What Australia Is Doing To End Violence Against Women And Their Children

On average one woman a week is murdered by a former or current partner in Australia.

It’s only January and devastatingly it looks like the shocking statistic of the number of Australian women who die as a result of domestic violence is set to continue.

One in three women have experienced physical violence since the age of 15 and one in five sexual violence and we are know that not all violence is physical or sexual. It can be emotional, financial, spiritual, technological and other controlling behaviours.

Remembering The Lives Lost

The body of nine-year-old Charlise Mutten was found near the Colo River, in the Blue Mountains region last week.

The partner of Charlise’s mother has been arrested and charged with her murder.

Just a week earlier on January 13th, 39-year-old Poonam Sharma and her six-year-old daughter Vanessa were allegedly stabbed to death at their home in Melbourne’s north by Vanessa’s father, Poonam’s husband.

The older daughter of the family escaped and survived.

The Second National Plan

These tragic deaths come just as the government’s second instalment of a 10-year National Plan for End Violence against Women and their Children has opened for public consideration.

The new National Plan is due to be delivered later this year.

But after receiving heavy backlash after a two-week window, where experts, advocates, and members of the public could submit feedback, the government has now given people a month to consider the Plan.

The current draft outlines a 10-year approach broken up into two five-year action plans, and two five-year action plans specifically focussing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The Change Experts Want

Our Watch is a national leader in the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia.

And it has been a part of the national advisory group for the Plan.

CEO of Our Watch Patty Kinnersly said “it’s really important to acknowledge that Australia is leading the world in primary prevention and that is about stopping violence before it starts. We know that the thing that underpins violence against women is harmful attitudes and beliefs that don’t value women as equal.”

“When we think about preventing violence against women and promoting respect for all women, that means gay, lesbian and trans women. That means Aboriginal and Torres Strait to women. That means women from all cultures. That means older women. That means women who have disabilities” Kinnersly said.