A “smorgasbord of violent misogyny” being fed to young boys online is working against efforts to tackle violence against women, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says.
Thousands of people marched over the weekend as part of “no more” rallies across the country which coincide with police charging a Perth man with the murder of his partner.
It marks the 27th man charged in relation to the death of a woman in the first 119 days of the year.
Speaking on Sunrise, the Labor frontbencher wasn’t surprised at the level of frustration within the community.
Ms Plibersek noted that despite recent investments – such as 10 days paid domestic violence leave and millions being funnelled into perpetrator programs – “the behaviour continues”.
“Governments (are) investing money, police are changing what they do, courts are changing what they do, courts are changing what they do, there’s more emergency support out there but what’s working against that is this incredible amount of violent misogyny online,” she said.
“There’s this smorgasbord of violent misogyny that’s being fed to, particularly, adolescent boys.
“And so, society is trying to fix it on the one hand and, on the other hand, we have the exact opposite force happening, working against us trying to improve things.”
Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce said there needed to be a greater focus on the family unit and how pornography is “completely misinterpreting the attitude that should exist between men and women in a respectful way.”
“We can try and remove that, and we should. But we should also have parents who make absolutely certain that they do the frontline policing on this,” he told Channel 7.
“I think a lot of that action is going to be harder than just focusing on the child. Got to be really careful that you don’t presume that every boy is going to grow up to be a criminal, because that’s what they are.”
Ms Plibersek hit back, arguing the problem is that “women don’t know who these men are … until you’re in a relationship” with them.
“Of course not every man is violent. Most men would be horrified at that. But we don’t know who they are until we are in a relationship with them,” she replied.
The Prime Minister will convene a meeting of the national cabinet on Wednesday to discuss a plan to tackle the crisis.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher said the government had an “open mind” to new prevention measures.
“I don’t think there’s any shortage of resources and commitment going into this,” she told ABC News on Monday morning.
“I think we always need to look at whether things are working, whether we need to shift focus or, you know, look at new ways – particularly in the area of prevention – about how we provide support and services.
“From our point of view, we have an open mind.”
Mr Albanese and his senior colleagues were repeatedly heckled at a “no more” rally outside of Parliament House on Sunday.
In a speech, he claimed he’d been denied permission to address the rally.
One of the organisers of the rally, Sarah Williams, took to social media after the event, accusing the Prime Minister of lying.
She said Mr Albanese’s office had “made it clear he was just walking and not interested in speaking”.
“The Prime Minister of Australia lied to his country today,” she said.
“For him to not only demand he speak because he was being heckled, but lie was disgraceful. He demonstrated today what entitlement looks like.
“A man with power trying to diminish a vulnerable young woman.”