Senator calls for a whole-of-society approach in tackling ‘the power imbalance’ to end violence against women

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of the #16DaysCampaign which continues to 10th December. Over 1.625 million, or 17% of Australian women aged over 18, have experienced partner violence at some time in their life since the age of 15 – more than the combined populations of Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin*.

In addressing the Parliament yesterday, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens, said “Violence against women does not happen in a vacuum; it is most often perpetrated by men, and it is time to seriously reckon with that fact and how we change it. A whole-of-society approach that tackles the root cause of the problem that is patriarchy and the power imbalance it creates is really the way forward. This means recognising the systemic ways that women’s inequality is linked to violence and how violence and abuse is sustained through this inequality. Women continue to be underemployed and underpaid and they represent the vast majority of workers in precarious and undervalued work, such as in the care economy. Violence against women is preventable, and greater gender equity is at the heart of the solution.”

Diversity Council Australia (DCA) CEO, Lisa Annese, has been appointed to the Respect@Work  Council which aims to identify ways to promote safer workplaces through its role advising on the implementation of key recommendations from the Respect@Work Report.

She said “DCA has worked for decades to foster gender equality at work and we have a deep understanding of the issues preventing women from being safe, fully participating and thriving at work.”

The report, The Choice: Violence or Poverty by renowned feminist, journalist and UTS Business School Professor Anne Summers AO, revealed the stark choice facing many Australian women who have experienced domestic violence at the hands of their partner: do they stay and risk the violence continuing or even escalating, or to leave and face the high probability of a life of ‘policy-induced poverty?

Senator Faruqi added “There is a dangerous shortage of services for survivors of domestic violence all over the country. When women, some with children in tow, have taken the brave step to walk away from violence, there is nowhere to go – no safe place to go to.”

She argued that in hearing the statistics politicians say how shocked they are and how terrible it is, yet governments are still unwilling to take the necessary steps and to invest at the large scale needed to tackle violence and abuse.

Senator Faruqi noted that “at the heart of violence against women is control, misogyny and sexism and a culture that continues to endorse these. This kind of violence happens repeatedly because there are apologists for toxic masculinity in society.”

The impact is even more stark for First Nations women as well as women of colour. “The fact is that Aboriginal women and women of colour also face many extra barriers trying to access services. Systemic racism is part and parcel of our institutions, such as health, law enforcement and justice. There is a complete and utter lack of investment in Aboriginal community controlled organisations that specialise in providing culturally safe family violence services. Similarly, there are very few services funded especially for women of colour or trans women or women with disability. This is an unacceptable situation.”

She urged the need for governments to look at a holistic, all-encompassing approach that actually changes culture and systems, at the same time as it provides the best possible care and services for victims and survivors.

This year’s theme Activism to end violence against women and girls aims to mobilise all society to become activists for the prevention of violence against women, to stand in solidarity with women’s rights activists and to support feminist movements around the world to resist the rollback on women’s rights and calling for a world free from VAWG (Violence against women and girls).

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*2016 ABS data