*We advise that this article is read with caution due to the discussion of rape, abuse and violence. If you or someone you know is at risk or experiencing any abuse, then please reach out to 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) for support. And 000 if you are in immediate danger.
It’s a tale as old as time that women frequently find themselves in risky, terrifying or just plain unsafe situations. Many women have more than one danger-story. And, when something happens so frequently, it can be normalised.
And this might be the very reason it took so long for the social discourse to concur that we are facing a violence against women crisis.
But history has taught us that pulling together, rallying against the status quo, against the “that’s just how things are” rhetoric, can get us justice.
As we’re finally identifying this gender-based violence as an emergency – a crisis – let’s see how we can put an end to it. For good.
Historical approaches to violence
When the social discourse, cultural consciousness and even legislation seems to depict one gender as inferior to another, we’re already trudging an uphill battle.
The feminist movement outlined key factors that put women and children – as victims and then complainants – at an inferior, powerless level. Making it harder for them to not only come forward with their stories of violence and sexual assault, but for them to have anything done about it. But the feminist movement continued pushing against archaic viewpoints, striving for equality. Then the sexual revolution rocked the boat even more, developing ideas about sexuality and sexual practice within both men and women. Things were progressing for the better.
During 1976 up until 1994, Australian laws were changed. Reforming to not only listen to women but to protect women. They seemed to reflect a modern, evolved society.
However there was one reform that people struggled to view as necessary. They couldn’t see how it could ever be considered a criminal offence at all. Up until 1976, it was still legal to rape your wife. It had been informed by British law previously that a woman could not be raped within marriage – the bond between husband and wife allowed for a man’s unrestricted sexual access to his wife. In other words, non-consensual.
When this new law was passed, people struggled to understand it. It had become ingrained in the cultural and social consciousness that to marry someone suggested free reign, and perhaps this is why the issue of domestic violence or child abuse persists, as there’s a sense of ownership there. Through togetherness, brings entitlement, and it is up to us how we choose to act or speak with people we feel we own.
What’s changed?
Of course, since the 70s, there have been more positive (necessary and vital) steps taken to protect women and children such as in the past few years, the Australian government introduced its five-year action plan – the National Plan – to put an end to Violence Against Women and Children. The aim is to reduce the rate of women killed by their partners by 25% and yet the Australian Institute of Criminology revealed that in the past two years (2022-2023) the rate increased by 28%.
Due to the rise in the reported male violence against women in Australia, the National Cabinet convened to address measures to tackle it. The result? Prime Minster Anthony Albanese referred to this as a national crisis. And, words really matter here. Referring to this as a crisis prevents it from being swept under the rug; it gives power to combatting it. Pressing emergence on the matter.
Also after the Cabinet convened, it was revealed that new measures will be implemented to tackle the national crisis such as:
- The ‘Leaving Violence’ program to support survivors with leaving violent relationships with financial support of up to $5,000 (part in cash, the rest for pre-paid goods and services). This is fuelled by the government investment of $925 million over a five-year period.
- Serious penalties will be given for sharing explicit materials online without consent and moves to ban “deepfake” pornography. This will aid combatting “toxic male extremist views about women online.”
- Funding to have firm age verification restrictions to protect children from pornography.
- Conducting research across each state to improve law responses to “high risk and serial perpetrators” – this will include the sharing of information across legal jurisdictions.
Is it getting worse?
Though the above measures are welcomed – don’t get us wrong – the general consensus amongst women is, that this crisis (male abuse of women) has been so ingrained in the cultural and social sentience, that it’s never going to change.
And, with recent events, are we wrong to think that it’s getting worse?
The social [media] effect:
Online hate against women was seemingly spearheaded in recent years when Andrew Tate used his platform to promote incredibly misogynistic and outdated (though he would refer to them as “traditional”) views about women.
His videos and preacher-like teachings to a mass following of young men – boys – exuded toxic masculinity with ideas such as men are meant to be in charge, paying for everything and taking care of the women, as long as the women are docile, quiet and by no means fluid or in control of their own sexuality. His ideas on rape seemed to match the ideations of those who challenged the reform of the 70s regarding rape in a marriage.
Why was he so impactful? You’ll have to ask a teenaged boy who was indoctrinated into the school of Andrew Tate. That is, before he was arrested in Romania with his brother Tristan in 2022 on suspicions of rape and human trafficking.
But the Andrew-Tate-effect seemingly persists. Only last week a boys’ school in Victoria, created a spreadsheet listing all the girls in the year with titles such as ‘unrape-able’, ‘wifey’, ‘mid’ and ‘object’.
They have since been expelled and while some could see this as harmless or simply childish behaviour, what it alludes to is: the bigger picture. That women are consistently discriminated against, spoken of derogatorily and objectified – and when you objectify something, you remove its humanity, and that’s when abuse gets commonplace. And that is exactly the crisis we’re in – abuse against women is a daily occurrence.
Women’s bodies are up for discussion and control
Now of course this isn’t new. Women’s bodies are debated at every angle, quite literally.
We’re not thin enough, we’re not curvy enough, we’re not as youthful as we once were, we have too many marks or signs of life on our skin. The list goes on.
