Australian PM urges countrymen to step up against domestic violence

CANBERRA: On International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday called upon males in the country to step up to end violence against the fair sex and children, and said urgent action was needed to address Australia's domestic violence rate.

Around 60 per cent of adult female victims of homicide in Australia are killed by a current or former intimate partner, as per the Australian Institute of Criminology's National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP).

In 2020-21, one woman was killed by a current or former partner every 14 days in Australia, according to the latest NHMP data, Xinhua new agency reported.

"Changing the attitudes that entrench inequality and discrimination, and objectify women and disregard consent, is everyone's responsibility," Albanese said.

"Men in particular have to step up. And male leaders have an opportunity to champion change and create the conditions that prevent violence, abuse, discrimination and harassment."

The government on Saturday committed to establishing a new system to provide quarterly updates on intimate partner homicides.

Data is currently available on an annual basis from the NHMP, but Albanese said that in order to end violence against women, authorities needed to be able to measure it accurately.

In a statement, minister for women Katy Gallagher and Amanda Rishworth, the minister for social services, said the new system would support law enforcement, policymakers, and the domestic and sexual violence sector in developing priority responses.

"Up-to-date and accurate data is crucial to supporting us in our efforts to end this violence and ensure women's safety," Gallagher said.

As of May, the government had invested 2.28 billion Australian dollars (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) in its National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.