Demonstrators take part in a national rally against violence towards women on April 27, in Sydney, Australia. Australians turned out in large numbers to call for an end to gender-based violence. Photo / Getty Images
“It’s not all men, but almost always a man.”
Thousands have taken to the streets across Australia in recent weeks to rally against gender-based violence.
It comes after a shocking spike in femicide, with one woman being killed on average every four days so far in 2024.
The rate of women killed by an intimate partner in Australia increased by nearly 30 per cent in 2022-23, compared to the previous period.
Australian journalist and founder of Australian Femicide Watch, Sherele Moody, told The Front Page that so far this year, 35 women have been killed in Australia via domestic violence or associate violence - people who knew the women outside of familial relationships.
“What the data shows is almost all of the women have died at the hands of someone who knew them,” she said.
However, the outrage at this sobering statistic doesn’t feel like anything new.
“To be honest, it feels exactly the same as it did the last time there was this focus and the time before that and the time before that. Women are really angry about this situation, and they’re angry about it constantly.”
Moody said some uncomfortable conversations need to be had and men need to realise that women are afraid of them.
“What we’re saying is not all men, but almost always a man, and gendered violence is a man’s problem to fix. It’s not a woman’s problem to fix.
“I’m talking about those little attitudes, the ones where men might feel ownership over women, or they might partake in sexist jokes, or they might not hold a guy to account when he treats a woman in a bad way, or when they just simply don’t sit down and listen to what we’re saying, and understand it, and try to have empathy from our point of view.”
This isn’t just an issue in Australia. In New Zealand, between 2009 and 2020, there were 320 family violence-related killings.
Women and girls accounted for 178 (56 per cent): 43 were child abuse and neglect deaths, 112 intimate partner violence deaths, and 23 other family violence-related deaths.
The NZ Police’s Homicide Victims Report released in 2021 showed 1,005 people between 2007-2020 were killed by homicide (murder or manslaughter offences).
Of all family-linked homicide victims, 44 per cent were male and 56 per cent were female. Of the around 16 per cent of homicides were committed by a current or ex-partner – 74 per cent of these victims were female.
Dr. Nicola Atwool is the chairperson of the Family Violence Death Review which focuses on family violence homicides in NZ.
She told The Front Page data shows us women and girls disproportionately feature in our homicide statistics. And she agrees with Moody that we need to be looking at primary prevention and the attitudes that underpin the sense of entitlement that leads to women’s lives being taken.
“It’s not to say that women can’t be violent because we can, but there is a pattern of violence which clearly shows a discrepancy in terms of vulnerability and particularly in terms of how often violence is fatal or at the very serious end of the spectrum.
“I think it’s about helping men understand that even though they may not choose to use violence, and certainly not all men are violent, all men benefit from the fact that violence exists because it maintains the power and balance between men and women.
“The “Hey Bro” campaign was an example of ways in which men were being supported to find the language to say, ‘Hey bro, that’s not really cool. She’s your partner, is that really how you think about her?’.
“You’re talking to someone who was part of the 80s movement of a second wave of feminism. I have grandchildren. I am deeply distressed that my grandchildren will have to navigate the same territory that I had to navigate,” Dr Atwool said.
Globally, United Nations statistics show nearly 89,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2022, the highest yearly number recorded in the past two decades.
It equates to more than 133 women or girls being killed by someone in their own family, every day.
The issue of gendered violence has made its way onto social media, with one creator posing the question: “Would a woman rather be alone in the woods with a man, or a bear?”.
The overwhelming response from women, and some husbands and fathers, is the bear.
Comments online include:
“The worst thing a bear can do, is kill me”
“No one will say I liked the bear attack.”
“No one will talk about the bear’s bright future.”
“If the bear attacks, and I survive, people will believe me.”
“If I was attacked by a bear I won’t be asked what I was wearing or how drunk I was.”
“If I scream loud enough, there’s a better chance the bear would run away.”
“This is what we need guys to listen,” Moody said. “They need to sit down and really listen to this, and absorb it, and go, ‘All right, there is seriously a problem here if a woman feels this way. What can I do to make things better? Or what can I do to help?’.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about what can be done to end gender-based violence.
Where to go for help or more information:
• Women’s Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)
• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)
• It’s Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450
• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.
• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)
• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence
• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men’s violence towards women.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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