The Minister for the Status of Women, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, joined UNIFEM Australia, Academy Award Winner, Geena Davis, and representatives from the private sector and media to discuss ways to empower women and promote gender equality across the world at a meeting on April 16.
Globally, UNIFEM is partnering with Geena Davis in an effort to change the way media represents women and girls, both in terms of increasing the number of women and girls in the media and presenting them in a more positive way, and to encourage media to present and investigate issues of importance to women.
Speaking at the event, Ms Plibersek highlighted the fact that reducing violence against women is crucial to achieving equality between men and women and delivering good development outcomes.
Violence against women causes trauma to women and their families and communities. It severely limits women's social, political and economic participation in their communities. It represents a significant strain on national economies with escalating costs in health care, social services, policing and the justice system.
The Australian Government has zero tolerance for violence against women and is committed to reducing violence against women in Australia, as well as contributing to international efforts to end violence against women globally and in our region.
In line with this commitment, the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, the Hon Mr McMullan MP and Ms Plibersek have announced that Australia will provide an additional $300,000 to the UNIFEM Pacific Fund to End Violence Against Women.
These funds will be used to support UNIFEM's work in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Nauru. They will enable UNIFEM to provide support to community organisations and front line workers to improve the services, such as counselling, legal and practical support and safe havens to women who are survivors of violence. It will also be used to provide small grants to organisations in Nauru.
More information
- Media release: Promoting gender equality in the Pacific
- SBS Radio interview with Tanya Plibersek [interview starts at 23 minutes 55 seconds into the program]
- Stop Violence: Responding to Violence against Women in Melanesia and East Timor
- Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media