Women the victims of intimate partner terrorism

Countless Australian women are living with the very real threat of intimate partner terrorism. Yes, terrorism. When nearly two women are killed at the hands of their current or former partners in Australia every week, we shouldn’t be sugarcoating the epidemic.

Australian of the Year Rosie Batty recently shared her perspective of partner abuse as intimate terrorism when she addressed an audience at the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the University of Melbourne last month. (Few Australians are as qualified as she is to speak about these issues.)

Earlier last month, Ms Batty had condemned the Government for not investing the same amount of time and resources in family violence as it does for external terrorist threats. The problem of intimate partner terrorism is real and extensive.

But to end an epidemic, where does this funding need to go?

Seeing family violence as akin to terrorism may have eluded the Government so far, but it isn’t a new concept.

Professor Cathy Humphreys, from the University of Melbourne, argues women in abusive relationships suffer the same kind of psychological torture as hostages.

“Much like prisoners or hostages, women with abusive or violent partners experience isolation, sleep deprivation, severe threats, and the rare indulgence,” she says. “Every aspect of their lives is controlled, and they live in terror.”

In August last year, the Abbott Government announced $632 million for counter-terrorism funding over the next four years, in contrast to the $300 million it cut from domestic violence services in last year’s budget.

Professor Humphreys says given that 25 per cent of Australian women over 18 have experienced emotional abuse by an intimate partner since the age of 15, and around one in five Australian women have experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner, it seems glaringly obvious that we need to tackle terrorism in family homes as much as, or more than terrorism overseas, which affects far fewer Australians.

“To stop violence against women in its tracks, we need funding and a clear focus,” she says.

Many professionals working in the field believe programs designed to help shift men’s attitudes toward violence are a necessary part of the solution.

The inaugural Fed Up Lunch, an event aimed at raising funds for Victorian women and their children escaping family violence, was thought up by a group of young men who wanted to make “counter messages” that stood up to violence-supportive attitudes. Earlier this year it raised over $30,000.

But changing men’s attitudes and ideas around violence only broaches the tip of the iceberg. To end family violence, we need to tackle the sources of the problem.

One of which, Professor Humphreys says, is sex.

“We need funding for programs that help to change the way men see women and sex,” she says.

“Sexist and misogynistic attitudes contribute to the domestic violence perpetrated throughout the country, and helping men see themselves as equal partners in respectful relationships is the key to ending the epidemic.”

It’s an unfortunate truth she says that many young men gain part of their sexual education through pornography.

In Linda Williams’ seminal book on pornography, Hard Core, she says that “women’s bodies are quite simply fetishised… the sight of the female body is displayed for the gaze and enjoyment of men”.

This is true of most mainstream pornography today, with the exception of the small rise in alternative and queer pornography.

Earlier this month during a segment on young men and pornography on ABC’s 7.30, sex educator Maree Crabbe said: “Learning about pornography needs to be part of contemporary sexuality and relationships education and if it’s not, we’re kidding ourselves. It’s like the elephant in the room. To talk about respectful relating and safe and consenting sex without having the conversation about what porn says about those things is from another century.”

In short, experts believe pornography is one of the core ways violent and misogynist attitudes to women are normalised in some of society.

“Without adequate sexual education that focuses on equal and respectful partnerships, porn becomes the central source of information about sex for young men, and more often than not it showcases forms of masculinity that are not based on equality with women but on inequality and expressions of masculinity based on power over women,” Professor Humphreys says.

By positively shifting men’s attitudes toward women and sex, the prevalent sexism and misogyny that fosters domestic violence in Australia would be expected to drop.

Women around the country are terrorised and killed by abusive and violent partners, and the government needs to recognise that it is as important an issue as other forms of terrorism. Australia needs greater funding for domestic violence support services and programs, and favourably shifting men’s attitudes toward women and sex may be exactly where they need to start.

Matthew Wade is a freelance writer and Master of Journalism student, with a passion for gender equality and gay rights.

Twitter: @MatthewRWade