Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House notes that:

(1)

25 November 2008 marks White Ribbon Day in Australia;

(2)

in 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the White Ribbon has become the symbol for the day; and

(3)

the White Ribbon Foundation of Australia aims to eliminate violence against women by promoting culture change around the issue.

Tomorrow, 25 November, marks White Ribbon Day, which is the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The white ribbon campaign is led by men who are willing to take a stand and be positive role models to other men in the community. The aim of the White Ribbon Foundation of Australia is to eliminate violence against women by promoting culture change around this issue—that is, by men being role models for other men and boys. In 1991, White Ribbon Day was created by a group of Canadian men on the second anniversary of a man massacring 14 women in Montreal. They began the white ribbon campaign to urge men to speak out against violence against women. The major strategies used to achieve this are a national media campaign, education and male leadership programs aimed at men and boys around Australia. Today a number of men from all walks of life are leading the way and are uniting to become white ribbon ambassadors and to stand up and say no to violence against women.

As a white ribbon ambassador, I can tell you that it is not just women pushing the issue as victims of domestic violence; it is also men challenging society and saying that it is damaging and it is destructive. There are now over 230 ambassadors Australia-wide, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The patron is Sir William Deane, former Governor-General of Australia, and the chair is Andrew O’Keefe from the Channel 7 game show Deal Or No Deal. Tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of white ribbons will be worn by men and women across Australia to demonstrate their support for the campaign. It is time for men to become involved. Unfortunately, as a community we have often turned a blind eye to what happens in our neighbourhoods, in our streets and even in our neighbours’ homes. We do not want to be seen to be interfering in other people’s affairs. But it is our responsibility as a community to do something. If we saw someone being assaulted on the street, we would call the police, and we should do the same thing if it is our next-door neighbour being assaulted, because assault is assault, regardless of whether it is in your next-door neigh-bour’s home or out in the street.

In the last few decades we have heard more people speaking out about violence against women, and this is a good thing. Violence against women is a community issue. Cultural attitudes are shaped when people are young, often through the attitudes of people that they admire. Many of us would have been standing around—for example, many of us blokes—at a barbecue, when somebody has said something derogatory about women, and you may have just laughed or shrugged your shoulders. This should be the opportunity to raise the issue of why it is inappropriate. It is about men taking leadership and providing guidance about the correct way to act. Well-known male role models speaking publicly against violence is one campaign I believe will work.

We should note here that the Australian government has placed the issue of domestic violence firmly on the national agenda. On 26 May 2008, the Australian government announced the establishment of a national council that was given the responsibility of drafting a national plan to reduce violence against women and children. The formation of a national council and the development of a national plan are significant steps forward for Australia, and the Rudd government should be commended for placing this issue on the national agenda.

I know that every one of us here believes that violence against women is completely unacceptable. Worryingly, just recently a new report showed that up to half of all young people have seen or heard emotional or psychological violence used against their mothers or stepmothers. The report An assault on our future is a survey of 5,000 12- to 20-year-olds. It shows that one in four 12- to 20-year-olds has seen an act of physical violence between their parents or step-parents, with significant impact on their health and wellbeing as a result. The report also notes the violence-tolerant views of boys, with 31 per cent believing ‘it’s not a big deal to hit a girl’. One in seven thought ‘it’s OK to make a girl have sex with you if she was flirting’. These are shocking results. Nearly one in three boys—32 per cent—believes ‘most physical violence occurs because the partner provoked it’. These are attitudes that we have to change, and we in this place have a role to ensure that we change these attitudes. (Time expired)

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Are you speaking now or reserving your right to speak?

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am speaking now, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I call the honourable member for Isaacs.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tomorrow is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is a day for all of us to stand up and say that violence against women is unacceptable. Violence against women can take many forms. It can be domestic violence in the home. It can be dating violence, experienced particularly by young women. It can be sexual assault in which the perpetrator may or may not be known by the victim. It can be sexual harassment in the workplace, at sporting clubs or in schools. Regardless of the form it takes or where it takes place, violence against women is unacceptable, it is inexcusable and it is a human rights violation. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General, spoke of violence against women in these terms in 1999:

Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. And it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development, and peace.

