... Token action on domestic violence
One week after thousands attended the Reclaim the Night marches around the country, the Howard government brazenly reaffirmed its lack of commitment to tackling domestic violence.
Publicised as a "strategy" worked out at a "leader's summit", the new domestic violence package emerged from a one-hour discussion in the final session of the Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra on November 8.
The token nature of the discussion was matched only by the token nature of the "strategy" — $25.3 million over four years will do little to tackle a massive and growing problem.
A survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last year found that 8% of women had been attacked by their current partner, half had been attacked more than once and 12.1% said they live in fear of further assault. Forty-two percent reported an incident of violence by a previous partner, 76% more than once.
The new package is even more token when one considers the fact that Liberal and Labor state governments have been cutting funding to women's services established by the women's liberation movement in the 1970s.
The states and territories now spend a measly $13 million on shelters and other services for women fleeing domestic violence. The new funding being provided will not go towards refuges, but to new programs aimed at research, education, prevention and victim protection.
Until the federal government reverses its cuts to legal aid, any expressed commitment to victim protection is fake. Already, more than 40% of women who had been assaulted by a partner said they had taken no action afterwards (this includes even talking to others about it). In cases of sexual assault, the figure jumped to 55.3%.
Liberal state governments like that in Victoria are exacerbating the problem by restricting abused women's access to compensation and abolishing specific police task forces to deal with domestic violence.
The education and prevention programs also miss the mark. Howard summed up his idea of the best way to campaign against domestic violence in the slogan "Real men don't hit women". Of the new funding, $6 million will go towards relationship counselling for men and a further $2 million towards developing educational programs for men and boys.
The proposals will do little to help the victims of domestic violence. Worse, they obscure the source of the problem. It suits Howard to put the onus on individual men. While it is certainly true that men must be required to take responsibility for their actions as individuals, the widespread nature of domestic violence shows that it is a social problem.
Domestic violence is primarily a result of sexism in broader society, aggravated by growing poverty, unemployment and economic insecurity. The Howard government directly contributes to this by pushing a pro-family ideology to excuse its cuts to child-care and other public services used primarily by women. By focusing on "more research", Howard deliberately avoids the links between domestic violence and these issues.
Tackling sexism, fighting for women's rights to child-care and economic independence, is the only way to begin to combat domestic violence. In the meantime, funding for shelters and refuges, legal assistance for victims and comprehensive education programs (especially for police) developed in collaboration with the women's movement, would be a better start.
By Marina Carman