Break the silence, stop violence

Speaking to the campaign and the issue of domestic violence last week, Deniliquin-based Senator and Federal Deputy Leader of The Nationals Perin Davey highlighted that regional and rural areas have a high prevalence of domestic violence incidents.

She also raised the need for greater government investment in preventative measures, rather than reactive programs.

Senator Davey’s statement is provided below.

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The Nationals acknowledge the devastation caused by domestic violence, and we also acknowledge the need for men to be part of this solution.

And that is why our Shadow Assistant Minister for the prevention of family violence is former police officer and police prosecutor, Pat Conaghan, who is very, very dedicated to this significant issue.

Domestic violence does not discriminate.

It is not limited to one particular ethnicity, religious sector or income level. It is not limited to physical violence.

It can take the form of mental abuse and coercive control. And it is not limited to geography.

In fact, domestic violence is more prevalent in rural, regional and remote areas than in urban Australia.

One of the most common things I hear from people who've never known domestic abuse or a controlling relationship is: “well, why don't they just leave?”.

Oh, if it were only so simple.

The answer is, often they can't.

They may have no financial independence, they may have no support networks in regional areas, they may be isolated, and there may be nowhere to go.

Just last week, it was reported that the Young Crisis Accommodation Centre in southern NSW was handing out tents because there was no room at the inn, so to speak.

In fact, in most NSW regional shelters, they're operating at or above capacity.

So why is domestic violence more prevalent in regional areas?

Some published literature attributes this to the higher Indigenous population, but that is not true.

Data from NSW, for example, shows that the top 10 localities for domestic violence incidents include some predominantly white agricultural areas.

And certainly, there is still stigma around domestic violence, particularly in regional areas when everyone knows everyone else's business.

The less said about domestic violence, the better. But that is not true.

Because the solution to countering domestic violence is not cure, it is prevention.

Unfortunately, our current federal budget is heavily skewed towards the three R's for domestic violence: response, recovery and research.

That gets 83 per cent of the budget, whereas preventative measures and intervention measures, are just 17 per cent of the budget, and men's support and behavioural change services less than one per cent of the budget.

We need to ensure that our community is aware of the warning signs and is prepared to call out problem behaviour, and we need to start addressing it young.

We need to educate our young men and women on what domestic abuse looks like and why it is not acceptable.

I get my free-to-air television through the VAST network with Imparja television services, and I have to acknowledge their powerful set of ads that show a young girl playing an absolute ripper of an AFL game with her boyfriend watching on.

There are two versions of the ad.

In one, his disparaging comments about her game go unchecked, and then it ends with a clearly toxic relationship.

In the other, his mates tell him it's not appropriate, and he rethinks what he's just said, and everyone has a really good day.

That's what needs to happen.

It may be oversimplified for a short television ad, but wouldn't it be good if sometimes it is that simple?

If you don't call it out, you won't address it.

If we don't talk about it and raise awareness, we won't prevent it.

It was once said to me that the first punch is the hardest, because once that has happened, a taboo has been broken.

So we need to discuss and address domestic violence before that first punch is thrown.