What does a respectful relationship look like? The good the bad and the ugly

With International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women coming up on the November 25th, it’s a great time to have a conversation about respectful relationships, and what this looks like in our community – read on for more!

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November 25th is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

One in three Australian women experience physical or sexual violence by someone known to them. Violence against women does not discriminate – it affects women from all cultures, of all ages and all socio-economic groups. As a community, we have a responsibility to raise awareness of this violence and promote education and learning about prevention.

What does a respectful relationship look like?
And what does a bad or ugly relationship look like?
What can you do about it?

Check out our post below about the different signs of the good, the bad and the ugly in relationships.

How you feel in a relationship can tell you if it’s good or not. Some signs of a good relationship…

You feel free to say no to things you don’t want to do
You can express your opinions and beliefs
You feel comfortable to end the relationship when you want to
You feel supported by your partner to make your own decisions
You feel safe around them and never scared
You can decide how much time you want to spend with your partner and feel comfortable making this decision
They make you feel good about yourself, and encourage you in your life
They respect your decisions around important things like sex
Think about the signs of a good relationship.
If any of these are not present in your relationship, or in fact the opposite is true (i.e. you don’t feel free to say no to things you don’t want to do), then you might be in a bad relationship.
A relationship might not start bad – its really important to think about how you are feeling and talk to friends and family about what’s been going on.
If you’re feeling any of these feelings because of your relationship: humiliated, angry, nervous, trapped, numb, depressed or bad about yourself – you might be in a bad one.

When things get ugly, it’s called “abuse” – when someone does things to control, bully, or hurt someone else.
It’s not just physical violence – in fact, it might not be physical at all.
Abuse can be emotional, like hurting you emotionally, putting you down, or manipulating or blackmailing you.
It can also be ‘social’ – when someone tries to control your social life and tells you who you can or can’t see, or follows you around and checks up on you.

The most important thing for people who might be in bad relationships that are at risk of turning ugly is to STAY SAFE.