Page 4700 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019
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for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (6.24): Monday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, marking the commencement of 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence.
Violence against women is at epidemic levels. On average, one woman a week is killed in Australia by an intimate partner. Two in five assaults recorded by the ACT police relate to domestic and family violence. Women are dying, and if there is one thing that feminism has taught us, it is that the personal is the political. The experiences of women in their homes is a political issue. The personal stories of struggle that women have to tell us need to be recognised as political stories. Ending violence against women requires partnerships across government sectors and organisations, both nationally and locally. Some men are scared that women will laugh at them. Women are scared that violent men will kill them.
Before I hear the question, “What about the men?”, let us be clear. I am talking about men who use violence, not all men. Any violence is bad. It is as simple as that. But the facts are that 95 per cent of violence in Australia, including that against other men, is perpetrated by men.
Gender-based violence is a term that recognises how women are disproportionately affected by violence in ways fuelled by sexist attitudes. These attitudes begin at a cultural level. An example of this culture is the acceptance of sexist jokes and sexist advertising. To address gender-based violence, we need to change this culture because it is this culture of sexism that makes some men think it is okay to disrespect women.
Domestic and family violence disrupts a woman’s ability to stay employed. Domestic and family violence is a workplace issue. Women have the right to be safe at work. The newly adopted International Labour Organisation convention calls on governments, organisations and employers to address the gendered nature of violence and harassment at work. There need to be measures in place to address this, including family and domestic violence leave, flexible work arrangements and the inclusion of domestic violence in workplace risk assessment.
The ACT has shown great leadership as the first state or territory to provide 20 days of paid domestic and family violence leave, in addition to personal leave, for ACT public servants. This leave should be granted for all women workers across the country.
As part of our COAG commitment to the fourth action plan under the national plan to reduce violence against women and their children, the ACT government is releasing its local implementation plan. I would like to highlight the ACT government’s domestic and family violence training strategy, which began this year with delivery across the ACT public service. This strategy recognises that the workplace is an important setting for preventing and responding to domestic and family violence. This training will be offered to all MLAs in this place and their staff.
The ACT government has made it clear that addressing domestic and family violence needs to be a whole-of-community response. There is so much work to do to prevent
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