BOYS as young as nine will be targeted in the new fight against domestic violence.

Social media will also become the new way to deliver the Federal Government’s $30 million education campaign.

The Assistant Minister for Women, Michaelia Cash, has revealed boys aged between nine and 12, non-English-speaking women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are among the groups chosen for special focus.

Senator Cash said extensive research was already under way into who needed the messages most, what would work and when, and how they should be delivered.

She said starting with young children aged nine to 12 years meant respectful attitudes could be shaped while they were forming relationships and opinions.

media_camera The Federal Government has announced a $30 million education campaign to educate young people in an effort to change attitudes about violence against women. Pic: Generic image/Thinkstock

“We want them to understand the girl standing next to you is the same as the boy standing next to you,” she said.

Unlike major attitudinal-change campaigns such as drink-driving and seatbelt awareness, this year’s push to change the way some think about domestic violence won’t be seen on TV screens but delivered to personal devices.

Technology will be used to target messages to specific groups deemed at risk of abuse or of holding bad attitudes towards women.

“It’ll be looking at how we get to different age groups and what is the most effective medium to get to them,” Senator Cash said.

“A lot of kids don’t watch TV but they do have an iPhone.

“And that’s the exciting thing about the internet, we have the reach we didn’t have during road safety campaigns.”

Senator Cash said the need for the campaign was stark, with a recent attitudinal survey making the shocking finding that 20 per cent of people thought that if a woman was intoxicated, she was partly responsible for her rape.

The survey also found people believed that violence against women:

• Was justifiable if the woman had sex with another man (6 per cent) or made him look stupid in front of his friends (5 per cent);

• Was sometimes excusable if the perpetrator was suffering from stress (12 per cent), got so angry he lost control (22 per cent) or was sorry afterwards (21 per cent); and

• Was made up or exaggerated by women looking to get an edge in custody battles (53 per cent).

Senator Cash said the beliefs demonstrated why there was a need for the national awareness campaign.

“I think Australia is ready for cultural change,” she said, adding that the myth that an attack in the home was not as bad as in the street had to be broken.

“If you put ‘domestic’ or ‘family’ in front of the violence it does not change the nature of the crime.

“Violence is violence, murder is murder, and people need to understand that there are consequences just like there are consequences for assault and murder.”

Senator Cash said she also wanted to make sure women from other cultures understood violence against women was a crime in Australia and they could seek help.