We often assume that human rights violations only occur in other countries and not here in Australia. But the fact is that one in three Australian women has suffered physical violence. We need to say loud and clear that it is unacceptable for even a single Australian woman to experience physical violence. And one in five Australian women has been the victim of sexual assault. This is equally unacceptable. In any year, half a million Australian women will experience domestic violence or sexual assault. Each one of those women is someone’s daughter, wife, sister, aunt, friend or work colleague. Each one of those women is a fellow Australian, a fellow human deserving of respect and support.

The toll of this violence on women is great. Women suffer when they feel unsafe in their homes. Women suffer when they feel unsafe on the streets. Women suffer when violence or potential violence restricts their choices, when it prevents them from doing those things that they would otherwise do. And even without direct physical attack, the fear of violence, which is felt by many women, has a major impact. According to a 2004 report by VicHealth in my home state of Victoria which dealt with the health costs of partner violence, intimate partner violence is responsible for more ill health and premature death in Victorian women aged 15 to 44 than any other risk factor, including high blood pressure, obesity and smoking. And, of course, violence against women also affects, either directly or indirectly, children who live in households in which such violence occurs.

There are no easy answers to this problem; there are no simple solutions. Eliminating violence depends on work that all of us can do—that is, working to change attitudes and emotions. This is a campaign that requires men to stand up and say no at a national level, as we are doing tonight, within our communities and as individuals. Ending violence against women means creating a culture in which such violence is unacceptable. Many have traditionally viewed violence against women as a women’s problem. In fact it is a problem for men—it is men, working with women, who are in a position to create a culture in our country in which violence is unacceptable.

I have become an ambassador for the White Ribbon Foundation. It is an association that I am proud to have, and I encourage all men to take up the challenge set by the White Ribbon Foundation, which is to challenge the attitudes that lead to violence. Tomorrow is a day for every single one of us to stand up and say that violence against women is unacceptable. But it must not end tomorrow. On every single day of the year we must say that such violence is unacceptable. We must speak out. We must not stay silent.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give my full support to this motion. In particular, I note that tomorrow, 25 November 2008, marks White Ribbon Day in Australia. I also note that, as the motion outlines, in 1999 the United Nations General Assembly declared 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and, as the motion sets out, the white ribbon has become the symbol for the day. I also note that the White Ribbon Foundation of Australia aims to eliminate violence against women by promoting culture change around the issue. I thank the member for Hindmarsh for bringing this motion before the House.

I want to start by mentioning Laos. I spent some time working in Cambodia and, as part of that, I spent time in Laos. Whilst I was in Laos, a seemingly peaceful country on the surface—although we do not agree with its political system—I was quite surprised and shocked to find that Laos had, by some reports, the highest level of domestic violence in all of Asia. I met people who had suffered severe domestic violence. The reason I raise this is that, in a seemingly peaceful culture, it was an example of a deeply hidden problem. It is a problem that crosses too many cultures. It is not about that one country; it is present in Australia. I just note that what I saw there and the people I met had a deep impact on me because they were setting out the hidden crime that was occurring. Make no mistake: this is a real and significant crime.

I want to focus in two stages on the problem of violence against women. Firstly, I want to look at home, at Australia and what we need to do. We know that the direct victims are women. In all parts of our society there has been and, sadly, there continues to be the problem of violence against women. The answer can only come in one way, and that is through shining a spotlight upon this issue. It is real, it is ongoing, it is tragic and it is unacceptable.