But when the ruling of Roe v. Wade was overturned (meaning the right to abortion access within the first trimester was overturned), it showed an even darker side to the rhetoric of female bodies. That we don’t even have a say what we do with them, and the final result can not only impact the woman but the baby or babies said woman could be forced to bring into this world.
Removing the right for a woman to decide what to do with her body regardless if a woman was raped and fell pregnant or was emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually incapable of raising a child in a healthy and safe manner. Falling to become a victim – ultimately – of the state. And now? Women are being forced to travel into a state that does allow abortions in the first trimester, or worse: seek out illegal abortion measures that frequently cause severe mental health issues, infection, infertility and financial strain. Other consequences of removing this right means mothers are relinquishing the child to state care or making huge sacrifices in their own life to raise the child.
Unprovoked attacks on women in Australia
It’s quite common to see that violence against women occurs between intimate partners, or someone at least known to the survivor or victim. But why this crisis feels so intoxicatingly stark and powerful is because of the unprovoked attacks on women.
Women simply living their lives, catching-up with friends, heading into the city to grab a bite, shop, or go for a run are at risk.
An Australian news story that rocked the nation was the disappearance of Samantha Murphy, a 51-year old woman who went for a run around where she lived in Ballarat, Victoria, and tragically never came home. Despite extensive searches of the area, no evidence was recovered. And yet, a young man aged 22: Patrick Orren Stephenson has been accused of her murder and is due to face trial in August of this year.
It has been kept private to the public what exactly happened and how they were able to charge him with the murder with no body found, however it does nothing to dilute the debate that gender-fuelled violence can arise in unpredictable places.
And, shortly after Samantha Murphy’s tragic disappearance and presumed death, there was another attack that took place that consolidated this desperation for an end to the violence. On the 13th April, Joel Cauchi, killed 6 people and injured 12 others in a knife attack in Sydney’s Westfield shopping centre in Bondi. Out of the 6 who sadly lost their lives, 5 of them were women.
At first, the media seemed hesitant to refer to this as a hate-fuelled attack against women but finally, after New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said, ‘It’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives…that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men,’ people finally listened.
What’s terrifying is that the old adage, “Don’t walk home on your own at night” seems so outdated, so insignificant to even say when this abuse, this violence can happen at any time of day, in a public place.
First Nations abuse
Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people commissioner, wrote a fantastic piece on the crisis. Reminding us all not to leave “Aboriginal women out of the conversation.”
First Nations women and children, unfortunately, experience the highest rates of gender-based violence across the world.
From a 2021 journal, statistics and facts were collated to demonstrate the stark difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in this gender-based violence debate. For example,
“Indigenous women are around three times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women, and they are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised from their experience of family violence-related assaults than non-Indigenous women (Our Watch, 2018a). They are also less likely to be protected by the (largely Anglo-Australian) police system.”
This reminds us that we need to do more for all women, and our approach needs to be multifaceted, and not just from an Anglo-Australian viewpoint.
What can we do?
Protests are happening all over Australia as a forceful call-to-action for those who can make a difference. And making a political stance through rallying together, in person, with other women is extremely powerful. It keeps our voices loud in the face of this crisis.
And, there are other things we can do as individuals and organisations, too. In Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts’s article, she provides some advice for addressing and resolving this crisis with practical, strategic and informed solutions.
These include:
- Educating the public through comprehensive programs about healthy relationships, intervention and consent
- Increased funding for survivor services such as accommodation, legal support, counselling and hotlines.
- Improving digital safety and improved measures to prevent exploitation online
- Consistently promote gender equality
- Improved frontline practice changes for children and parents to be supported together, rather than identifying violence and immediately removing the child from the situation – typically leaving the mother alone with minimal support.
At KCG, we believe in practical, achievable and consistent efforts to make a change. That’s why all female staff and female clients are bought a safety alarm to have on their person should they ever need to use it. We also believe in encouraging sexual health and sexual understanding, especially in regards to consent education. We encourage support sessions with educators such as local health groups and WA-wide organisations like SECCA.
Our supports are in place to build a level of trust between companion and participant so that hard conversations can be had, and for us to be able to intervene and protect (whether this is by finding appropriate conversation or introducing emergency services into a situation that requires it).
There is no clear-cut answer to putting an end to this crisis for good, but there are ways you can help. Keep this conversation alive, rally with the women in your life, find ways to protect one another consistently and let’s turn this crisis into a thing of the past.
If you or someone you know requires support, then please utilise the hotlines below. And remember, if you are in immediate danger, please don’t hesitate to call: 000 for the police and/or ambulance aid.
WA Women’s Domestic Violence 24h Helpline – 1800 007 339
Relationships Australia – 1300 364 277
NSW Domestic Violence Line – 1800 656 463
QLD DV Connect Womens Line – 1800 811 811
Vic Safe Steps Crisis Response Line – 1800 015 188
ACT 24/7 Crisis Line – (02) 6280 0900
Tas Family Violence Counselling and Support Service – 1800 608 122
SA Domestic Violence Crisis Line – 1800 800 098
NT Domestic violence helpline – 1800 737 732
13 Yarn – 13 92 76
Beyond Blue – 1300 224 636
1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732