society,” she said

To register for upcoming workshops please go to Trybooking.com and search ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’.