The fact that a group of Australian women is forced to set up an alliance to fight for equality suggests we’re a glass or two of champagne short of celebrating International Women’s Day.
Should we really have to be struggling to close the gender pay gap, fighting for better parental leave or calling to end sex discrimination? Should we still be arguing over the minutiae of the inflamed abscess exposed by Chanel Contos, Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame?
Is it really enough that our daughters know their names and see them as a modern day Charlie’s Angels? They are, of course. But the reluctance to act, the hurdles thrown in the path, and the apathy in a society that systemically discriminates against women continue to waft down the corridors of power.
It’s like we’re being done a favour.
Take Contos, for example. This young woman bared her soul and took the testimonies of thousands of young Australian women who had been raped, assaulted or sexually harassed by young Australian men — mostly from all-boys’ private schools.
She did it for one reason: to improve the pathetic sex education that runs through some school classes and not others. And yes, she’s had a significant win. After briefing ministers early this year, there is now agreement that the curriculum will include a solid grounding in sex education. Agreement. Not yet implementation.
But Contos’ campaign began more than a year ago. Imagine how urgent the action might have been been if 7000 young men while still at school were left battered and bruised and bleeding by another of society’s cohorts. Royal commissions would ensue. So would criminal trials. It would be seen as a giant boil that grew during high school and needed to be lanced, at any cost.
But this battering, bruising and bleeding involved schoolgirls. And now we’re dawdling towards changes because of a campaign run by a courageous young woman who dared to challenge those who set the laws.
We’re not racing to fix a system because it’s the right thing to do. Or because it’s broken. Or because we’ve found a sexist, chauvinist and criminal element in some, or indeed many, of our schools. It’s because of Contos. And that’s certainly something to celebrate today.
Tame deserves our thanks today too. So does Higgins. And so does a whole swag of other women: the wife of the Ukrainian president, Olena Zelenska. Policymakers sitting behind a desk navigating a path forwards. Those on the frontline in COVID wards and cancer units, in child protection agencies and police services. Those on the front line rebuilding communities torn apart by floods.
They don’t ask for attention but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve equality. And on this day it’s hard to see equality as a genuine goal when domestic violence continues to snuff out the life of a woman every single week.
As I write, the inquest into the death of Doreen Langham is being held on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Langham had a smile that could light up a room, and a nervous laugh when she told police about the threats made by her ex-partner, Gary Hely.
He’d creep into her bedroom while she slept and take photographs of her. He told her she could be T-boned, sniper-shot or bashed. And yet no police order was taken to protect her, and after an inadequate police response — which is unfolding during this inquest — she died at the hands of Hely, who brought litres of petrol before dousing her home a year ago.
Langham is a woman we should remember today. So are all those like her whose futures have been stolen by jealous, brutal partners and ex-partners.
So yes, we’ve taken steps forward. And I’ll raise a glass to Contos and Higgins and Tame who’ve encouraged my daughters and daughters across the country that they deserve their seat at the table.
But no one deserves to die like Langham. And a ruthless upending of policy that might work around domestic violence is what I’d like to toast to next International Women’s Day.
