FORMER Sydney Swans forward Brandon Jack has made an impassioned plea for men to assess their behaviour and call out their friends when objectifying and demeaning women.

Jack — who played 28 games for the Swans between 2013-2017 — has become an active voice in the discussion surrounding violence against women, penning articles and posting comments on social media condemning misogynistic culture.

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The 24-year-old’s attitude has been shaped by his close friend’s sexual assault.

But Jack is cognisant his friend’s ordeal has been shared countless times over, in Australia and around the world.

“My experiences with this go back 12 months now,” Jack said on Fox Footy’s On The Mark.

“I had a close friend come to me and ask if I’d want to be their support person in a sexual assault case. I didn’t know too much about what the role involved, but I said ‘yes’ because it was a close friend of mine and I wanted to support them in anyway possible.

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“It was when I was in court seeing them being questioned by the defence that I saw how distressing it was for them.

“It was extremely difficult to see someone go through that, particularly a number of years after the incident occurred. That’s when it became real to me.

“I didn’t grow up with sisters, I didn’t grow up with many close female friends. I’d never thought about the actions of men towards women.

“That was kind of the eye opening moment for me.”

Brandon Jack. Photo: Floyd Ferris Source: Supplied

Australia has been rocked by a number of horrific incidents involving violence against women, with the lives of Jill Meagher and, more recently, Eurydice Dixon cut short because of random acts of violence.

But it’s not just on the street that women are in danger. Indeed, a women’s partner is statistically the person most likely to kill her.

Give the current climate, Jack stressed the important role men must play in changing attitudes towards women.

“No one is saying all men are evil,” Jack said.

“No one is saying all men conduct these villainous acts.

“But I think all men can play a role in making it better.”

Growing up in the house of a rugby league legend and playing at the Swans alongside brother Kieren, Jack has been exposed to the most hyper-masculine of paradigms.

While he said the locker room banter at the Swans never overstepped the mark, he acknowledged that such environments can lead to “demeaning” banter regarding women.

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“I was part of that male culture that was insensitive towards women,” Jack said.

“We can say, ‘We don’t know it and we’re not aware of it’. But I don’t think we should use that as an excuse anymore.

“As men, we don’t need to bond over demeaning women. We can literally talk about anything else.

“I don’t know why it always come back to how a woman looks, or objectifying them in any way.

“I think young boys have to be leaders now and have the voice to stand up and say, ‘It’s not on’.”

While Jack said the majority of men who make sexist comments are not violent, there was a link between misogynistic views and violence.

And because of that, he suggested calling out inappropriate comments was the best way to combat violence against women.

“There’s a culture that develops and it starts with these comments and views that men have,” Jack said.

“It doesn’t always lead to the tip of the iceberg, which is violence and rapes and murder.

“But there’s no harm in getting rid of these behaviours. I think they do contribute to levels of harassment which can lead to violence and assault.”