Against that background, we need to acknowledge the secondary victims of violence against women. Sadly, in so many cases, of course, they are children. I know contemporaries of mine who have grown up in families where there has been unacceptable violence against their mothers. It is, again, a profound issue which stays with children their whole lives. In many cases, the example is replicated from generation to generation. It is a terrible situation when the violence becomes intergenerational and is passed from father to son and the victims are women on either side—the partners of the fathers and the partners of the sons, respectively. In that situation, the answer again and again is to shine a spotlight on the problem. The combination of positive education, positive role models and letting it be absolutely clear that there is no tolerance of violence and no circumstance, day, place or moment when such violence is acceptable is where we must head in Australia—zero tolerance, zero acceptance and working towards a zero outcome in terms of any future violence against women.

Secondly, I briefly want to look at the international side. Through our aid program we have done a considerable amount of work. There has been continued and bipartisan support for that. I am pleased that the current government is continuing on the work of the previous government. I know in my formal role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs we were concerned, active and committed. We must continue to work as part of our aid program, firstly, by providing positive outlets for people and giving them a sense of hope, opportunities and a way forward and, secondly, by making sure that the education program about the specific problem is clear and unequivocal that nowhere, in no culture and under no circumstances is such violence acceptable. (Time expired)

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to join with my colleagues and particularly commend the honourable member for Hindmarsh for bringing this motion before the House. I support the men who founded White Ribbon Day and all the men who have joined them in speaking out and acting as role models for all men and boys. White Ribbon Day is the one day of the year when we speak out against domestic violence and its perpetrators, sadly, mostly men, and that we speak up for the victims and survivors of domestic violence, mostly women, and that we collectively reflect on what I liken to a pandemic, and that is domestic violence. It is a pandemic in Australia and in all countries.

The name sounds more innocuous than it really is and lends itself to still being seen as a private matter when in fact it is a very public matter and a crime. It is interesting to note that in South Africa the constitution recognises that women do not have to suffer domestic violence or violence in public and private spheres. Admittedly, that constitution has been framed in more modern times than our Constitution. Domestic violence is a public matter and one that has to be a matter of public policy with our attention every day, pre and post 25 November, each and every year as it is for those who are victims of it. I commend the White Ribbon Foundation, and I note that the member for Isaacs said that he has become a White Ribbon Foundation ambassador. Well done. I commend Andrew O’Keefe, Libby Lloyd and the committee for talking about domestic violence every day.

Domestic violence has a number of forms. If you have a look at Allport’s framework of oppression, from circumlocution to extermination, domestic violence takes all of these forms. There are people who are murdered as a result of being a domestic violence victim. The White Ribbon Foundation recently published a report that says one in four 12- to 20-year-old Australians surveyed were aware of domestic violence against their mums or stepmums by their fathers and stepfathers. Some commentators said they were surprised. This statistic is not a new one; it has been around for decades. But good on the White Ribbon Foundation for doing the work, publicising it and reminding us that domestic violence is still prevalent and that this is a big issue for young people, who are too often victims of domestic violence both directly and indirectly, and for focusing on violence prevention education programs for young children and young people. The White Ribbon Foundation tells us that it can work. I support their approach and also their focus.

I have had some experience in this area from working in a men’s refuge, working in a women’s refuge for over five years, being on the committee, helping establish a youth refuge and being the founding secretary of the Far North Coast Domestic Violence Liaison Committee, which continues today and does very fine work. I know very few families not affected by domestic violence. My family was affected by it, and the impact is lifelong. I know many families in many communities in many neighbourhoods who are impacted.

