Already, 2024 is turning out to be a horror year for men’s violence against women. One woman being violently killed by a man every four days. The fear and justified rage is filling public discourse, with urgent calls for those in power and the authorities to do something and desperate pleas for men to change their attitudes.
Australia is a deeply misogynistic and patriarchal society. Changing social beliefs and a culture that generally maintains very rigid, traditional gender roles is an important part of ending violence against women… but it’s a long term play. If we focus too much on talking about ‘social attitudes’, we’re at risk of ignoring more practical measures that help stop violence in the short and medium term. Much like the discussion around mental health, we need to balance changing culture with practical support.
This piece explains some of the things that can be changed ASAP to prevent violence, while the effort to change attitudes continues in the background. It’s the result of three days reading a lot about the topic.
These tangible actions are what we need to push governments to fund and facilitate.
A note on the The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032: In 2022, the federal and state governments release the 10-year plan to end gendered violence. It’s quite comprehensive, covering multiple areas of focus including a dedicated plan for First Nations women, and gives specific targets to be achieved in each section. It includes actions points that are covered in this article too, some of which have started being implemented (for example, policies to close the gender pay gap). This is a general summary of the plan from The Conversation.
But the most important criticism of the Plan is that it doesn’t tell us how any of the strategies will be measured for their effectiveness. A goal as ambitious as “ending gendered violence in one generation” should have a very clear measurement process, otherwise it’s unlikely to succeed.
Improve access to mental health & related therapies:
Improving access to mental health treatment, related therapies and support services is non-negotiable, not only for victim-survivors and children, but for the perpetrators of violence too.
This includes expanding the access for therapeutic services like psychology and psychiatry, but also support and peer programs. Perpetrators and men who might be deemed at-risk of committing violence (against anyone) should also get significant support and guidance if prevention means stopping this person’s next immediate instance of violence fro occurring. Tabitha Acret’s daughter, Mackenzie Anderson, was killed by an ex in 2022 – on Monday night, Tabitha said on ABC Q&A: “We need some kind of counselling in there. We need rehabilitation… We have failed [these men] at some point, and that’s how they’ve got there.”
Abuse and trauma are incredibly cyclical – a child’s experience of family violence or abuse is linked to the likelihood they will be an adult victim or perpetrator in the future. Interrupting the cycles of intergenerational trauma with culturally-informed therapy and helping families actually heal will prevent violence in the immediate, medium and long term.
Financial empowerment of women & people in general:
Gendered violence is correlated with poverty; not only are financially-vulnerable women more at risk of experiencing abuse, but experiencing abuse also puts women in poverty (leaving them unable to work or making them a sole parent).
Federal and state governments must work together to pass policies that will financially empower women, including: affordable childcare, affordable housing (including more crisis housing), affordable health and mental health service (as outlined above); increasing social welfare payments to above the poverty line; closing the gender pay gap, especially by increasing the pay rates for feminised industries. Taken together, policies like these help ensure women have the resources to leave a dangerous relationship if they need to.
There have been recent positive developments in some of these areas. For example the single parenting payment used to stop once a child turned 8, but in 2023 it was increased to age 14. The payment amount itself is still not enough. Mandating that companies over 100 employees report their gender pay gap was also a step in the right direction.
But as with so many of these solutions, Australia could and should be doing more, sooner.
Many of these policies would also help men experiencing poverty or financial vulnerability. As financial stress is very closely linked to poor mental health, if the narrative that struggling with mental health causes men to be violent is true… these economic policies should reduce men’s violence by reducing the financial burden of people across the country.
At the National Cabinet meeting this morning, the government announced the Leaving Violence Program, a one-off payment of $5000 for ‘eligible’ victim-survivors to help them leave violent relationships. To be clear, a one-off payment is not financial empowerment.
Alternatives models for accountability and justice:
At an emergency National Cabinet meeting this morning, the Prime Minister and State Premiers are considering changes to policing for ‘serial’ offenders, including creating a national register for violent offenders and GPS tracking.
For men who aren’t considered serial offenders, we need to introduce methods of accountability and justice that are shown by research to reduce repeat offending. Some solutions include:
Specialist family & domestic violence courts: Some states already have dedicated courts to hear FDV cases (the first one created is in Queensland), but these are also not receiving enough funding. This QLD system is not perfect – low attendance and engagement from diverse victims and perpetrators – but an independent review found that it was a more positive, less adversarial process for victim-survivors.
The creation of specialist courts should be considered alongside bail reforms, to make sure people with the right qualifications and expertise are making decisions about violent perpetrators in urgent, and at times complicated, situations.
Alternatives to traditional justice systems: We also have to accept that the traditional court and justice systems may not get the best results, given how hostile these institutions are to Indigenous people, queer people, people from diverse backgrounds, and those experiencing poverty.
Jess Hill points to the restorative justice project in the ACT and the Maranguka justice reinvestment project in Bourke (NSW) which are both producing real results in terms of reducing crime (including domestic violence) and being more satisfying for victim-survivors to participate in.
Zero tolerance for police; training for frontline workers:
Part of the reason that the justice system fails to adequately address male violence is because of the huge failures of policing. This part of the equation is very rarely discussed by politicians, but so long as police remain frontline responders to instances of family, domestic and male violence their conduct must be addressed.
Many of the problems we have with holding perpetrators to account in Australia begin with police. They dismiss victims who ask for help, they misidentify victims as the perpetrators (particularly when it comes to Indigenous victims), some police officers themselves are violent and abusive. How can we expect victims to trust these organisations?
Sharing any misogynistic or racist beliefs, in public or in private, must be made a fireable offence at every police organisation. Currently, their HR policies simply warn officers from sharing those views publicly, rather than discouraging them from actually holding said views.
Right now, police remain on the frontline of this crisis. They need to do everything they can to proactively eliminate the so-called ‘bad apples’ that are eroding the public trust required to do the job.
Beyond police, it’s clear there is a need to better train a range of people in how to best support victim-survivors – from magistrates and lawyers to doctors, therapists, healthcare workers and beyond. This has been called for by the No More Violence rallies.
Regulations on alcohol, gambling, porn and social media:
Jess Hill and Michael Salter’s white paper refers to the “commercial determinants” of male violence – the for-profit industries of gambling, alcohol, pornography and social media that make huge amounts of money while directly increasing instances of violence. These industries need to be regulated and controlled with this in mind.
This morning’s National Cabinet meeting promised to deliver some policies and initiatives around deepfake image abuse, violent content on social media and doxxing. It’s a start, although in my view the announcements sounded half-baked and unlikely to have real impact, because many in the government don’t have a strong working knowledge of the internet and online platforms.
The federal government has been considering a complete ban on gambling advertising, which would be an incredibly progressive and positive move.
What’s the takeaway here?
Let’s push back on the idea that preventing male violence is a mystery. We actually know a lot about what creates violence and how to stop it. In each category of this article, multiple solutions already exist and many organisations are already doing the work. Most are screaming that funding is the primary issue limiting their ability to have a bigger impact.
Is it ‘expensive’ to appropriately fund all these necessary solutions, programs and interventions? Yes. But consider that the government was confident that spending $368 billion on the AUKUS submarine deal was an important and worthwhile decision – it can find or generate the money when the issue is important enough. This issue is important enough.
Smart people read more:
Rethinking Primary Prevention – Jess Hill substack
In a society where male violence seems inevitable we need much more than education and awareness – Guardian Australia
What It’s Like To Be A Woman Working In Domestic Abuse Rehabilitation – Refinery29
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