Content warning: This article discusses gender-based violence.
Leading up to the election, gender-based violence policies seemed like a last-minute addition rather than being front and centre of the campaign trail as it has in previous years. Three years ago, $4 billion was committed by the government towards ending violence against women and children. In February this year, a statement from the Ministers for the Department of Social Services stated in part: “Since 2022, our Government has invested $4 billion across 113 initiatives and actions supporting the goals of the National Plan across 113 initiatives and actions supporting the goals of the National Plan”. But is it enough?
Ahead of this election there was a further $8.6 million announcement for financial abuse and violence prevention. The Labor Party stated the money would be used to “boost innovative perpetrator responses – like electronic monitoring and ankle bracelets on high-risk perpetrators, intensive behaviour change programs, and specialist early interventions for young people.” Meanwhile, the Coalition offered a $90 million investment for addressing family and domestic violence. Details of what they put forward are here.
In my opinion, these latest additions are only going to scratch the surface of what the sector needs. According to Femicide Watch, 27 women have been killed so far this year (at the time of publication of this article). Gender-based violence has been and continues to be an epidemic in our society, and to eradicate it from our workplaces, schools and homes, we need the government to not just deliver on the commitments made before the election, but also continuing to listen to experts and calls from the sector for sustainable support.
Persistent, non-partisan issues deserve consistent, long-term funding
Women’s safety and gender-based violence were non-partisan issues leading up to the election, though simply agreeing that these things are important are not enough. It’s time to start delivering on policies that will make a difference.
The gender-based violence and domestic violence sectors have been dealing with reactive investments for decades. It’s time to flip the script and ensure targeted funding is proactively provided to meet the needs of the sector today, as well as support preventative measures that have proven to make tangible impacts.
This includes evidence-based approaches to calling young men and boys into conversations about masculinity, collaborating with trained professionals to deliver consent and respectful relationships education, and supporting teachers and educators with tools and training to create safe spaces in schools for conversations that for years have been put in the “too hard” basket.
Being proactive doesn’t mean this issue will be solved overnight, but it’s the way we will actually end violence “against women and children in one generation”, as the government has signed on to with the National Plan. To be effective, government support and funding needs to be applied with a long-term lens that looks into the long-term future and equips our response and prevention sectors sufficiently.
Our political leaders should take the opportunity to encourage healthy versions of masculinity
After what’s been an aggressive election campaign, it will be critical for politicians to recognise that young people are constantly looking to them as a reference point for how to behave, treat others, and lead.
As men still heavily feature in senior political roles, including but not limited to the the Prime Minister, there needs to be a particular understanding of the impact of their words and actions on the young men and boys across Australia who are consuming content about politics, while simultaneously being bombarded with often harmful content from the manosphere. Online misogyny is not only directly leading to sexism and sexual harassment in society, but interacting with masculinity influencers online is also negatively impacting young people’s mental health.
Role modelling positive and healthy versions of masculinity is an opportunity all members of society, particularly those in influential political positions, can take on every day. This includes being an active bystander, and taking proactive steps to call out inappropriate or harmful behaviour as it happens.
In Albanese’s election victory speech, he proactively told his supporters to stop boo-ing the Opposition, calling out the need to be respectful. It’s not related to gender-based violence, but it is a more general demonstration of active bystandership. There are countless ways politicians can lead by example. They could shift the dynamic of Question Time to enable more respectful asking of questions and genuine listening of answers, avoid talking to over each other or disregarding comments by female members of parliament, be honest when mistakes are made and take accountability for them, and demonstrate a culture of openness by admitting when new ideas or concepts may be unknown to them, while showing an interest in learning and self-improvement.
To experience an impact on gender-based violence that hasn’t been seen to date, we need collaboration, funding, and consistency in support that goes beyond the way things have always been done. The sector is ready to do things differently, ramp up our approaches, and proactively address the growing threats of online misogyny. If the government can recognise this unique opportunity and support us in this ambitious goal, we’ll be significantly closer to our joint mission of eradicating gender-based violence.
Angelique Wan is CEO and Co-Founder of Consent Labs – a national youth-led not-for-profit organisation that empowers young people and their supporting communities to actively change the culture around sexual violence through comprehensive consent and respectful relationship education programs.
If you or anyone you know is affected by domestic, family or sexual violence and needs support, please call 1800 RESPECT.
Top photo source: Supplied
