The fact that a group of Australian women is forced to set up an alliance to fight for equality suggests we’re a glass or two of champagne short of celebrating International Women’s Day.
Should we really have to be struggling to close the gender pay gap, fighting for better parental leave or calling to end sex discrimination? Should we still be arguing over the minutiae of the inflamed abscess exposed by Chanel Contos, Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame?
Is it really enough that our daughters know their names and see them as a modern day Charlie’s Angels? They are, of course. But the reluctance to act, the hurdles thrown in the path, and the apathy in a society that systemically discriminates against women continue to waft down the corridors of power.
It’s like we’re being done a favour.
Take Contos, for example. This young woman bared her soul and took the testimonies of thousands of young Australian women who had been raped, assaulted or sexually harassed by young Australian men — mostly from all-boys’ private schools.
She did it for one reason: to improve the pathetic sex education that runs through some school classes and not others. And yes, she’s had a significant win. After briefing ministers early this year, there is now agreement that the curriculum will include a solid grounding in sex education. Agreement. Not yet implementation.
But Contos’ campaign began more than a year ago. Imagine how urgent the action might have been been if 7000 young men while still at school were left battered and bruised and bleeding by another of society’s cohorts. Royal commissions would ensue. So would criminal trials. It would be seen as a giant boil that grew during high school and needed to be lanced, at any cost.
But this battering, bruising and bleeding involved schoolgirls. And now we’re dawdling towards changes because of a campaign run by a courageous young woman who dared to challenge those who set the laws.
We’re not racing to fix a system because it’s the right thing to do. Or because it’s broken. Or because we’ve found a sexist, chauvinist and criminal element in some, or indeed many, of our schools. It’s because of Contos. And that’s certainly something to celebrate today.
Tame deserves our thanks today too. So does Higgins. And so does a whole swag of other women: the wife of the Ukrainian president, Olena Zelenska. Policymakers sitting behind a desk navigating a path forwards. Those on the frontline in COVID wards and cancer units, in child protection agencies and police services. Those on the front line rebuilding communities torn apart by floods.
They don’t ask for attention but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve equality. And on this day it’s hard to see equality as a genuine goal when domestic violence continues to snuff out the life of a woman every single week.
As I write, the inquest into the death of Doreen Langham is being held on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Langham had a smile that could light up a room, and a nervous laugh when she told police about the threats made by her ex-partner, Gary Hely.
He’d creep into her bedroom while she slept and take photographs of her. He told her she could be T-boned, sniper-shot or bashed. And yet no police order was taken to protect her, and after an inadequate police response — which is unfolding during this inquest — she died at the hands of Hely, who brought litres of petrol before dousing her home a year ago.
Langham is a woman we should remember today. So are all those like her whose futures have been stolen by jealous, brutal partners and ex-partners.
So yes, we’ve taken steps forward. And I’ll raise a glass to Contos and Higgins and Tame who’ve encouraged my daughters and daughters across the country that they deserve their seat at the table.
But no one deserves to die like Langham. And a ruthless upending of policy that might work around domestic violence is what I’d like to toast to next International Women’s Day.
I spent 9 hours of my shift getting repeatedly sexually assaulted by a client on Saturday. I’m a disability support worker. It was my birthday. I was 57 and had fancied myself finally safe from sh*t like this from men. This man not only knew what he was doing, he knew it was was criminal assault. He told me so. He believes his disability protects him from the consequences of his actions.
We don’t hear from women from my class too often here in Australia. We’re not well presented and we’re not well spoken and we’re not well represented, either. The only couple I can think of who pop up regularly are Pauline Hanson and Jacqui Lambie, and nine times out of ten it’s not about what they’ve said but how they’ve said it. Australia really does it love its jokes about inarticulate bogans not being able to string a sentence together, doesn’t it?
Oh dear!…the SMH has 2 stories on its front page today;
The first reports that there’s no support for the payment of super contributions whilst a women is on paid maternity leave and the second (accompanied by a cheesy picture of Nigela Lawson, of all people, and has as its caption “International Women’s Day” – is she emblematic of Australian women who are to be celebrated on this day?
As a woman of almost 80 years of age I’m appalled that a newspaper can be so blind to the significance of this day for so many of us who battled for recognition of our contribution to our society for so long…and then this shameful front page.
Thank you. While the extraordinary inspiring courage and resilience of many women is the spirit of the ongoing International Womens Day pathways there are many reasons why the champagne corks should stay in the bottle. Among the many forms of violence against women deprivation of financial support is insidious and ongoing. That poverty and homelessness continues, as the reality for too many older women is beyond shameful. https://streetsmartaustralia.org/poverty-and-homelessness-the-reality-for-too-many-older-women/. Bravo, this campaign https://www.safetyrespectequity.com.au/ which demands a future in which all women enjoy safety, respect and equity.
Thank you Madonna for your article. We still have a long way to go, but….there is one group of women who don’t seem to be mentioned. Aboriginal women and women of other races and cultures. I know we can’t support all women all over the planet, but we MUST support those who call Australia home, and Aboriginal women, particularly, have a most pressing, and prior claim to care and support. Incidentally I am not of Aboriginal descent.
One of the biggest barriers to greater equality and safety for women, in my view, is that at present, we are governed by conservative men. The attitudes of conservative men are best summed up in one of Bargearse Morrison’s most inane and fatuous remarks – that building women up shouldn’t involve knocking men down. This is similar to the support for Hanson when she insisted that the indigenous get so much. That really mobilised the rednecks who agreed – because they feared that giving anything to the indigenous meant taking away from, or giving less to them. These are really deep-seated attitudes, underpinned by fear. Bargearse Morrison knows his absurd remarks and behaviours have alienated women, but his flawed and it must be said, incredibly insensitive and neurotic persona, allied to his inner “blundering boofhead” means he can’t seriously address women’s issues, because he doesn’t get women’s issues. His wife, children and mother are only things he drags out when he thinks it would be good if he got emotional – so is no more, or less than, an acting tool. Do everyone, but women in particular a favour and vote this feeble excuse for a government out. Things might still not change as quickly as women want and need, but they will change faster than they ever will under a government with Bargearse asleep at the wheel.