Under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 (the National Plan), the Australian Government has released the First Action Plan 2023-2027, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan 2023-2025 and the Outcomes Framework 2023-2032.
For the first time, the Australian, state and territory governments have a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan. It was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council on family, domestic, and sexual violence, and was informed through nationwide consultation with victim-survivors, community and sector representatives.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan acknowledges the disproportionate levels of violence, harm and trauma suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, children and gender diverse peoples. It recognises that solutions need to be led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and outlines government initiatives that will focus on addressing immediate safety needs, while laying the foundations for longer term change.
Click here to access the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan and Outcomes Framework
Tips for challenging outdated and rigid gender stereotypes:
Most of us grew up with a script about what it means to be a man or a woman.
For men, it can look like: ‘You’re tough, you’re in charge. You’re not sad – you’re angry. Your job is to earn. You’re a worker, not a carer.’
For women, it can look like: ‘You’re caring and submissive – you’re nice. You’re in charge of the housework, and you can expect less pay at work because you’re a woman.’
When left unchallenged, these scripts set the scene for exhaustion, resentment, and inequality. They also contribute to the culture that drives violence against women.
The good news? A different ending is possible. We can free ourselves from outdated and rigid gender stereotypes by having conversations about respecting each other’s time, effort and needs. At work, with your mates, and at home.
Content warning: This article contains references to pornography and sexual acts.
Daniel is a youth advocate and consent educator. He says before we talk about consent, we need to address pornography’s pervasive message that women should and can be disrespected.
“Like many people I know, I didn’t receive sex-ed, or a sexual education, at school or at home. But I did learn about sex and consent. I received a comprehensive education from when I was 11 and first exposed to pornography.
It was an education that lasted 10 years and shaped my attitudes towards men, women, bodies, violence, respect, intimacy, consent and pleasure. I didn’t recognise the influence it had on me until I stopped consuming the content.
I realised watching porn was incompatible with my values of justice and equality and my intention to be respectful and empathetic. Watching porn meant my attitudes had been unconsciously moulded in adolescence.”
Breaking down gender biases: Shifting social norms towards gender equality.
Without tackling biased gender social norms, we will not achieve gender equality or the Sustainable Development Goals. Biased gender social norms—the undervaluation of women’s capabilities and rights in society—constrain women’s choices and opportunities by regulating behaviour and setting the boundaries of what women are expected to do and be. Biased gender social norms are a major impediment to achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.
Over the last month we’ve been talking all things NCAS (National Community Attitudes Survey) here at ANROWS.
The NCAS is a unique and important piece of evidence, where we can take stock as a country and where we can consider what we really think about violence against women. Many of these results are deeply disturbing. But things have, and are, shifting. Across the country our attitudes towards violence against women are improving.
If we want to change behaviour, we must change attitudes. If we want to reduce the prevalence of family and sexual violence, we must change our thinking towards this violence. If you haven’t already watched the NCAS Launch, then don’t miss out. Hear from the incredible Jayke Burgess, Chanel Contos, Rosie Batty AO and Lula Dembele.
The 2021 NCAS has shown that overall Australians attitudes towards violence against women have improved, but there is still a long way to go.
Key Findings:
- A majority of Australians do not think violence against women occurs in all communities:
- Even though 91% of respondents agreed that violence against women is a problem in Australia, only 47% agreed that it is a problem in their own suburb or town
- 41% of respondents mistakenly believe that domestic violence is equally committed by men and men – a significant increase from 23% of respondents in 2009.
- Despite recent ABS Personal Safety Survey evidence which revealed most victim-survivors name a male perpetrator
- Australian’s overall rejection of domestic violence plateaued between 2018 and 2021 but there were significant improvements in Australians’ understanding and rejection of sexual violence
We are proud to release our latest Victorian Women’s Health Atlas update, where we have drilled down into PBS, MBS and Census statistics to record sexual and reproductive service delivery and track gender inequality markers in Victoria by location.
Women’s Health Victoria is leading this important work so the public, health professionals and policy makers can see how:
• access to medication abortion and long-acting reversible contraception is still largely determined by where you live in Victoria.
• gender inequities persist in relation to unpaid domestic work, weekly earnings, and employment status.
Visit the Victorian Women’s Health Atlas website to see how your Local Government Area (LGA) fares when it comes to local provision of contraception and medication abortion, rates of unpaid domestic work for men and women, and much more.
We have a long way to go to achieve gender equity and equitable access to sexual and reproductive health services. Women’s Health Victoria will continue to advocate for and champion the health and wellbeing of women and gender diverse people.
Explore the Women’s Health Atlas or visit the Women’s Health Victoria website to find out more about our work in supporting Victorian women to live well: healthy, empowered and equal.
Language has the power to reinforce or deconstruct systems of power that maintain poverty, inequality and suffering. As we are making commitments to decolonization in practice, it is important that we do not forget the role of language and communications in the context of inequality.
The Inclusive Language Guide is a resource to support people in our sector who have to communicate in English to think about how the way they write can subvert or inadvertently reinforce intersecting forms of inequality that we work to end.
The language recommended is drawn from specialist organizations which provide advice on language preferred by marginalized people, groups and communities, and by our own staff and networks, to support us to make choices that respectfully reflect the way they wish to be referred to. We want to support everyone to feel empowered to be inclusive in their work, because equality isn’t equality if it isn’t for everyone.
Women of Colour Australia (WoCA), Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation advocating for a fairer and more equitable Australia for all Women of Colour is proud to roll out its second Women of Colour in the Australian Workplace Survey.
WoCA are seeking insight into the workplace realities facing Women of Colour (WoC) across Australia in 2023.
This online survey aims to map the lived experiences of Women of Colour in Australian workplaces and provides a safe avenue for WoC to voice their views and perspectives, shaping the direction and initiatives of WoCA. It will also build on gaps in the academic literature unpacking how discrimination influences ideas of psychological safety and mental well-being for Women of Colour. Finally, responses from this survey will be used to provide recommendations to industry and government to better support Women of Colour in Australian workplaces.
To read more, or to complete the survey, click here
This ground-breaking new report re-examines the state of play for culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women in leadership, focusing on how the intersections of two key marginalising characteristics – race and gender – are still operating in workplaces to lock CARM women out of leadership.
This research also explains intersectionality and why intersectional approaches to gender equity strategies are essential.