Put simply: attitudes have to change. Attitude problems exist in our society and, sadly, there are problems with attitudes towards women and how we are seen. If we take a historical snapshot of our legal system and go back even as far as the code of Hammurabi, it permitted violence against women—with some constraints. If we look at the Napoleonic codes, they also permitted it and said, ‘Women, like walnut trees, should be beaten every day.’ Then, if we go to Blackstone’s commentary, we find where the idea of the rule of thumb actually comes from. We all know about the rule of thumb. It says that you can beat a woman with a rod so long as the rod’s thickness does not surpass the thickness of the thumb. That is actually where the rule of thumb comes from, and it is in common expression every day. If you look at our legal history, you can see that there is an attitude that has lessened but prevails today. That is the work that the White Ribbon Foundation are focusing on, particularly with regard to young people. I know that that will have impact. (Time expired)

Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is 16 years since a handful of men from Canada formed the White Ribbon Day concept. They came together following the massacre by one man of 14 women in Montreal. Thus began the white ribbon campaign to encourage, to urge, to educate and to inspire men to stop violence against women. The White Ribbon Foundation of Australia aims to eliminate violence against women by promoting cultural change around this issue. The major strategies to achieve this are a national media campaign as well as education and leadership programs aimed at men and young boys around our country. The inspiration of 16 years ago continues today. As someone who, of course, has a mother and as a husband, a brother and an uncle to nieces I want in the Parliament of Australia to lend my name to this campaign. I want to encourage all men and all boys to be very conscious of this fact, to be very aware of this issue and to join with members of this parliament and with all men and all boys—it could be at school or at university—across Australia in the campaign against violence full stop and against violence against women.

In 1999 the United Nations General Assembly declared 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the white ribbon has come to symbolise that day. Today, hundreds of thousands of white ribbons are worn by men and women across Australia. They are worn by men at work, men in the Australian forces, men in national and local sporting organisations, men in the media, men in the cities and men in the bush. Men across our country are standing together to say to each other as well as to the women of our community that we will not tolerate violence towards our mothers, towards our wives, towards our sisters or towards our nieces. We will not tolerate this.

It is widely recognised that violence against women is a significant problem in our country and, indeed, in our world. The widespread violence has impacts far beyond the immediate physical, far beyond what might be a bruise or a black eye. The significance is profound. It is significant psychologically, it is significant emotionally and it is significant economically as well. One in four 12- to 20-year-old Australians surveyed was aware of domestic violence against their mums or their stepmums by their fathers or stepfathers. Children and young people are also victims of direct violence by adults. We abhor this. We reject this. We say it must stop. We must expose domestic violence in its direct and indirect forms. We must do all we can to say that as a country, as a society and as a community we will not tolerate any form of abuse against our mothers, our wives, our sisters or our nieces. We must say no to domestic violence in every form because it is simply wrong and it is simply unacceptable.

Children’s and young people’s education and later employment prospects can be harmed by domestic violence. Living with domestic violence can shape young people’s attitudes towards violence in either a positive or negative direction. Young men who have experienced domestic violence are more likely to perpetrate violence in their own relationships, although the majority do not. We must be consciously aware of this statistic. On behalf of the Ryan electorate, on behalf of all the men of the Ryan electorate in the western suburbs of Brisbane, I wish in the Parliament of Australia to say that we will do all we can to say no to violence against women. We must treasure our mothers, we must treasure our wives, we must treasure our sisters and we must treasure our nieces. They are very special people indeed.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is an old saying that, for evil to thrive, it only requires good people to do nothing. That is particularly true for domestic violence. It happens behind closed doors fairly often. The screams and distress are too often ignored by neighbours who feel that perhaps it might be dangerous for them to intervene or that it is not really their business. When women go about with bruises, when children go about with bruises or are neglected, the ready explanation that this person banged into the door is accepted. It is not good enough for Australia. We know that domestic violence witnessed by young children—violence against mothers and grandmothers and sisters—tends to be perpetrated on the next generation and the next, unless we do something seriously about breaking the cycle. We know that domestic violence is often associated with drug and alcohol abuse, but that is not an excuse. We know that often it is to do with young people being brought up to think it is okay. The great news is that the White Ribbon Foundation has been able to establish that there are programs and practices that can cut through the attitudes of people—particularly young men—to domestic violence. There are programs that can help young men understand that life can be different.

Debate interrupted.