NSW Premier Mike Baird’s appointment of Pru Goward as Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault is a welcome move.
Clearly there is growing pressure on policymakers to do more to address domestic violence — 26 Australian women have died at the hands of partners or ex-partners this year alone. Violence against women has been treated as a lower-order issue for too long. That is now changing — the process by which we as a society “normalise” gender-based violence and accept it as somehow natural is finally under challenge.
In NSW, violent and non-violent crime rates have fallen substantially over the last decade, with two exceptions: domestic assault and sexual assault. Reports of both have grown strongly in recent years, reflecting a greater willingness by survivors of this violence to report it. But this is only the first of many steps in seriously addressing it.
That process will require greater resources — and having a minister specifically responsible for the issue increases the chances that violence against women will receive appropriate consideration. Goward’s appointment also entails Baird’s greater willingness to accept responsibility for the issue; it will now be politically intolerable for domestic violence to be perceived as worsening given the government’s commitment to it.
Baird has established a precedent that other governments should follow.
Have a great Easter break — we will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. The Crikey team.
You can’t claim the Baird government is taking the issue seriously until they do something of substance.
Forming a ministry for Domestic Violence is a great start but lets not kid ourselves that this act has in any way improved anything other than the symbolism of the issue. Don’t get me wrong, symbolism is important but its also just part of the solution to a problem. Need I remind you that Tony Abbott made himself Minister for Women???
When Minister for Community Services, Pru Goward oversaw the greatest suppression campaign ever attempted in the State’s history. She played with numbers, outsourced responsibility, lied about staffing numbers but successfully ducked, dodged and weaved until everyone lost interest in the subject. The DOCS monthly stats are now a joke that show us nothing of the state of the department or how well its doing at protecting children at risk. He success was in making people forget the issue, not solving it.
If Minister Goward takes the same approach to Domestic Violence then we can expect very little in the way of real action.
Her comments this morning concerning treating the source rather than picking up the pieces also gives me scant hope she will actually do anything of value – Definitely not sit in cabinet and demand a review of the funding for women only shelters!
I expect to see plenty of media releases but little money and absolutely no effect on the actual statistics from this move. Minister Goward will talk about the long term and changing behaviours taking time but that will be no comfort to the people who need help now, each week, in ever increasing numbers.
Pru Goward was the NSW minister responsible for the ‘Going Home Staying Home’ program. This failure of a policy has seen many local, independent womens refuges handed over to charities, often faith-based, who have no previous experience in this area. Skilled staff have been sacked. Some places, in particular those now in the hands of the Salvos, now expect women who have fled a violent home to pay for their refuge stay. Some refuges now take in homeless women as well – a vastly different need. And even worse, some take in males.
The whole thing has been a disaster, with refuges across the state closing or turning women away.
And now the woman responsible for the mess has been made Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. It’s just a cruel joke, a farce, to put this incompetent fool in charge when she has clearly demonstrated with her past decisions that she has no idea about the needs and issues of women facing violence in their homes.
The NSW government is just window dressing. We will know when there is a serious attack on this very real and increasing terror in our midst – the Baird government will increase funding for womens refuges and will allow a return to skilled, understanding local management.It will be a long time coming, if it ever happens at all.
I reckon the public attitude has actually become worse. When I was a kid, I was taught men did not hit women. Now it seems everyone hits everyone. I kind of ultra bizarre sexual equality? The heroes of screen and set are violent and TV has so much violence as entertainment and such horrific reports, I think we consider this as normal. Meanwhile in the USA, home of our cultural beacons it seems, the gun is seen as a solution to everything.It will take a bloody lot more than Pru Goward who scarcely has a track record of blissful success.
So serious is this being taken up here in Qld (in light of the Labor/Billy Gordon affair), that the local Limited News Party’s Limited News propaganda franchise unit, the Curry or Maul seems to be using it’s market dominance for advocating :-
[“Bugger taking your troubles through the usual channels.
Go straight to the Premier and Speaker.
And if they won’t sort it out – because they’re doing something else, and think that’s someone else’s role – go straight to the Limited News Party and media and tell them they won’t!”?]
How many people could that approach have helped if they’d been advocating such “Go Straight To The Top” action, during the tenure of their Newman’s Limited News Party tenure – pre-Labor – so embarrassing (PRwise) to (Labor) government now?
Using their political publicity department to spurring this one into action.
[While urging (editorially) that domestic violence not be used as a political tool????]
That’s how serious it is up here?
Other States, besides NSW, do exist, guys. One in particular, Victoria, has set up a Royal Commission into family violence. Hard to see how that is not taking the matter seriously or at least deserving of a mention.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/royal-commission-into-family-violence-terms-of-reference-released-20150119-12tbwv.html