Government’s new measures on gendered violence: are they enough?

However, we must ask if this recent surge in violence against women is an indication of the current approach’s failure or a sign of a much bigger issue.

What has been done to address this issue?

Following a public outcry over rising domestic violence rates in 2015, then-premier Daniel Andrews set up the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence.

The royal commission report contained 227 recommendations to improve the state’s approach to family and domestic violence, leading to the implementation of various measures.

Nearly 10 years later, a question arises: were the implementations of the recommendations efficient?

“As a teacher, I am looking for answers.”

One of the recommendations of the royal commission led to the creation of a statewide initiative, the Respectful Relationships school program.

From 2016, educating Prep to Year 12 students about consent, violence and their implications as part of their Victorian curriculum became mandatory. The Respectful Relationships program was implemented across all state and participating Catholic and independent schools.

While introducing consent and respectful relationships education is a step forward, on April 27, Bernard, a teacher at a Catholic school in the Goulburn Valley, attended a rally following Cobram resident Emma Bates’ tragic death, “looking to find answers”.

Although his school takes part in the Respectful Relationships program, he noted a lack of “specific guidelines for teaching students about violence despite the urgent need for such education”.

Bernard mentioned often having to intervene in situations where “what used to be playful behaviour among students was escalating into bullying and violence as they reached puberty”, which he attributed to the physical differences and power imbalances between male and female students.

More recently, two Year 11 male students were expelled from Yarra Valley Grammar after they created a spreadsheet featuring photos of their female counterparts, ranking them in categories ranging from “wifeys” to “unrapable”.

“We’re going to go back and look at the programs we run … and we do run a lot of programs on respectful relationships, gender boundaries, gender, relationships and so forth with our young people,” Yarra Valley Grammar principal Mark Merry said.

“In fact, this year level has just come out of one. But if this can still happen, then obviously our programs are only partially effective.”

The Respectful Relationships program is a step in the right direction. However, is the current approach enough?

Following the tragic passing of Ms Bates, I met Bella*, 11, at a local rally.

I was moved to see such a young soul showing up on a Sunday for such an immense cause.

Bella seemed shaken yet undoubtedly fierce, holding a sign she had made.

“When I was little, I used to hear stuff on TV, and I was really scared. I think of the people.

“I heard so many things about what dads do to their children. I want people to be safe.

Bella then opened up about her own experience with violence.

“Last year, I had a friend at school who started abusing me.

“I told the principal several times, but he didn’t believe me.

“He’d say, ‘It’s okay, get over it. It’s not a big deal’.

“I didn’t want to go to school anymore. Before that, I always wanted to go to class.”

It took months of back-and-forth meetings between Bella’s mother and the principal before Bella was finally believed and the bullying student held accountable.

This should have never been the case. What may appear to be a trivial act to some has, in fact, terrible consequences for our society as a whole.

What beliefs are going to be internalised by Bella as a result of how the school handled her repeated calls for help? How many young girls and women can relate to Bella and have had their feelings invalidated? These questions are crucial to ask if we are serious about ending gendered violence.

The problem young girls or women often face when attempting to speak up is being met with nothing but a deaf ear or being told “they are overreacting”.

As a result, they internalise that if they speak up, they might not always be listened to or believed, and that speaking up won’t always make a difference, while inevitably putting them in a vulnerable position for having dared to come forward.

Little girls who are not listened to, such as Bella, end up not reporting abuse or assault once they grow up to avoid going through the same painful feeling of not being heard.

And if victims-survivors don’t speak up, whether they want it or not, they end up protecting their perpetrators.

Their silence empowers their perpetrators by giving them the feeling that they’re above the law.

Marie*, a victim-survivor, experienced that first-hand.

“Not holding perpetrators accountable gives them more power,” she said.

“The violence escalates when they think they got away with their actions. They step it up.”

We cannot talk about wanting to end gendered violence without also addressing this toxic wall of silence many young girls and women face at some point in their lives.

Ending gendered violence entails educating about consent and the ramifications of violence, but it must also go hand in hand with believing victim-survivors when they do come forward.

“I am livid, but the joke is on me for expecting more.”

On May 1, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an emergency national cabinet meeting on gender-based violence to discuss the national crisis.

