|
|
AUSTRALIA: Plan to Tackle Domestic Violence Wins Support
By Stephen de Tarczynski
MELBOURNE, May 13, 2009 (IPS) - Kelly Johnson was just 28 when she was murdered by a former boyfriend at her
Adelaide home last year. The mother of one was hit on the head with a frying
pan and stabbed repeatedly with "startling ferocity", according to Justice Trish
Kelly, who handed down a mandatory life sentence to Johnson's killer, Daniel
Hall, in February.
But as horrific as Johnson's murder was, it is just one example of domestic or
family violence in Australian society.
Domestic violence is "absolutely rife within our community," says Fiona
McCormack, CEO of Domestic Violence Victoria, the south-eastern state's
peak body advocating for the right of women and children to live free from
violence.
McCormack backs the federal government's goal of introducing a national
approach in early 2010 aimed at minimising the incidence and impact of
violence in homes across the nation.
As part of that goal, the government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appointed,
in May last year, an 11-member National Council to Reduce Violence Against
Women and Their Children. The Council has been tasked with leading a
national conversation on the issue and developing a plan to reduce levels of
domestic violence between now and 2021.
Its report 'Time For Action' was released publicly Apr.29 - the Rudd
government was handed the completed report in March - and has been well-
received by independent community groups and statutory bodies, including
Amnesty International, the White Ribbon Foundation and the Australian
Human Rights Commission.
The report "is really informed by a sound understanding of the causes of
violence and it looks at a range of different interventions, particularly with a
focus on prevention," McCormack told IPS.
'Time For Action' says that a fragmented system of dealing with domestic
violence, failures to invest in primary prevention, inadequate funding of
services, and gaps between policy and practice are among the factors
responsible for the failure of previous attempts to reduce family violence.
"Despite significant efforts and investments, the horrific numbers of women
and their children affected by violence has not shifted over the decades," the
report says.
According to the Council, almost 20 percent of Australian women will suffer
sexual violence at some point in their lives, while physical violence will affect
one in three. Significantly, this violence often occurs at home at the hands of
men who are known to the women. Frequently, this violence is repeated.
The report also acknowledges that women and children from any socio-
economic or cultural background can be victims. However, indigenous
women are 35 times more likely to suffer from family violence requiring
hospitalisation, and are ten times more likely to be killed.
Furthermore, immigrant and refugee women are more likely than women born
in Australia to be murdered as a result of domestic violence, while women
with disabilities are particularly vulnerable.
The report also noted that close to a quarter of Australian children have
witnessed violence towards their mother or stepmother.
In economic terms, the Council says that violence towards women and
children - a major cause of homelessness - will cost the Australian economy
an estimated 13.6 billion Australian dollars (10.4 billion dollars) in 2008-09
and 15.6 billion Australian dollars (12 billion dollars) by 2021-22 if the
current rates of domestic violence continue.
In response to the 'Time For Action' report, the government has committed
12.5 million Australian dollars (9.5 million dollars) for a 24-hour, seven-
days-a-week national telephone and online crisis service, as well as a further
26 million Australian dollars (20 million dollars) for primary prevention
activities such as school programmes and public information campaigns to
challenge prevailing attitudes, and for funding research in order to make laws
pertaining to domestic violence consistent.
Jean Cameron is the CEO of the Women's Domestic Violence Crisis Service,
which currently operates a '24/7' emergency telephone service in Victoria in
conjunction with outreach services and high-security refuges for women and
their children.
She told IPS that the problem of domestic violence is "enormous", and that
she will support a new national telephone service on condition that it
incorporates phone services already in place around the country, and that
specialist family violence workers staff the phone lines.
"We would argue that the first call that a woman makes - whether it's her or
a member of her family or concerned friends - is that it's absolutely critical
that the information that they are provided at the outset is accurate and up-
to-date," says Cameron.
She adds that while changing attitudes towards domestic violence will take
time - the Rudd government's plan runs for 12 years - it is vital that it be
undertaken.
"It is a longer-term piece of work but it's absolutely important in terms of
tackling the underlying issues which allow violence against women to
flourish," says Cameron.
McCormack argues that although domestic violence in Australia is common,
the complexity of the issues involved has led to widespread ignorance.
"The messages that we get about what it is to be male and female are very
subtle. You get it through TV, you get messages through men, through
parents, through schools," says McCormack. "People are often not even aware
that's what they are picking up."
She says that it is imperative that the community accept that domestic
violence is a gendered issue because "primarily, perpetrators are men and
victims are women and children.
"Until we have the courage as a community to look at why some men choose
to be violent, it will continue to go on unabated," says McCormack.
Although men's rights organisations say that focusing on women only as
victims of domestic violence does not reveal the full picture, statistics
indicate that mostly men are responsible.
McCormack is dismissive of the notion that singling out men as the main
perpetrators of domestic violence amounts to 'man-bashing'. "Most men
don't choose to be violent," she says. (END)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
What is RSS?
