Grace Tame And Other Powerful Activists Have Joined Forces For Women’s Safety Campaign
The launch video for the campaign has quickly gone viral.
Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins and a number of other prominent voices for women’s rights have joined forces in a powerful campaign for equality ahead of the next election.
The Safety. Respect. Equity. campaign kicked off on March 6, two days prior to International Women’s Day, with a video that has been shared rapidly on social media.
We invite you to join us in demanding a future in which ALL women enjoy safety, respect and equity. It is within reach and it starts here.#SafetyRespectEquityhttps://t.co/1KDuR5b1px pic.twitter.com/rdGKxQWzqC
— Grace Tame (@TamePunk) March 6, 2022
The collective of women also includes former Liberal MP Julia Banks, former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate, activist Chanel Contos, businesswoman Wendy McCarthy, former Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull, Paralympian Madison de Rozario, ACTU President Michele O’Neil, academic Larissa Behrendt, activist Yasmin Poole, and author Georgie Dent.
“2021 wasn’t the first year that Australian women were harassed or unsafe or violated or ignored or disrespected. And it wasn’t the first year that women spoke up. But in 2021 more Australians started to listen to women of different ages, occupations and beliefs, who stood up and spoke out, exposing discrimination, harassment, sexism, disrespect and intimidation. And the more people listened, the more familiar the story became,” an open letter to Australians on the website reads.
Safety. Respect. Equity. also notes that one in five women will be sexually assaulted or raped in their lifetime, but the statistics are worse for women of colour, disabled women, and queer women.
“Every woman in Australia deserves access to a safe place to work, a safe place to live, fair and equal pay, quality free early learning and care, and a justice system that works for survivors,” the campaign website reads.
The coalition of women is calling not only for an end to the gender pay gap, but the necessary change to legislation to close the loopholes that have allowed it to happen.
Among their list of demands to achieve safety, respect and equity, the campaign calls for the implementation of all 55 recommendations in the Respect@Work report and the funding and support of the seven recommendations in the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Report to support First Nations women.
Additionally, the campaign calls for:
- 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave.
- Employment programs for women with disabilities.
- Stronger and consistent child sexual assault laws.
- Free, accessible and quality early childhood care and education.
- Expansion of the paid parental leave scheme.
- An overhaul of the way respectful relationships and consent education is taught across the country.
The campaign’s launch comes just weeks out from the 2022 federal election, which will take place after a long year of watching the Morrison government fumble in its handling of numerous sexual assault allegations.