Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today is an important day for combating violence against women and girls. 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a UN day designed to highlight the issues of violence against women and girls and to call for more action to combat it. The occurrence of violence against women and girls is not decreasing, and these statistics are sobering. One in three women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime—most frequently, by an intimate partner. Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday, while 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation. One in two women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2012, while only one out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances. Seventy-one per cent of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and three out of four of these women and girls are sexually exploited.

The hashtags #MeToo, #TimesUp, #NotOneMore and others have put a spotlight on the issue of rape and sexual violence and the response to it in recent times. Campaigns like this are working to generate publicity on and attention to this issue which affects so many women in our community. Unfortunately, violence against women and girls is one of the most persistent and devastating human rights violations in the world today, and it remains largely unreported, due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.

Only this morning I attended a roundtable talking about violence and sexual assault of older women in the aged-care residential homes in this country or in their own homes when they are getting a home care package. These are unreported actions that we need to shine a spotlight on, and I'm hoping that the royal commission into the aged-care sector will shine that light on this very important issue.

On violence against women, we've heard from the previous speaker that 50 Australian women have died this year already. That's more than one a week. This is gaining more momentum. It's not decreasing. And we need some action against that.

Efforts to prevent and end violence against women at a global, regional and national level show that there is widespread impunity on sexual assault and rape. Starting on this year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, for the next two years the UN Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign—a multi-year effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls—will focus on the issue of rape as a specific form of harm committed against women and girls in times of peace or war. We all have obligations, as men and women, in this chamber and in the community, to fight violence, to fight abuse and to act to make sure that those perpetrators have the full force of the law brought down upon them. Our society is not a safe place when these acts are still being perpetrated against women and girls.

I recently met with the group of women at Laurel House in my home state of Tasmania. They are working so extremely hard, day in and day out, to fight against sexual assault and violence against women and girls, and the community recognises their work in trying to support women and girls. We, on this side of the chamber, have been calling on the government to have paid leave for women who are fleeing violence. It takes a lot of courage and a lot of organisation and it takes finances to be able to leave the family home and escape this violence, and we know that the effects of violence on women and children have lifelong implications for them. For Laurel House and those counsellors and support staff there and the time that they give, the demand is only increasing, and I want to put on the public record that we, in our community, thank them and honour them for what they're doing, because, without those women, we would have a huge hole within our community.

It's a long and painful journey when you've experienced family violence or sexual assault. For so many who have experienced sexual assault: my thoughts are with you today and every day going forward. We in this place, and those in the community who work with the people who have experienced abuse, will not stop fighting for people until this scourge is eradicated in our society and women and girls are provided with the unequivocal respect that they deserve.