Page 733 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 8 March 2016
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As I spoke about earlier, Madam Speaker, we must also remain aware of the fact that violence against women is an issue that is underpinned by gender inequality and inequity. The economic cost of all forms of violence perpetrated against women and their children impacts significantly on the local and national economies.
We know that social and economic disadvantage factors, such as poverty, low income and experiences of domestic violence, can result in poorer health and wellbeing outcomes for women. Combinations of these factors can lead to ongoing mental health issues and engaging in unhealthy behaviours such as the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. While men were more likely to be overweight or obese—71 per cent compared with 56 per cent of women—women are less likely to be active, with 69 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men 15 years and over being inactive or engaging in low levels of exercise. More women report high levels of psychological distress than men. Engaging in a healthy lifestyle can improve positive feelings towards their health and wellbeing. However, there continue to be risk factors that are connected with behaviours and lifestyles that impact negatively on the health and wellbeing of women.
Women’s safety is paramount, for women to be able to participate in the ACT community at the same level as men. Women often adapt their behaviours because of fear for their safety. For example, women may choose to walk around an oval at night rather than diagonally across it, because of the perceived dangers, or they will go over a roadway rather than through an underpass. Calculating perceptions of safety in the neighbourhood is an important indicator about how women feel in their environment.
Perceptions of risk are affected by a number of factors, including previous experience of violence or media reporting of crime levels and safety. Research indicates that women have a more heightened sense and experience of vulnerability, particularly at night, and more particularly when walking alone. In 2014-15, the annual national survey of community satisfaction with policing measures showed that 90.2 per cent of ACT women felt safe by themselves in a public place during the day and that 40.6 per cent of ACT women felt safe by themselves in public places at night. As a community, we need to be concerned about that data. Sixty per cent of women in the ACT do not feel safe by themselves at night in public places.
There are things we can all do. For example, the ACT government has implemented a women’s safety assessment tool that can be used to identify problem areas and potential risks and solutions when planning public events. Women’s safety audits have been conducted on the past three national multicultural festivals to identify potential risks such as dark areas or places with few people around.
At a local level, the ACT government supports and promotes the advancement of women and girls through the objectives and actions of the ACT women’s plan. The key outcomes of the plan include that women and girls equally and fully participate in the ACT economy and equally and fully participate in sustaining their families and communities while enjoying community inclusion and wellbeing. In the coming months, the Office for Women will concentrate their efforts on developing the next women’s plan. This new plan will focus particularly on improving outcomes for marginalised and disadvantaged women in our community.
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