Speech, E & OE
20 July 2009
Gender Based Violence in the Pacific
World Bank Praxis, World Bank Office, Sydney
Ladies and gentlemen
I am pleased to be here today to speak about efforts to address violence against women. This is an issue that the Australian Government has a strong position on.
When we think of constraints to development, gender-based violence is a factor that is often forgotten.
Violence against women is a violation of human rights; it seriously undermines individual women's health and welfare, and the welfare of their communities.
It puts additional pressures on social services, policing and other legal systems and restricts women's participation in political, social and economic life.
My colleague, Bob McMullan, the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, describes gender-based violence as the most immediate, most damaging, and most desperate issue in the lives of women in developing countries.
I would very much like to say that Australia is immune from violence against women - but it isn't.
So today I 'd like to talk briefly about what the Australian Government is doing to reduce violence against women here in Australia, and also how we are assisting neighbouring developing countries in the Pacific to begin to deal with the problem.
In Australia, nearly one in three women experiences physical violence and almost one in five, sexual violence, over their lifetimes.
New research commissioned by the Government estimated violence against women and children cost the Australian economy $13 billion last financial year.
This figure and all that it represents is shameful.
They show that more needs to be done to stop violence against women.
The Government has adopted a 'zero tolerance' approach to violence against women.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd describes violence against women as the great silent crime of our time, and it is that silence that makes it the most insidious.
To help end the silence, the Government is leading the development of a National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women.
This Plan should see our governments, NGOs, police, courts, legal systems, health and community services and educators all working together more effectively to reduce levels of domestic violence and sexual assault.
This will make it much easier for victims of violence or those who fear violence to access assistance and support they require.
Changing attitudes and behaviours that contribute to violence is an important focus of the Government's work in this area.
And importantly, we are funding research and analysis into community attitudes towards violence against women, to provide information on how to best shape our future responses.
Strong political leadership, including advocacy in international forums, is critical if we want significant and sustained progress in reducing violence against women.
It will send a clear message to all who think it's acceptable to dominate others by physical and psychological violence that they are wrong.
Australia has been an active player in to date in international forums. Australia made a significant contribution to the development of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol - which came into force in Australia on 4 March this year - provide international standards for countries to aspire to, and - importantly - for human rights defenders to hold governments accountable to.
Regionally, I welcome the strong statements made by several leaders in the Pacific to denounce domestic violence in their countries.
His Excellency Anote Tong, President of Kiribati, made a strong public stand encouraging people, and especially men, to respect and honour the important role that women play in fostering development in their families and their nation.
PNG's Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has been vocal in lamenting the prevalence of violence against women in PNG, launching a debate on the issue in parliament, and calling on MPs to seriously address the problem.
In addition, I congratulate East Timor and Solomon Islands for signing up to UNIFEM's 'Say No to Violence against Women' campaign and urge other countries in the Pacific to follow.
I am encouraged that for the first time, the Pacific Forum Regional Security Committee put sexual and gender-based violence on its agenda.
At its meeting last month, Pacific Island countries were asked to consider the issue of sexual and gender-based violence when developing policies relating to peace and security.
They were also asked to ensure that best practice and lessons learned were shared across the region. This sharing of information is critical if we want to make progress on reducing violence against women.
At present, there is a dearth of published material on the extent of gender-based violence in our region and limited public discussion of how to best respond to this issue.
A comprehensive report on violence against women commissioned by AusAID's Office of Development Effectiveness has made a step forward in filing the knowledge gap and promoting discussion. Copies of this report are available from the Australian Government and on AusAID's website.
Researchers interviewed 700 individuals, representatives from governments and NGOs and international organisations in Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
The study confirms that violence against women is severe and pervasive in these countries.
It found that the two most common forms of violence are consistent with global trends.
The first form is violence against women by intimate partners which takes the form of physical, psychological or economic violence .
And the second, all forms of sexual violence - whether by intimate partners or others.
The report also confirms that the low status of women in these countries is a major obstacle to reducing violence against women. The low status is reinforced by some common customary practices and attitudes that put women at risk of violence.
Two of the most common examples of such practises are:
1.Bride price- which gives women the status of "property"
2.Economic dependence- lack of control over economic resources is a major deterrent for women to complain about or escape from violence.
The report is detailed and at times harrowing but it is an excellent piece of research.
While it offers no magic solutions, the report recommends an integrated package of measures for Pacific nations that have proven successful in other countries in reducing violence against women.
There are three main strategies:
1. increasing women's access to justice,
2. increasing women's access to support services and
3. preventing violence.
Australia is already working with partner countries and organisations to become more effective in these areas.
For example, in PNG we are helping magistrates to implement national guidelines on family and sexual violence, and assisting victims of such violence to understand court proceedings.
We support the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre which combines counselling with practical support for women and children who are experiencing violence.
Australian funding is also helping the Vanuatu Women's Centre to establish and operate committees of prominent men and women to educate their own communities about domestic violence.
Despite these encouraging developments however, there is still much to be done.
In concluding, I want to stress that Australia strongly supports the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. All eight goals are important and all are inter-related.
MDG3, which relates to gender equality and the empowerment of women, is particularly critical.
If men and women don't have equal social and economic status then progress in other areas will be slower and hollow.
To be effective, we must have a program of action that challenges and addresses long-standing attitudes that perpetuate inequality and allow violence against women to continue.
Progress has been made. We can't deny that.
But the public silence needs to be broken if we are to meaningfully deal with gender based violence.
All of us, in Australia and the Pacific, share a common interest in exposing uglier elements in the intersection between private lives, and lives in the public sphere.
We still have a long way to go, so I encourage everyone not to remain silent on this.
Thank you.
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Media inquiries: Mr Kerr's office - 02 6277 4991