The national cabinet pledged to collaborate with states and territories to streamline efforts to support victims-survivors, with Mr Albanese even vowing to “end family, domestic and sexual violence in one generation”.

One of these measures saw the extension of the Leaving Violence Program initiative, which provides $1500 in cash to qualifying victim-survivors and $3500 to a caseworker as part of its financial assistance scheme for those escaping violence.

Ava*, a victim-survivor and passionate domestic violence advocate, described the measures as “a performative act of goodwill”.

“These measures are a letdown for all victims-survivors. I am livid, but the joke is on me for expecting more,” she said.

Ava questioned the effectiveness of $1500 in today’s economy, especially for women with children.

“If victims-survivors were given the total amount of the financial assistance in cash, it could actually achieve so much more. Five thousand dollars would allow people to effectively leave by giving them the necessary means to get their own place and cover a bond — which is impossible with $1500.”

In its 2021 Nowhere to Go report, Equity Economics found family violence was the leading cause of homelessness for women and children.

Only 3.2 per cent of those in need received the necessary long-term housing support they required, leaving over 7600 women each year to return to violent partners and more than 9100 homeless.

According to Equity Economics, funding an additional 16,800 social housing units could generate $15.3 billion in economic benefits, create 47,000 jobs and yield significant savings through reduced homelessness and violence.

In comparison, according to Our Watch 2015’s analysis, violence against women is costing Australia $21.7 billion each year.

“If our prime minister is serious about eradicating ‘family, domestic and sexual violence in one generation’, his government should focus on durable solutions such as providing long-term housing solutions to those needing to flee for their lives rather than funding nuclear submarines,” Ava said.

“Mainstream porn platforms are an insult to womanhood.”

The government also committed to introducing legislation banning deepfake pornography and launching a ‘Stop it at the Start’ campaign to tackle harmful online content.

A $6.5 million pilot program is set to trial age verification technology to protect children from inappropriate material online.

To Ava, this government initiative is a positive start, yet it misses out on another chance to set the record straight.

“Deepfake pornography is clearly scary, but these measures aren’t even scratching the surface of the issue,” she said.

“When are we going to acknowledge that mainstream porn platforms are full of the most demeaning terminology and content when it comes to women?

“Women are not only degraded in videos, but the way women are referred to in video titles is utterly appalling itself.

“Mainstream porn platforms are an insult to womanhood and the most toxic of all places; it’s time to address the elephant in the room.

“Porn is, for many of us, one of the earliest peeks we have at this complex thing called sexuality.

“It is heartbreaking to know that young girls’ first experiences will be marred by a sense that it’s okay for them to be objectified or treated so poorly, that they will go on to internalise, while young boys will learn that to be ‘a man’ they have to disrespect women.

“It can take years to undo the terrible subconscious damages inherited by what is fed into our minds.

“Yet some people never come out the other way — they never develop their critical thinking, nor do they ever question the brutality women are forced to endure.

“Sadly, these are the guys we hear about on the news or in court if they’re ever held accountable.

“Thankfully, new platforms have recently emerged after women directors and performers decided to redefine that porn should be about mutual respect and consent, but until we ban all the current toxic mainstream platforms that disrespect women in every possible way, we will continue to face the same problem. It’s all so clear: everything is linked.

“‘Stop it at the start’ should mean questioning and redefining what our society has been wrongly using as a start for too long.

“Now is the time.”

What about specialist services?

The Allan Government’s most recent reforms include “opening 36 Orange Doors, providing immediate and simple access for women escaping violence”.

However, questions have been raised about the efficacy of services provided by the Orange Door in Shepparton. A source told The News that “management and leadership are reluctant to allow practitioners to best support their clients”.

“Management and leadership at the Orange Door in Shepparton don’t give enough trust and credit to their practitioners and workers to use their judgment when supporting their clients. Especially when it comes to financial assistance,” the source said.

“Although practitioners and workers have raised the issue on various occasions with leadership when providing feedback, nothing ever changed.”

When contacted to comment on the matter, a Department of Families, Fairness and Housing spokesperson indicated that feedback was often collected from service users via surveys to facilitate the services provided.

