Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Saturday, 25 November was White Ribbon Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The United Nation’s Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women was adopted in 1994. In 1999 the United Nations General Assembly declared 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and governments, international organisations and non-government organisations were invited to organise activities to raise public awareness. In every country, gender based violence has been a means of maintaining oppression of women to include control of their ‘bodies, labour and productive capacities’ and to exclude women from public and economic power. So it remains vitally important that this day and this issue are not allowed to be forgotten.

A recent United Nations report, the Secretary-General’s report on violence against women, stated that 102 member states had no specific laws on domestic violence. There have, however, been some positive world developments in combating violence against women in 2006. For example, this month a world conference of Muslim scholars has called for all governments to ban the practice of female circumcision, declaring it contrary to Islam and not sanctioned by the Koran, and declaring the practice to be an aggression against women, inflicting physical and mental harm. We also had the news that a delegation of top Israeli, Palestinian and international women leaders met in September at the United Nations to marshal high-level political pressure to restart peace negotiations in the Middle East.

In Pakistan a historic women’s protection bill, the Protection of Women (Criminal Law Amendments) Bill 2006, has passed the national assembly, although it must still be approved by the upper house before it becomes law. The bill aims to alleviate the hardships of women and to help end excesses against them. It removes, for example, the requirement for four male witnesses before a conviction for rape can be made. Also, adultery will not be punishable by death.

Unfortunately, the recent United Nations report I referred to, the Secretary-General’s report on violence against women, listed Australia as a country with a high rate—31 per cent—of violence against women by their intimate partners. The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, commented that governments were doing too little to prevent violence against women even though they recognised that this was a violation of human rights. Wearing a white ribbon on 25 November—and I know many of my colleagues are wearing the white ribbon in parliament today—signifies a personal resolve not to commit, condone or remain silent about acts of violence against women or children.

Again this year the ACT branch of the Australian Labor Party was an official partner with UNIFEM for White Ribbon Day. I am very proud of my local branch for taking that initiative. The theme set for this year, ‘If there is nothing you wouldn’t do for your daughter, wear a white ribbon,’ had the aim of raising community awareness of violence against women and of encouraging men to participate in combating violence. Criticisms of the television advertisements were that they were too confronting and did not show men how to take greater responsibility or how to confront or speak out against violence in a culture or situation that condones it. One report commented that the statistics of violence in themselves should shock us into awareness—that 57 per cent of Australian women will be violently or sexually assaulted by a man during their lifetime, or that over the past 12 months 440,000 Australian women were attacked. However, it was pleasing to note that in Canberra the Domestic Violence Council gained the support for White Ribbon Day of the mostly male drivers and crews of more than 70 rally cars from the National Capital Rally. My colleague Mick Gentleman from the legislative assembly was directly involved in that particular initiative, and I congratulate him on it.

That Australia needs to do more to combat violence against women is highlighted not only by the adverse findings of the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on violence against women but also by the updated report of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2005 personal safety survey, which was released in August. In the ABS report, violence is defined as any occurrence, attempt or threat of either physical or sexual assault. In the 12 months prior to the survey, 4.7 per cent of women, or 363,000 women, experienced physical violence and 1.6 per cent of women, or 126,100 women, experienced sexual violence. A higher percentage of men than women—10 per cent of men—experienced physical violence, and a lower percentage of men—0.6 per cent—experienced sexual violence. Perpetrators of violence against both females and males were overwhelmingly male. Younger women and men experienced violence at higher rates than older men and women, and a higher proportion of women aged 25 years or more experienced violence compared with the proportion of men in that age group who experienced violence.

We also know that 33 per cent of homicide victims are female, with 52 per cent killed by an intimate current or former partner. Only 20 per cent of female victims of sexual assault and 28 per cent of female victims of other assaults in Australia report the incidents to police. Only 22 per cent of incidents reported nationally to the police resulted in charges being laid. Finally, the cost of domestic violence to the corporate and business sector in Australia was estimated in the year 2000 to be around $1 billion per annum.

This year the problem of violence in Indigenous communities has received much media attention but little useful government commitment. Indigenous Australians are overrepresented as both victims and perpetrators of all forms of violent crime in Australia. Indigenous women accounted for 15 per cent of homicide victims in Australia in 2002-03, despite representing just over two per cent of the total Australian population. The rate of family violence victimisation for Indigenous women may be 40 times the rate for non-Indigenous women. A ministerial summit was convened after media stories in May this year concerning alleged paedophile rings and sexual slavery in an Aboriginal community. According to the Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation, no Indigenous people were invited to the summit, and the media allegations were not substantiated by police investigations. So in June the Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation sponsored a parliamentary forum here in Parliament House to bring together Indigenous activists and academics who are dealing, often creatively and successfully, with these issues in their communities. As Dr Carmen Lawrence has pointed out, perhaps the most important prerequisite to producing sustained improvements in violence levels is the involvement of Indigenous people in decision making at all levels. This depends on effective support for community development, including the provision of funds for training Indigenous leaders and staff.

But White Ribbon Day is not just about domestic violence. In Australian cities and towns each year, Reclaim the Night activities are organised to protest against the fear and repression that many women face. For the first time in the ACT, women at the Reclaim the Night march held a silent march. The Reclaim the Night march on Friday, 27 October was organised by the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre and was supported by the ACT Labor Party’s Status of Women Policy Committee. I would like to pay tribute to the work done by the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, which has operated for 30 years since its establishment back in 1976 by a small group of volunteers who were committed—and still are committed—to raising awareness of sexual assault and sexual violence against women. The work is very stressful and underpaid.

I was pleased that this year the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre was recognised at the ACT International Women’s Day awards, winning the Community Award. This award recognises individuals and organisations which have worked to improve the quality of life for women in the ACT and region. The Rape Crisis Centre was acknowledged as a significant contributor to women’s services including counselling, advocacy, court support, education, training and community development. White Ribbon Day is becoming quite an institution in the Australian political landscape, and I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have shown their support by wearing a white ribbon today or on Saturday and all of my colleagues who have chosen to be involved in White Ribbon Day activities. It is a very important issue, and the level of consciousness is rising in the community. I think that is very much a step in the right direction.