Domestic and Family Violence

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (01:04:00):

Domestic and family violence occurs everywhere in the world and can touch anyone at any time. It is not limited by national or State boundaries, or to particular communities or areas. The fact is that it pays little regard to factors such as race, culture, sexual orientation, age, or a woman's social or economic standing. Whilst rural communities are by and large safe places to live, which is one of the reasons many people choose to live and raise families there, they are no safe haven from domestic violence. The perception that domestic violence does not occur in rural and remote communities is just plain wrong.

Last week I was the parliamentary host of the Elimination of Violence against Women dinner here at Parliament House. Hosting the event resonated strongly with me because in a previous life, before entering Parliament, I worked for 10 years as a community corrections officer. I worked with perpetrators, who were mostly men. It remains the most challenging role I have ever held. The dinner gave me an opportunity to expose some alarming figures for New South Wales. Last year there were 2,500 reports of domestic violence to the police every month, but that figure likely represents only 40 per cent of actual incidents due to underreporting. There were 45 intimate partner homicides, of which 36 had female victims. That averages to approximately one woman being killed by an intimate partner every 10 days.

Not surprisingly, young women in the 18 to 24 age group experience higher rates of physical and sexual violence than women in the older age groups. The figures are equally alarming for those with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, pregnant women, and those in the LGBTQI+ community. Last weekend I was in the beautiful city of Orange to address the thirtieth anniversary of the NSW Rural Women's Gathering. The local council was prompted to get involved in the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender‑Based Violence event, which began last Saturday. It runs until 10 December, which is International Human Rights Day. The 16 Days of Activism event highlights that gender-based violence is a global public health, gender equality and human rights priority. It remains a systemic crisis, affecting one in three women worldwide. The risks increase during humanitarian emergencies or when women face greater curtailments of their essential rights, such as education, health care, or freedom of movement.

Orange City Council held a moving vigil the night before. It was more than appropriate that the keynote speaker was the Women's Safety Commissioner, Dr Hannah Tonkin. Orange is clearly troubled by this problem. The deputy mayor, councillor Gerald Power, even spoke at the vigil of his own troubled history. He told of the violence he was exposed to as a child and how, when he was just 10 years old, he witnessed violence against his mother, which he said has an impact on him to this day. The vigil was dramatic. It displayed 53 pairs of shoes, each with a name beside them: the name of a woman or child who is no longer with us because of domestic violence. It was a sobering display, made all the more eerie by the ringing of a bell 53 times, once for each of the lives taken by domestic violence.

The previous Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, was right when she said that if we are to overcome the challenge of violence against women in rural areas, we need to empower rural women to take a stand against this most egregious violation of human rights. She said it is up to Federal, State and local governments to work closely with rural women to ensure that the necessary conditions and structures are put in place to enable their empowerment. The late, great singer Helen Reddy had a world hit when she sang, "I am woman, hear me roar." I do not roar, but I do speak up. It is time to take action towards the elimination of violence against women—and I will not shut up.

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