Violence against women and girls is one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world today. It cuts across all socio-economic classes, ethnicities, religions and age groups. The statistics surrounding gender-based violence in Australia are staggering and remind us that no community is immune to this issue. Violence against women is preventable.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1 in 2 women has experienced sexual harassment, 1 in 3 has faced violence by a partner or other known person since age 15, and 1 in 4 has been subjected to emotional abuse by a current or former partner in the same timeframe. A woman is killed by a current or former partner every 9 days on average. In 2021/22 alone, over 4,600 women were hospitalised due to domestic and family violence – a rate of 13 women per day. International and national research consistently agrees that violence against women arises within the social context of gender inequality and is driven by distinct gender-specific factors; for example – male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control.
There has been much postering on the part of politicians of late, largely due to media focus and unfortunately, also as a result of continued violence perpetuated against women. However, the personal toll of gender-based violence is immeasurable, impacting the physical and mental health, economic security, and overall well-being of survivors. But the ripple effects extend far beyond the individual, shaking entire communities and taking a massive economic toll estimated at $26 billion annually as of 2015-16.
Violence against women is a complex problem that can’t be solved with a quick fix, but it is preventable.
To put an end to this human rights crisis it will require a comprehensive, multi-layered approach targeting the deep-rooted societal attitudes and power imbalances that enable and perpetuate violence against women. Policies, education, legislation, and support services are essential. But profound, lasting change must be driven by communities themselves and not just the regulators.
The groundswell for change is present – people across our nation are increasingly vocalising their outrage that women are continuing to die due to systemic failures.
Around Australia, grassroots initiatives are emerging to empower local populations in the fight to end gender-based violence. From rural towns to urban neighbourhood, an upsurge of innovative, community-led projects are uplifting survivors,educating the public, shifting harmful attitudes, and demanding accountability.
Here are some powerful strategies communities can employ:
Providing Culturally-Specific Support Services
Developing culturally-safe support services, transitional housing, counselling, mentoring programs and other resources tailored to the nuanced needs of specific communities is vital. This includes services led by and for Indigenous populations, immigrant diasporas, LGBTQ+ groups and others facing intersecting challenges.
- Safe Houses (when fleeing the family home)
- Seeking Medical Assistance (for women impacted physically/mentally by violence)
- Legal Referrals (protect women and their children from further violence and hold perpetrators accountable)
- Capacity Building (enhancing women’s independence and decision-making; encourage new social norms)
Challenge Patriarchal Norms
Organising workshops, group dialogues, public campaigns and educational initiatives to challenge harmful patriarchal attitudes and redefine healthy expressions of gender is key. Critically, these efforts must actively engage men and boys as allies and leaders in rejecting toxic masculinity and dismantling oppressive masculine norms – commencing from early childhood. Activities supporting and increasing quality prevention work across different settings like sport, media, workplaces and education.
Uplift Survivor Voices
Empowering survivors to share their stories through multimedia projects, speaker series, and more plays a powerful role in raising awareness, combating stigma, building solidarity and demanding change. First-voice narratives resonate deeply, especially in insular or isolated populations. These accounts serve to consistently remind the community and government to keep women’s rights at the forefront of awareness.They play a pivotal role in advocating for stronger legislation, enhancing education on women’s rights, and providing more accessible avenues for women to seek support.
Build Peer Networks
Creating safe community spaces and support groups where women and LGBTQ+ individuals can openly discuss issues like domestic abuse, sexual assault, financial control and other gender-based oppression is vital. These spaces nurture empowered peer networks, destigmatise services and promote collective healing. They also provide an opportunity to build new social norms that foster personal identities not constrained by rigid gender stereotypes.
Advocate for Accountability
Uncompromising advocacy calling out systemic failures and inequities is essential. This includes campaigns tracking femicides, monitoring institutional responses, demanding policy reforms and galvanising the public to treat gender-based violence as an urgent human rights crisis.
Invest in Leadership
Amplifying women’s voices and investing in female-led entrepreneurship, skills training, educational opportunities and other empowerment initiatives is critical for sustainable change – in large, what is meant by ‘capacity building’. Communities must work to redistribute economic, social and political power imbalances to dismantle systemic gender inequalities.
Violence against women is not inevitable, it is preventable. Fundamentally, preventing gender-based violence requires holistic approaches dismantling patriarchal norms, societal hierarchies and underlying injustices that enable cycles of oppression and aggression. True progress demands uplifting the leadership and nuanced solutions of those most impacted, who grasp the complex dynamics and changes needed in their local contexts.
Conclusion
As the Australian government renews its commitment to ending gender-based violence through the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, 2022-2032, it must prioritise such community-driven models centering on the voices of survivors facing intersecting forms of oppression. While investing in crisis response and support services remains crucial, a transformation of society’s fundamental attitudes and hierarchies perpetuating gender-based violence is the ultimate goal and imperative. To prevent gender-based violence, a national response must address its underlying ‘drivers’, the social context in which it arises, and the factors that reinforce it.
From rural towns to urban neighbourhoods, communities have immense power to uproot injustices by championing solutions grounded in holistic healing and dismantling oppressive systems at their core. By increasing gender equality in our society and promoting equal and respectful relationships, along with respectful and ethical forms of masculinity, the main drivers of violence against women can be addressed. With sustained investment in prevention, this approach should lead to a decrease in the prevalence of such violence over time. Prevention requires a large-scale effort, engaging the largest possible number of people and organisations. As prevention efforts expand across Australia, it becomes increasingly likely that more women will be able to recognise violence in their own lives and seek support to realising a future free from gender-based violence.
