Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Honourable Speaker, I rise on behalf of the Greens to stand with the parliament and welcome the opportunity it gives to condemn all forms of family, domestic and sexual violence against women and children and to foster a Tasmanian society that respects and protects women and children.
It is rare for parliament to be in agreement and it shows the seriousness of this issue and our commitment over the last decade and before for collective action and working together. The parliament has been united on this for more than a decade now and I acknowledge the work of the women and men who got this together 10 years ago and the work of Cassy O’Connor MLC, who was involved in organising the initial motion along with other members at the time.
It is fitting to speak about this terrible issue this week because 25 November marked 25 years of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It also marked the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and White Ribbon Day, aimed at stopping men’s violence against women and children.
I want to start with the facts we know about violence against women in all forms because they paint the shocking and unacceptable picture we need to continue to remind ourselves of to understand that we are in a crisis. One in two women experience sexual harassment in their lifetime; one in four Tasmanians have experienced sexual assault during childhood; one in four Australian women have experienced intimate partner violence by the age of 15; and one woman dies every week due to domestic and family violence in this country.
No matter who you are, as a woman you can be a victim of violence, but it is true that women with disability, Aboriginal women, LGBTIQA+ women, women from regional areas, women from culturally diverse backgrounds, older women and younger women are all more at risk. Women are more likely to experience violence from someone they know than from a stranger, and 31 per cent of women and 40 per cent of children and teenagers who experience homelessness have experienced family violence. In 2021-2022, the Tasmania Police attended 6743 family violence incidents. According to Counting Dead Women Australia, 66 women have been killed as a result of violence in Australia this year. We know some of those include Tasmanian women. We grieve with the families of women who have been murdered as a result of violence in Tasmania in particular. Violence against women is clearly a crisis. The World Health Organization has described it as a global epidemic. The Prime Minister has described family violence as a national crisis. We must act now. If anything, it is hard to see what has changed in those statistics for the better in the last decade.
We live in a patriarchal social organising system. Men have historically held all power and authority and have shaped social norms and institutions. In our society, women have recently been the literal and legal chattels of husbands. Women can be married, have children and be mothers. We can cook and clean, but heaven forbid that we leave the kitchen, try to work, become educated or have an opinion.
Society has progressed in many ways. I to acknowledge, respect and celebrate the feminists who for centuries have actively championed and put their bodies on the line for a better life for women and equality. There is no doubt that we have more liberties than we used to. However, even using the word liberties tells us the status of women in society. It was only 50 years ago where this was still the dominant way of life for most women.
The roots of women’s inequalities still run deep in our society today. Women do not have equal pay. We are not represented equally in senior positions in business or government. Our rights to determine what happens to our body are constantly under threat. We are represented as objects to dominate sexually and often violently in pornography that is pervasively shared amongst men. At its core, our society still does not respect women as people with a capacity and right to chart our own course in life.
Some men believe that a patriarchal society is a natural order of things, but it is just a human construct. There are hundreds of matrilineal societies where power is often shared amongst women and men. The dominant patriarchal culture that we live in is one that we must deconstruct if we want to stop violence against women and children, because it is at the heart of what drives that violence.
Women have the right to life, to equality with men, and to liberty on our own terms. All women deserve to be safe and respected. We all need to promote long term systemic changes that will improve healthy relationships between men and women based on equality. Women do often fear walking home at night. Most women I know would have keys at hand or spray if they did that.
The threat of random violence against women is ever present and real, but we have to recognise that even more so, women are at risk at home. Yes, men do and can experience family, domestic and sexual violence, but the statistics show it is overwhelmingly a greater issue for women and children. Men are more often than not the perpetrators of violence. It is typically women who are closest who are the target.
As women, we will not stop fighting to end family, domestic and sexual violence. The truth is, it is men who need to change, because it is men who are the perpetrators of violence against women. To all the men in the room who are watching or reading this, you have an obligation to change the men around you. It might seem a small thing to you to let a sexist joke from your mate go without comment, or to sit silent as a male colleague speaks over your female co-worker. These behaviours create a sexist society that reinforces a lack of respect for women. This ultimately justifies and normalises violence against women in relationships when women do not want to do what men want them to.
In this place, it is our responsibility to lead by example. In the last few months we have still heard sexist comments bandied about this Chamber. I acknowledge your efforts, honourable Speaker, for ending that culture in this Chamber. It is time for the leaders of our parties, and us as members to stand up and say no more sexist belittling comments about women.
A lot of work has been done in the past decade on addressing this issue, and I commend the government for that. The Safe at Home program, for example, is award‑winning for its role in responding to family violence. The evidence still shows we need to go a lot further to make sure women and children are free from violence, and respected. We owe it to the brave victim/survivors who have shared their stories to do a lot more.
On behalf of the Greens, I thank and commend the work of the extraordinary frontline services in the war against women and thank the people who are in the chamber today, some of their representatives, and acknowledge the Women’s Legal Service, Laurel House, SASS (Sexual Assault Support Service), Relationships Australia, Huon Valley Domestic Violence Services, Yemaya Women’s Support Service, No to Violence, Hobart Women’s Shelter, Engender Equality and all the others. These organisations help women flee from violent situations and receive the support they need to do that, with housing, counselling and legal assistance.
These services desperately need more financial support so they can continue to respond to the needs in the community, and a particular example of the extra support that is needed is in housing. Currently in Tasmania, there are still so many women who have to choose between staying with a violent partner or homelessness – often accompanied by children. I spoke to yet another woman in this situation only the other day. She has two children.
Shelter Tasmania reports 604 women in Tasmania become homeless after leaving a violent partner. Yet only one in every 20 women who are in family violence situations get the long‑term housing that they need. That is a shameful situation. It is not just crisis centres. We need more social housing to ensure rapid rehousing.
We know enough, and we can and must bring extra mindfulness and effort to ensuring women in every sphere – personal relationship, workplace, social and political – are respected and free from violence. As Greens, we commit to doing everything we can to call out the precursors of family violence, socialised sexism and misogyny, and to work in good faith across the parliament to push for any and all actions that we can take to end family violence and to support those who support victim/survivors.
Members – Hear, hear.
