A Deakin University researcher says violence against women continues to be a national emergency, despite the strong public attention the issue has received in recent years, and more needs to be done to improve women’s safety.
Dr Mary Iliadis, a lecturer in criminology in Deakin’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said while it was understandable that people living in Melbourne had expressed concern the community was in the grip of a new spate of gender violence, the problem was not a new problem and nor was it unique to Victoria.
“We know that gendered violence has been impacting the lives of women and children across Australia for decades and we can’t change this until we address the root causes of this harm, including changing cultural attitudes towards women and encouraging perpetrator accountability,” Dr Iliadis said.
Dr Iliadis said inroads had been made to respond to the nature, impacts and gravity of these harms – including a Royal Commission into Family Violence at a state level in Victoria, and a national plan to reduce violence against women and their children – but men’s violence against women continued to pose a significant threat to the wellbeing and safety of Australian women.
“We have recently seen a number of very tragic and unfortunate cases of lethal violence perpetrated by strangers, but most acts of violence against women continue to occur within their home by somebody who is known to them,” she said.
“Research shows that Australian women are more likely to be killed by a current or former male partner, often during or following separation.
“In 2018, more than 50 Australian women were killed as a result of male violence,” Dr Iliadis said.
“Violence against women requires a holistic national response, encompassing improved legal and non-legal responses. This includes the need to change cultural attitudes towards women to reduce gender disparities.
“It is worth remembering that domestic and family violence was not considered or labelled a crime until late in the 20th century.
“Family violence was perceived as a ‘private’ matter, not a matter for police involvement or intervention and this meant violence against women was often justified or ignored.
“This has changed over time and we have witnessed significant improvements in police responses to violence against women but research suggests that there is still some way to go,” Dr Iliadis said.
In Victoria, the Royal Commission into Family Violence set out a roadmap for transformative reform, containing 227 recommendations, the majority of which were to be implemented within five years of the report’s release.
The Victorian state government committed to implementing all 227 recommendations.
