Australia has just received a report on its fight against gender-based violence

The National Press Club was packed on Wednesday for the inaugural address by Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin.

The commissioner presented her report card to the government to see how far the country is on track to meet the goals of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, and included suggestions for refining elements that need to work better.

It was probably no surprise that Ms. Cronin was addressing a room almost entirely composed of women at the National Press Club, but in her speech it seemed as if she was trying to reach the ears of a different audience.

She said that the National Plan uses the word “men” 129 times and, in contrast, the word “women” 543 times, “four times more than we talk about men.”

“We need to talk more with men and about men,” she said.

She made it clear that she didn’t want to talk just to women.

Engaging men, understanding men who commit domestic violence and what works to motivate men to stop violence are all “areas of focus” for Cronin in this inspection of the national plan.

And, given the number of people who packed the room for his speech yesterday, there is work to be done.

Commissioner’s call

A court has heard Daniel Billings is on bail for allegedly raping, harassing and intimidating his former partner Molly Ticehurst before allegedly killing her this year.

Subsequently, as the cycle of anger raged, Molly’s family called for stricter bail laws, Molly’s Law, which has now led to the NSW Parliament adopting stricter bail oversight.

The commissioner told the Press Club that if the events leading up to Ms Ticehurst’s death had been handled with the same intelligence capabilities as those used for terrorist acts, she might still be alive.

Loading…

According to Micaela Cronin, better sharing of intelligence and information between stakeholders is one of the ways we can end violence against women in the next ten years.

In April, questions were raised as to why the murder of five women at Bondi Junction was not being treated as an act of terrorism. Cronin said it did not need to be, but it had to be taken seriously.

It should be noted that the budget of the National Plan does not even match the budget allocated to the prevention of terrorism.

The hill’s priorities

At the end of a fortnight of sittings where the spectre of possible threats to the safety of Australians has dominated question time, one might be tempted to think that the 42 deaths of women at the hands of one man in Australia would be at least part of what our politicians would be talking about.

But even if serious discussions about women’s safety were taking place in the corridors of power, they would be difficult to hear given the outcry over visas.

Questions may also be raised about the treatment of non-attached, mostly female, MPs in the House, and the example set by our elected legislators.

While the stage was clear for Assistant Minister for Domestic Violence Prevention Justine Elliot to table the report in Parliament – ​​hailed as a major deal by the Prime Minister on social media – she did not receive a single question about what it might or might not contain.

An image of hope, of change

The report paints a picture of a dynamic of change and provides new hope, Cronin told the Press Club. She said the women’s marches that took place with record turnout this year showed her that.

But hope cannot yet overcome an under-resourced system.

Even a change in attitudes, which is precisely what encourages women to seek help, creates increased demand on frontline services that are crying out for support – in some cases, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Gaps in legal aid, particularly in remote areas of Australia, have yet to be filled, with legal services and emergency shelters forced to turn away women and families.

Loading

And there is an ever-changing minefield for young men growing up with the potential for exposure to Andrew Tate and Tate-type influences, pornography, gambling and alcohol – all factors that contribute to someone falling into the cycle of violence against women.

It appears that women’s rallying cries at protests do not influence the male attacker’s behavior, but rather encourage other women to speak out and seek services, at the risk of being turned away.

But this is only a first assessment. There are still nine years to go and a lot of work to be done.

And in what seems to be a morbid tradition, the identity of the 42nd woman to have been allegedly violently killed by a man this year has been revealed as this article was written.

I hope that in nine years, we will do better for Xiaoting Wang.

And for Molly.