On the 15th March, “Tens of thousands of people … turned out to marches across Australia, protesting against the sexual abuse and harassment of women in the country.”[i]
The protests came about in the context of the Brittany Higgins rape allegations in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds at Parliament House and the historical rape allegations made against Attorney-General Christian Porter earlier this year.
“Organisers suggested it could be the "biggest uprising of women that Australia's seen".”[ii]
Protests were held at Parliament House in Canberra and in all of the state capitals, including over 40 Australian cities and towns.
“Many attendees carried placards and wore black in protest. In Melbourne, protesters carried a long banner listing the names of women killed in acts of gendered violence in the past decade.”[iii]
The statistics paint an ugly picture on the issues facing women today, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Some key statistics in Australia include:
· “On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.
· “1 in 3 Australian women (30.5%) has experienced physical violence since the age of 15.
· “1 in 5 Australian women (18.4%) has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.”[iv]
The statistics here highlight the physical danger that many women face in Australia.
What has the federal government done to deal with the issue?
In response to the protests and allegations, the Prime Minister demoted Linda Reynolds to Minister for Government Services, and Christian Porter to Minister Industry, Innovation and Science, and “announced a series of promotions for women, saying it was “the strongest-ever female representation in an Australian cabinet”.”[v]
The Prime Minister also established a ‘cabinet taskforce’ for women, co-chaired by Minister for Women, Marisse Payne, and made up of all female members of cabinet, and senior male members, including the Prime Minister and Treasurer.
There are also new cabinet ministerial positions dedicated to women’s issues – the Minister for Women’s Safety and the Minister for Women’s Economic Security.
However, Scott Morrison has been heavily criticised for his response. In particular, for his failure to attend the protest in Canberra,[vi] and for being perceived as saying that women protesting were lucky for not being shot, like protestors in Myanmar.[vii]
The PM has seen his personal popularity fall, and Labor overtake the coalition in the polls. “Critics say he has failed to map out any new policy initiatives to address the broader issues of sexism and violence against women.”[viii]
Minister for Women, Marise Payne, was also criticised for not attending the protest in Canberra.[ix]
Last month, Greens MP, Amy McMahon, attempted to amend recent legislation passed to require affirmative consent for sexual acts in Queensland. However, it did not receive enough support and failed to pass.[x]
“The affirmative consent amendments were backed by women’s rights and rape advocates who say the reforms passed on Thursday fail to adequately protect victims of sexual assault.”[xi]
It remains to be seen whether any and all of these measures are enough for women in Australia.
The Community Legal Sector
So far there appears to be no announcement on any increased funding for the Women’s Legal Service or other domestic violence services and crisis support services. This means that there is no increased support for organisations that help women and others dealing with domestic violence, and sexual assault counselling.
The Women’s Legal Service still remains underfunded and incapable of assisting everyone who seeks assistance. 1 or 2 women who call the helpline cannot get through.[xiii]
The recent parliamentary rape allegations seem to have spurred on a huge amount of outrage and public outcry against physical and sexual violence against women. It is unclear yet whether the resulting protests have generated enough institutional change top down from cabinet, or whether more direct help and support is needed in the community legal sector to provide concrete assistance to women in crisis.
[i] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56397170.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] https://www.ourwatch.org.au/quick-facts/.
[v] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/29/two-australian-cabinet-ministers-demoted-after-dual-rape-scandals.
[vi] https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2021/03/14/womens-march-parliament/.
[vii] https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7168410/pm-panned-for-comparing-marches-to-myanmar/.
[viii] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/29/two-australian-cabinet-ministers-demoted-after-dual-rape-scandals.
[ix] https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/marise-paynes-noshow-at-womens-march-4-justice-is-not-good-enough/news-story/9214bbe1035ee57145072b7a62d8ff2f.
[x] https://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/politics/lastditch-bid-to-amend-new-consent-laws-rejected-in-queensland-parliament/news-story/0ec6ee26f1e0679a3cd0f50bda4a0827
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] https://www.saferresource.org.au/the_evidence.
[xiii] https://wlsq.org.au/who-we-help/.