Almost a quarter of Australian women have experienced violence from an intimate partner. On average,one woman is killed each week by their partner and violence is the leading cause of preventable death and injury among women aged 15-44.
Our Watch chief executive Patty Kinnersly said the next stage of work to stop violence against women needed to recognise action was needed everywhere Australians lived,worked and played.
“There’s a bit too much focus nationally on individual behaviours – we can change one person at a time,women just need to do this and men need to do that,” she toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age ahead of the release of the organisation’s second framework to guide policy.
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“That doesn’t take account of the bigger structural environment that we live in or the responsibility of governments with policy or workplaces to be safe and equal,and so forth.
“We’re not going to shift the dial on violence against women if we don’t address the underlying gender inequalities.”
Our Watch’s first Change the Story framework was released in 2015 and endorsed by governments at all levels to guide the existing national plan to prevent violence against women and children. A new national plan is now being developed to steer the next decade of action,and Our Watch is working with governments to ensurethe second edition of the framework remains the key evidence base underpinning violence prevention.