Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Every day should be eliminating violence against women. Our women have the right to live their lives in safety, with full human dignity and free from all forms of violence, including family violence. The social, cultural, spiritual, physical and economic impact that family violence has on our communities is devastating. The greatest and most direct impact on family violence is on our women—First Nations women—trans women and our sister girls. At the heart of family violence lies both individual and communal grief, loss, disempowerment and trauma caused by colonisation and dispossession. The only central way to end violence against women is through a community-driven, self-determined approach that prioritises cultural healing and restores the inherent strength, dignity and self-determination of our families and our communities. Healing that is based on the strength and resilience of our people and cultures, and driven by our self-determined organisations, is the only thing that's going to work for our people, our communities, our women and our children. Self-determination is about our own destiny, and deciding our own destiny.