Conducting an independent review to ensure that first-line service providers do everything they can to best support victims-survivors trying to escape violence seems appropriate to ensure that “family, domestic and sexual violence [can be ended] in one generation”.

“He turned me into his slave.”

Some communities in Australia are at greater risk of violence due to intersecting factors such as discrimination and disadvantage. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, for instance, are 31 times more likely to be hospitalised due to assaults compared to other groups.

Australia is one of the world’s most culturally diverse nations, with 30.7 per cent of its population born overseas (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024).

Migrant and refugee women are particularly vulnerable due to their immigration status and face greater barriers to accessing support. Indeed, culturally and linguistically diverse women often lack an understanding of the Australian system, they might fear law enforcement itself and face language barriers as well as isolation.

A 2021 study by Monash University professors Marie Segrave and Rebecca Wickes and Dr Chloe Keel revealed one in three migrant and refugee women had experienced family or domestic violence.

Out of the 1392 surveyed women, 91 per cent of them endured controlling behaviours, 47 per cent witnessed or experienced violence towards others or property and 42 per cent suffered physical or sexual violence.

Jamila*, a migrant woman who met her Australian ex-partner after moving to the country, described how her relationship turned into a nightmare after applying for a partner visa.

“Depending on him to remain in the country changed our relationship completely. He’d threaten to cancel my visa over the smallest inconvenience or to control me — he turned me into his slave,” she said.

Jamila, far from her family and without a local support network, struggled to find help as the violence at home escalated.

When she finally found the courage to report an assault after years of coping with horrific abuse, she made a disturbing discovery.

“As I was reporting an assault once, I was made aware that my ex had a history of domestic violence. In fact, he was very well known to the police for multiple offences, breaches of previous intervention orders and arrests, yet I had no idea about his past,” she said.

“Had I been aware of his past, I would never have gotten into a relationship with him, let alone applied for a partner visa.

“How is this even allowed?”

South Australia’s Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme allows individuals at risk of domestic violence to check if their current or previous partner has a history of violent or abusive behaviour, empowering them to make informed decisions about their safety and relationship future.

NSW is running a similar one-year pilot program called the Right to Ask Scheme.

Implementing these vital measures nationwide and extending them to overseas prospective partner visa applicants is a simple measure that could save many lives from unnecessary suffering, trauma and even death.

“Perpetrators should be banned from sponsoring overseas partners. That’s just common sense,” Jamila said.

“Not only do I have to live with my trauma, but knowing that the suffering that nearly claimed my life could have been easily prevented angers me deeply.

“Who is to be held accountable for this?

“I was lucky to have escaped, but how many women are currently experiencing this horrific situation? My heart aches when I think of them.

“If the government is serious about wanting to tackle gendered violence in ‘one generation’, that’s an easy way to start.”

“A piece of paper isn’t going to protect me.”

On May 30, the Federal Government announced it would extend the length of Family Violence Intervention Orders, which are currently between six and 12 months long, to avoid “retraumatising” victims.

While this sounds great on paper, survivors have a different perspective on the matter.

“When I was with my ex, it didn’t matter if he was around me or not, I was living and breathing fear. There was no respite, and nowhere I could get a break from that feeling,” Jamila said.

“He tried to kill me twice and I reported the assaults to the police. The officer I dealt with once pressured me to get a restraining order. I knew she wanted to help me, but I just couldn’t do it.

“You’re already walking on very thin ice, manoeuvring every corner and silently negotiating to stay alive. A restraining order is the bomb that would’ve inevitably signed my death sentence.

“How is it so hard to understand?

“It feels like restraining orders have been designed by a naive kid who thought a piece of paper would be enough to make someone who clearly doesn’t value you or your life stop abusing you.

“It’s laughable and heartbreaking at the same time.”

Marie echoed Jamila’s feelings.

“The police couldn’t understand my fear and thought I was trying to protect my ex (by not wanting to get a restraining order),” she said.

Marie recalled two incidents where her life was clearly in immediate danger, yet it took the police one hour and four hours, respectively, to attend to her.

“The police (aren’t) going to get there on time and once your perpetrator loses control, there’s nobody to protect you,” she said.

“A piece of paper isn’t going to protect me.”

