White Ribbon Day & Culshaw Miller Lawyers’ Statement on Male Violence Against Women

Culshaw Miller Lawyers condemns male violence against women.

According to the 2009 Report of the National Council to reduce violence against women and their children, “nearly one in three Australian women experienced physical violence, and almost one in five would then experience sexual violence over their lifetime”.

The majority of incidents are perpetrated by men.

Male violence against women continues to be a shameful epidemic across our community and our society. As we approach White Ribbon Day on the 25 November 2012, we call on all Australians to join the white ribbon campaign and stand up to violence so that women can live free from violence, within respectful relationships, and in safe communities.

In this respect please visit www.whiteribbon.org.au/find-events?state=WA to show your support.

The scale of this point is such that about 70,000 Australian women were subject to violence by a male partner last year.

Partner violence also leads to many other need of consequences. A 2004 Vic Health study found that, among women under 45, intimate partner violence contributed more to poor health, disability and death and any other risk factor, including obesity and smoking. The cost of violence against women and their children to the Australian economy was estimated to be $13.6B in 2008/2009 and this cost is continuing to rise.

However, the most concerning aspect of this issue is that an estimated 70% of cases of violence against women go unreported to the Police.

This is why we need to speak out. Violence against women is a silent epidemic in Australian because our society continues to ignore it, and therefore condoned this behaviour.

This is not just an issue for women; this is an issue that affects everyone.

We believe that in order to change this culture that accepts violence against women, we need to acknowledge the problem and condemn it.