SYDNEY — The leaders of Australia’s state, territory and federal governments met Wednesday to combat gender-based abuse.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described violence against women in Australia as an “epidemic,” and campaigners say gender-based violence in Australia must be declared a national emergency.
The Canberra government has said statistically, a woman has been killed in Australia every four days this year.
Officials at the Wendesday’s meeting in Canberra said they want to find immediate, effective and practical ways to address family violence and the abuse of women.
Various measures have been agreed, including a five-year $650 million plan to help vulnerable women who have been unable to leave a violent relationship because of a lack of money.
The federal government says it will look at ways to reduce people’s exposure to “violent pornography” and measures to combat male extremist views as well as violent and misogynistic content.
Authorities are proposing serious penalties for sharing sexually explicit material using technology like artificial intelligence. Legislation will also be introduced in early August to outlaw the release of private information online with an intent to cause harm – an abusive practice also known as doxxing.
Albanese told reporters in Canberra Wednesday that all jurisdictions were working together.
“This is indeed a national crisis, and it is a national challenge, and we are facing this with a spirit of national unity,” he said. “Today is about who we are as a nation and as a society. We recognize that governments need to act but we also recognize that this is an issue for the whole of society.”
Thousands of people attended rallies in major towns and cities across Australia over the weekend. The protests followed a mass stabbing earlier this month in Sydney in which six people, including five women, were murdered at a shopping center.
Demonstrators demanded not only tougher laws to protect women, but also a cultural change in men’s treatment of women and attitudes toward them.
Rosalind Dixon, a law professor at the University of New South Wales, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that remanding suspected abusers in custody pending court hearings and electronic monitoring for those who are released would be positive steps.
“There are global models and precedents; France, Spain, (the) United States – they’ve all experimented in this area,” she said. “There’s a lot to learn. I think we should be looking first and foremost at how we can limit bail and add tracking in addition fairness and civil rights protections around those measures as a lesson from overseas.”
Concern over gender violence in Australia isn’t new.
In 2021, there were nationwide rallies against sexual misconduct and harassment in the federal Parliament and in Australian society more broadly.
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