Big gestures won't fix gender violence

The latest research shows a rise in the numbers of women killed (either as murder or manslaughter) by men who were current or ex-partners.

This fits the current moment where there are protests against a string of deaths of women allegedly at the hands of men close to them or, as was the case at Bondi Junction, of women killed simply because they were women.

There are two views. One is that "intimate partner homicide" fell during the lockdown, perhaps because ex-partners were also locked down so they were restrained from getting to possible victims.

But there is another view.

Sandra Rajic, who counsels men on violence at the EveryMan organisation in Canberra, says the rise in the murder and manslaughter of women stems from an increasing sense of male "entitlement".

"They don't like the fact that we are able to say, 'No'," Rajic says.

If she's right, the rise in the killing of women signifies a change in attitudes, perhaps caused by men feeding off each other's toxic views in online chat forums or in testosterone-fuelled echo chambers like that created by controversial influencer Andrew Tate.

It may, of course, be that both views are right. Lockdowns protected women from their enraged former partners to some degree, but also some men are increasingly angry that women are depriving of them of what they think they have a right to.

In a previous generation, a man rejected by a woman might reflect on his own behaviour and why he was unattractive but now, so the argument runs, they increasingly appear to be blaming women.

There is some evidence for this.

In the United States in 2022, the US Secret Service reviewed the case of a former US Army officer who shot six women, two of them fatally.

"Hatred of women, and the gender-based violence that is associated with it, requires increased attention from everyone with a role in public safety," the Security Services warned.

How right they were.

But there needs to be caution when justified anger gets politicians involved. There is a risk that something-must-be-done moments turn into bad legislation or useless gestures.

The Prime Minister has called a national cabinet meeting for Wednesday when violence against women will be the only item on the agenda.

Mr Albanese told a rally: "Society and Australia must do better. We need to change the culture and we need to change attitudes. We need to change the legal system."

He is, of course, right - but that doesn't necessarily mean only big actions to promote big headlines.

There is a risk a royal commission may not lead to actual, measurable change.

Attitudes - as evidenced by the "intimate partner homicide" figures - do seem to have improved over the last three decades.

But it is worrying a younger generation of boys and men in their 20s don't seem to have got the message.

Are they watching too much pornography in which degrading women is de rigueur?

Are they winding each other up with toxic misogynistic beliefs in internet chat rooms?

As in so many areas of life, the coming of the internet has brought unexpected and unwanted cultural shifts.

Legislators may do well to focus their attention there if they want real change.