ON AVERAGE, one woman a week is killed by a current or former partner, whilst one in two women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime.*

Violence against women is at a national crisis point in Australia and it begins with disrespect.

Since 2016, Carlton has run Carlton Respects, an initiative to not only raise awareness of gender-based violence but leverage their star athletes' platforms to deliver programs that teach respect to children and prevent violence against women.

"This isn't just about footy," Carlton defender Harriet Cordner said.

"It's about being a really good human in any space that you might find yourself in."

An inaugural AFLW player, Cordner had juggled her football career since 2017 alongside her part-time role as a primary school teacher.

But this year, she decided to take a step back from formal teaching and fully commit to Carlton Respects as a facilitator of its school-based program, Road to Respect.

"I have really enjoyed the balance of coming from a sporting club that can have such a big impact on students," Cordner said.

"I'm a primary school teacher by trade, but I made the decision at the start of this year to not do any contracted teaching and just really focus on the Carlton Respects program.

"I'm really passionate about education and I absolutely love working with kids."

So far this year, Road to Respect has reached more than 6000 students, a 50 per cent increase from last year. 

But Cordner says there is still more work to do.

"In the last 12 months, the club has really invested to try and take that program to another level, by employing a full-time staff member and then to drive the expansion of the program," she said.

"We have so far reached above what our goal was for this year, but in my eyes the area for improvement in the space where we can have a bigger impact is just by getting out to more students.

"I think the program itself is so valuable and the fact that we have players that are delivering it really has a big impact. But I think it's just about how many more students we can reach."

Road to Respect is aimed at primary school aged children, drawing on their own school values to teach respect, debunk stereotypes and decrease bullying.

Cordner says she has seen the impact the program has on the kids, but also the positive contribution women's football has on the wider community in changing gender stereotypes.

"The kids that we're talking to when we do the Road to Respects program are about nine or ten years old, so they were about one when AFLW started," she said.

"[They're] growing up in a world now where AFL and AFLW coexists, and they don't know any different. I see the impact first-hand that it's having and I'm super passionate about it."

Whilst the impact Carlton's athletes can have with children is clear, the program has been developed to stand alone.

"It's always fascinating when you get to the school. You get a pretty quick idea of whether the kids are, first of all, footy fans and, second of all, Carlton fans or not," Cordner said.

"We've been to lots of schools that aren't Carlton [fans] just based on the location and then also to we've into some schools that also aren't huge footy fans, that maybe have a bit more of a rugby cohort or a soccer cohort or a basketball cohort.

"For me, it's interesting to compare the difference in responses from the kids, and what's been really pleasing to see throughout the year is that even the students that aren't footy or Carlton fans are positively responding to the program.

"I think that is a really good indication that the content of the program holds its own."

This year's dedicated Carlton Respects match will - fittingly - take place against Greater Western Sydney, with the Blues too also wear orange socks (orange is the international colour to raise awareness about gender-based violence, as designated by the United Nations).

The Sunday afternoon match allows the community to show their tangible support by 'showing up for respect', but there's also a chance for children who completed the program to take pride in the impact they are having.

"I obviously do a lot of work with Carlton Respects in general, so to have a round where we can just celebrate all the work that our community team do and all the people who support Carlton Respects as a whole is really great," Cordner said.

"There'll be lots of kids in the guard of honour that have done the program, which is also a really cool thing for them.

"The kids are super proud to be able to stand in the guard of honor ... it's another thing that they can go, 'yes, I did complete the Road to Respects program and that meant something to me.'"

*Statistics provided by Carlton Respects