2015-10-19
Kassi Klower
Sixty-six women are dead.
Forty-one of them were murdered by someone who was supposed to have love for them. Every three hours, a woman is hospitalised with injuries given to them by a loved one. One in three women will experience physical violence in her life and one in five will be sexually assaulted. These aren't just numbers, breaking news stories or tragic isolated incidents. These are real people, really dying. These are acts of violence happening at a rate that should be considered a national emergency. Australia should be doing everything that it can to end domestic violence.
In addition, statistics currently suggest that one in 20 victims of domestic violence are male, as well as there being victims from GSD (Gender and Sexually Diverse) relationships. These victims may not come forward for a number of reasons, including shame, fear and lack of resources for these demographics.
The personal is the political
Solving the domestic violence emergency is absolutely a political issue. In 2014, the Australian Greens, supported by the opposition and government, initiated a Senate Inquiry into Domestic Violence in an attempt to establish to what extent it was an issue for Australian people and what the Federal government could and should do to work to eliminate domestic violence, particularly violence against women and their children. In a nutshell, the inquiry took submissions from individuals and services to look deeply into the emotional and personal damage that DV has on victims, children, family, friends and the community at large, and how it can contribute negatively to greater community issues such as homelessness, alcoholism and addiction, disability, mental illness and death.
The result of the Senate inquiry highlighted just how pivotal politics and the government are in the attempt to stop domestic violence. Section 1.13 of the inquiry directly states that “addressing domestic violence requires long term and coordinated effort by all levels of government in partnership with non-governmental organisations, service providers and the community.” The most intriguing part of this section, however, is that it acknowledges that organisations and service providers are essential in addressing domestic violence, and yet in the 2014 and 2015 national budget, the current government proposed to cut over $300 million dollars in funding from these very services.
An impossible choice
A large majority of support services and shelters are already so underfunded that they struggle to keep their doors open on a year-to-year basis. Some of these are front line services, the first place that victims of DV go to seek help. On top of massive cuts to legal services, $44 million dollars has been cut from shelters and emergency accommodation, $21 million from housing and homelessness services, $15 million from legal aid, and a staggering $240 million from the Department of Social Services, affecting all of the crucial services that this department covers.
"Women are choosing between violence and homelessness. Now that is a choice that no woman should have to make nor should any government bring that choice down upon any Australian woman, " says Larissa Waters, Greens deputy leader and spokesperson for women.
"The committee heard harrowing evidence about the impacts of last year's budget cuts, including women being turned away from already overrun refuges to face either sleeping on the street or returning to violence."
Hypocritically, at the same time as making these cruel cuts to absolutely essential services, the current Minister for Women Michaelia Cash denied that any of these cuts in funding were implemented or have impacted domestic violence services, particularly legal services, which contradicts the findings of the Senate Inquiry. Even steps that are in place to start to chip away at this national crisis, such as The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022, have major flaws that negatively impact domestic violence victims. The National Plan aims to challenge and change the social attitudes surrounding DV, and to attempt to reduce it in the long term through prevention, establishing gender equality and holding perpetrators accountable. This plan, however, largely excludes certain at-risk groups such as Indigenous women, who are 34 times as likely to be hospitalized due to domestic violence, and women with a disability.
Seize the moment
Right now, discussions about domestic violence are happening more openly and society is calling for change. There is a national spotlight on domestic violence and the negative impact it has on the community like never before, and this sentiment is highlighted by Rosie Batty — an advocate for better domestic violence prevention and services after her 11-year-old son was killed by her ex-partner in 2014 — being awarded Australian of the Year in 2015.
The Australian Greens believe that it is essential that action is taken now. On September 24th, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull publically denounced domestic violence perpetrators, confirmed that putting an end to the ever-climbing number of deaths as a result of domestic violence was a priority of the government, and stressed the essential need for gender equality in stopping the violence. He also announced that there would be $100 million dollars in funding to assist services, which has been met with both praise for addressing the issue and taking steps in the right direction, as well as regarding it as a good start — but it's not nearly enough.
"We know that this is a national emergency and should be treated as one. This is a crucial moment. Never before have we had such national attention focused on domestic violence. We have to seize the momentum," says Senator Waters.
What else needs to be done? The Australian Greens insist that the findings of the Senate Inquiry be implemented immediately, which includes the reversal of the cuts and proposed cuts made in the 2014/15 budgets. As well as the recommendations set out in the Inquiry findings, we have also made 23 others, outlining what steps we believe the Federal government needs to take to stop domestic violence. Steps such as including the “Respectful Relationships” program in the national curriculum, supporting specialist domestic violence court systems at state levels, the implementation of a national Domestic Violence Order, ensuring affordable housing for victims and survivors, and legislation be implemented to give paid leave for reasons related to domestic violence. In regards to funding, The Greens propose secure and long-term funding for front-line services, crisis hotlines, legal services and specialist services for women and children. Crucially, there needs to be reform in order to achieve gender equality, because this is essential in eliminating domestic violence.
What is obvious from the Inquiry, the Prime Minster's recent comments, the recommendations outlined by the Senate and The Australian Greens, Rosie Batty's campaign against domestic violence and from the political and community discussions occurring surrounding the issue is that in order for domestic violence to be stopped, social attitudes need to be drastically changed. There needs to be equality of the genders. We need to encourage a change in behaviour around these kinds of situations. We need people to stop shaming and blaming victims. We need to remove the stigma surrounding these kinds of relationships so that people are not afraid of judgment if they look for help.
Australia should be doing everything that it can to end domestic violence.
Join us in calling on Prime Minister Turnbull to implement all of the Senate Inquiry's recommendations:
If you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please seek help.
Domestic Violence Resources:
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732): 24-hour Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling line
http://www.whiteribbon.org.au/finding-help
http://www.dvrcv.org.au/support-services
Kassi Klower is a Journalism and Media Communications student based in NSW.