The figures are stark. At least two women are murdered every week Australia-wide as a result of domestic violence. Four Canberrans have died this year from family violence. Before their deaths, the victims will often have been beaten, sexually assaulted, bullied and drained of will. The numbers of women (and men) who live in fear of being subjected to such controlling behaviour can only be guessed at, but it is probably in the thousands nationally. Closer to home, ACT police are called out to domestic violence incidents nine times a day, on average, while Legal Aid ACT has been providing advice to 37 people on average this year in relation to family violence matters.
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More saddening still, this newspaper's Behind Closed Doors campaign has revealed in a series of articles that demand for domestic violence services is rising, here in the ACT and nationally. However the ability of these agencies to deal adequately with this rising tide is being hampered by governments' failure to ensure their funding rises in line with demand. Indeed, some agencies have had to contend with funding cuts.
This week's federal budget contained a single family violence initiative: a three-year national awareness campaign with the princely funding figure of $16.7 million. The membership of a new advisory panel to reduce violence against women was also revealed this week, though this was an initiative first flagged in February. Domestic Violence Victoria chief executive Fiona McCormack said the Coalition's second budget was a complete betrayal of the families of murder victims, while Australian of the Year Rosie Batty urged people to refer to domestic violence as "family terrorism", so the issue would attract greater attention.
Judging by the significant number of public figures (and politicians) who acknowledge White Ribbon Day each November, awareness of domestic violence against women is conspicuous, and growing. This is a positive development. Yet, for all their rhetoric, no premier, chief minister or prime minister appears willing to commit to a dedicated guaranteed funding stream for measures to combat this scourge.
That reluctance is difficult to fathom given the media's growing preparedness to cover domestic violence incidents. These are inevitably harrowing, and not just for the victims and their immediate family. However, they can be inspiring as well, as readers of The Canberra Times who have followed Tara Costigan's story would be aware. She was brutally killed in late February, and though initially shattered, her family have since courageously committed themselves to setting up the Tara Costigan Foundation to help raise awareness of domestic violence through education and lobbying.
Sound initiatives and ideas of this kind abound, but politicians have to be willing to seek them out or to listen to those proposing them. They include better training for first-intervention teams, more effective legal responses to complaints of violence, greater community education and awareness, and enhanced support services. Many are canvassed in today's edition of The Canberra Times, including measures from ACT Policing.
Encouragingly, the force has made the elimination of family violence a priority, and Chief Police Officer Rudi Lammers wants first-responders better trained to deal with what are inevitably highly fraught situations. The sensible corollary to that initiative would be for the government to give front-line officers greater powers to take protective action in an emergency. Doubtless, ACT Policing would be in favour also of legislation to ensure that women seeking legal respite from threats of violence were better safeguarded.
Governments may not care to admit it, but there is irrefutable evidence that many support services lack the money to do their job properly. There is little point ensuring police are equipped and trained to deal more effectively with violence in the home if women choosing to leave their partners cannot find shelter in a refuge, or public housing, or be provided with the financial means to support themselves and their children. Nor are telephone support services of much use if women with little or no English cannot make themselves understood to counsellors. And if governments are ever to reduce the future prevalence of domestic violence, they must direct more money and effort at inculcating gender equality and equality of relationships in our children.
Like poverty, domestic violence may always be with us. However, such perceptions should not diminish our resolve to do all we can to minimise this crime and its pernicious consequences.
