The report of the expert panel undertaking the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches to help stop gender-based violence was released on 23 August. ‘Un-locking the Prevention Potential: accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence’ contains 21 detailed recommendations. It makes clear that the path ahead ‘does not involve tinkering at the edges, but instead requires a surge of activity and investment around people, responses and systems’.

Key recommendations are: establishing a five year Prevention Innovation Fund to resource and evaluate innovative prevention efforts; expanding the powers of the National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (DFSV) Commission and its establishment as a statutory body; recognising children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right complemented by an immediate emphasis on support and recovery; promoting healthy masculinities to counter the growing influence of online misogyny, and undertaking a needs analysis to determine unmet demand in DFSV crisis response, recovery and healing with consideration given to diverse needs and culturally appropriate and community led services.

It targets certain industries, such as alcohol, gambling, media and technology as well placed to prevent and reduce DFSV. It favours restrictions on alcohol sale and advertising and more restrictions on gambling advertising leading to a ‘total ban’. It recommends national standards for media reporting on gender-based violence ‘to prevent the perpetuation of harmful narratives that can escalate risk’.

WEL will be keen to hear the Government’s response to the report’s many thoughtful recommendations. The expert panel views them as flexible and practical requiring testing and co-design with the communities they are likely to impact. Unlocking the prevention potential will challenge ‘siloed ways of working’. WEL does not underestimate the overwhelming complexity and scale of the task. The panel has drawn on evidence and experience of decades of work and is projecting a way forward.