55th Session of the UN Commission on Status of Women
International Launch of the Australian national Action Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.
Australian Mission to the UN, 150 East 42nd Street, 33rd Floor
Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination, The Australian Human Rights Commission
05 May 2011
The Hon Minister Ellis, Ambassador Quinlan, Minister Beniato, Janette Amer of UN Women, other dignitaries, men and women, thank you for inviting me to speak at today’s international launch of Australia’s National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.
As I travel across Australia I often ask people to name countries where they consider violence against women to be a problem. More often than not they reel off a list of other countries, but fail to recognize the high prevalence rates in their own country, Australia.
Over the last six months I have visited over 40 different centres, shelters, support services and courts and I have met with women and men from many diverse communities – survivors of violence, educators, service providers, people living in remote and rural areas, Indigenous women, women with disabilities, migrant women, court support workers, judges and others. There were two things major learning’s for me.
Firstly, the scale of the issue. As the Minister has said the prevalence rates are high - one in three women in Australia has experienced physical violence since the age of 15[1] and one in five sexual violence[2].
Every week in Australia approximately one woman is killed by her current or former partner[3], often after a history of domestic violence[4]. Violence is a leading cause of disability and death among 15-45 year olds[5]. These intimate partner homicides account for one fifth of all homicides.[6]
The reality is that
you can point your finger to anywhere on the map of Australia and you will find
people dealing with domestic violence or sexual assault.
The second thing I learned was just how much our effectiveness in addressing this human rights abuse depended on us having a truly national response – a single unified plan that could bring together all the disparate activity that was already happening across the country. We needed a comprehensive and well thought out strategy, with good data collective and effective monitoring.
This National Plan is a landmark moment in Australia.
It is incredibly important for the very large and often hidden group of women in this country that, every day, live their lives in fear within an intimate or family relationship. This Plan sends a clear message that all state, territory and the federal governments of Australia will be working together with women to address these issues.
In 1995 the Beijing Platform for Action identified violence against women as critical area for concern and called for States to take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women. It is therefore fitting for this plan to be launched here at the 55th session of CSW.
This plan adopts a cooperative, holistic approach, with a focus on prevention, resourcing and integration of services and holding perpetrators to account
I also welcome the fact that this Plan responds to the recommendations of the United National Universal Periodic Review of Australia as well as the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, both of which called for a National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children and its implementation.
But the Plan is just the beginning. Even the best laid plan needs commitment, determination and resources to be properly implemented. It will be important for all Australian governments as well as the people of Australia to work together to implement this plan, including ensuring a plan of this size and significance is rigorously and independently monitored and evaluated.
I congratulate the Minister and the Australian Government on the launch of the new National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children.
I want to close today’s launch by recounting a conversation I had with a survivor of domestic violence on the day before I flew out to CSW. She was a woman from rural Australia who had experienced domestic violence of the most extreme nature and is currently going through the process of seeking redress through the courts.
When I told her that the Australian Government was launching a National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, she said to me, “this is one of the most significant and important days of my life. It tells me that Australia cares about what happens to women like me - that violence against women now has a place on the nation’s agenda.”
My hope is that with this Plan and a renewed commitment by all, a woman’s right to live free from violence will become a reality for all.
Thank you.
[1] ABS, Personal Safety,
Australia, 2005 (reissue), Catalogue No. 4906.0 (2006), p7 at http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4906.02005%20(Reissue)?OpenDocument
[2] ABS, Personal Safety,
Australia, 2005 (reissue), Catalogue No. 4906.0 (2006),
p7
[3] Mouzos, J and C Rushforth
((2003) Family Homicide in Australia, Canberra, Australian Institute of
Criminology, 2.
[4] J Dearden &
W Jones, Homicide in Australia: 2006 – 06 National Homicide Monitoring
Program Annual Report, Australian Insittute of Criminology (2008),
p2
[5] VicHealth (2004), The health
costs of violence: Measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate
partner
violence, p8
[6] J Dearden & W
Jones, Homicide in Australia: 2006 – 06 National Homicide Monitoring
Program Annual Report, Australian Insittute of Criminology (2008), p2