All the survivors I spoke with for the purpose of this article said it was impossible to improve a system so out of touch with the people affected by the relentless and deadly violence.

“The whole system is back to front. Perpetrators are innocent until proven guilty, even when the facts are there,” Marie said.

“Yet, we are the ones who need to prove we aren’t crazy.

“There’s a lot of room for growth, we don’t want to continue to be abused.

“Community has a lot to answer for, too, as it can turn a blind eye. That’s not okay!

“People need to call the police if they hear something that isn’t right.

“We need the police to sit with survivors and listen. But it’s not just the police that needs education.

“The whole system needs to change. Governments need to listen and learn from victims-survivors. We also need the system to stop granting bail to perpetrators.”

“The aftermath of chaos”

Leaving an abusive relationship takes, on average, seven attempts, but problems are far from being over for victims-survivors once they are no longer in their abuser’s grip.

We always talk about leaving an abusive relationship, yet we never hear about what happens afterwards. Unfortunately, years of abuse and damage don’t disappear overnight.

As the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence wrote: “The pain and suffering caused by domestic violence often fall nothing short of that inflicted by torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

According to the Western Australian Ombudsman’s report from 2017, “exposure to violence increases the risk of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, sleep and eating disorders, and suicide and suicide attempts”.

In 2017, 410 people died by suicide in WA and 124 were women and children.

Of that group, 56 per cent were recorded as victims of domestic violence. Yet Ombudsman Chris Field indicated that the figures could potentially be the tip of the iceberg due to “the limitations of available information contained in the record of state government departments and authorities”.

Statistics also indicated that victims-survivors were the most vulnerable in the months immediately after a woman’s final report to the police.

Almost half of the suicides occurred in the first six months while 42 per cent of women and children took their lives within a year.

“When I was in my abusive relationship, the idea of leaving was the light at the end of the tunnel, but nothing prepared me for the aftermath of chaos,” Ava said.

“I was having night terrors where my ex would always find me no matter how well I was hiding, and he would murder me.

“That would wake me up and even though I had barely slept, I was too afraid to go back to sleep. I was perpetually exhausted.

“I started clenching and grinding my teeth in my sleep so hard that I destroyed several teeth.

“As a consequence, I experienced considerable dental problems that cost me tens of thousands of dollars.

“I was experiencing flashbacks. Any noise would make my heart stop. I was living in constant paranoia and fear.

“I lost a lot of weight; I was so unwell. But even if I would’ve given anything to crawl somewhere to rest, I had to pretend I was okay, carry on like nothing was happening to keep my job so I didn’t end up on the streets.

“It was a difficult period. I am not sure I’d still be here if it wasn’t for my psychologist. She saved my life (thank you so much, Annemarie!).”

Ava’s psychologist knew she was struggling to make ends meet and generously waived her out-of-pocket fees ($82.90) to support her through the difficult times she was facing. Unfortunately, this is far from the norm.

According to the University of Melbourne’s Evaluation of the Better Access initiative — final report on access to mental health services in Australia, out-of-pocket fees were, on average, $90 for the first half of 2022.

Many people cannot afford this, especially given the cost-of-living crisis. Victim-survivors, more than anyone else, need to be immediately granted free access to mental health support to assist them on their recovery.

What I learned working on this article

The situation is grim and urgently calls for more than empty words or promises. Current measures will not end gendered violence “in one generation”.

Many areas still require immediate attention and funding to put an end to actions that are killing or hurting so many young girls and women.

Inviting victims-survivors to the table should be the first step.

Ending gendered violence in one generation is possible but we must start now, with concrete actions.

Ava’s message for those dealing with violence

“Leaving is a challenge you must prepare for. It is scary and will represent its set of own challenges, but I promise you, it gets better and easier every day,” she said.

“One day, you’ll look back and will be so happy you bravely stood up for yourself and left.

“The freedom and joy you’ll experience will be worth all the heartaches. Light always overthrows darkness.

“Hold in there and keep pushing.”

If you want to share your insights or discuss the article, please don’t hesitate to contact me at khadija.hadjab@mmg.com.au. I’d love to hear from you!

* Some names have been changed to protect identities.

If you aren’t safe and need help, you are not alone — support is available: