Sydney:
Australia's prime minister on Wednesday declared violence against women a “scourge” and a “national crisis”, days after protests in several major cities.
At a meeting with state premiers, Anthony Albanese announced a series of measures and funding to tackle “toxic male extremist views”, curb deep-fake pornography and fund support for victims.
Albanians told Australians that “we must all take responsibility” for eradicating violence.
So far this year, 28 women have been murdered in the country – an average of one death every four days.
By comparison, fourteen women died in the same period last year.
The deaths have sparked a reckoning, with domestic abuse survivors and support services demanding stricter laws during nationwide protests last week.
Albanians on Wednesday announced new legislation to ban deep-fake pornography and additional funding for the country's online watchdog to test age guarantee technologies.
He also announced US$925 million ($598 million) to strengthen support services for those fleeing violent situations.
One of the deaths that has rocked the country is that of Molly Ticehurst, a 28-year-old mother who was allegedly murdered by her former partner last month after he was granted bail for other serious alleged crimes.
These include the alleged rape, stalking and intimidation and destruction of Ticehurst's property.
New data from the Australian government shows that 34 women were murdered by a former or current partner between 2022 and 2023, a 28 percent increase from the previous year.
But last year's figure remains one of the lowest in the 30 years of data collection.
Our Watch chief executive Patty Kinnersly told AFP that each death reflected a woman who had been “robbed” of her future.
“This is why the only acceptable number is zero,” she said. “Violence against women in Australia is a national crisis, but this violence is preventable.”
Australia's domestic violence rates are below the OECD average – with Argentina, Turkey and the United States among the worst perpetrators, 2019 data shows.
But Kathleen Baird, a domestic violence expert at the University of Technology in Sydney, said Australian statistics are still too high.
“One in four women will experience some form of violence in their lifetime – that is too high,” she told AFP.
“The statistics show that the numbers are much higher for Indigenous women.”
Baird added that it was difficult to say what caused this wave of deaths, but it was clear that current processes were not working to protect women.
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