Page 787 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 18 March 2015
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The 2013 national community attitudes survey highlighted many interesting points about the attitudes towards women’s and men’s roles in society, three of which I found particularly interesting in the context of today’s discussion: firstly, that 27 per cent of people thought that men made better political leaders; secondly, that nearly one in five people believe that men should take charge in relationships and be the head of the household; and finally and very importantly, that over one in four people thought that women preferred men to be in charge of the relationship. These are the kinds of underlying attitudes that indicate risk factors in a society for ongoing domestic violence. It is because community attitudes need to change and because social factors need challenging that we all have a role not just as policymakers and ministers and members of the government or members of this place as leaders of the community but also as members of the community, as men and as role models for our young people.
Challenging the culture that underlies domestic violence is something we need to be active about. It is also something many community groups are focused on—that is, our collective responsibility around speaking out. It is the foundation of the White Ribbon Day pledge and the basis of a new campaign in Ontario, Canada, called “Who will you help”, which mobilises bystanders to act in situations of sexual assault. Closer to home I am reminded of the “What to say” campaign, which was launched in the ACT and developed as part of the summer of respect, a collaboration between the Women’s Centre for Health Matters and the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre. The “What to say” campaign focused on what others could say to men, to women and in the workplace to challenge the attitudes held, to identify and call out sexual assault and to support women who may have experienced it.
Perhaps an indication of how far we have to go in this debate was the response to posters from this campaign being put up in ACT directorate workplaces. When some men reportedly found the images confronting and were offended, the posters were removed. I say to those who might have been confronted that those posters are nowhere near as confronting as sexual violence. I say that we need to feel uncomfortable; this is an uncomfortable issue. I say that we need to remember that one in three women in Australia will be subject to physical and sexual violence in their lifetime. We need to stop pretending it does not happen to anyone we know, that it does not happen to people we work with or people that we socialise with. These are discussions we should be having with our mates, with our colleagues and, perhaps most significantly, with our sons. We all have a responsibility to act and talk in ways that prevent sexual assault. Just because the issue is shocking does not mean we should shy away from it or pretend it does not happen.
The 2013 survey I talked about on attitudes says in its summation that the opinion of global research now is that domestic violence, while prevalent and serious, is preventable, and that the causes of violence against women can be eliminated. This is a welcome assessment against a backdrop where incidence is not diminishing and where we are faced with the serious impacts of domestic violence on an almost daily or weekly basis.
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