Right: Eurydice Dixon, a young comedian who was murdered while returning home after an evening performance in inner Melbourne. Could her death have been avoided if non-lethal weapons were legal?
 Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Background information
The information below was taken from a submission released by the Australian Human Rights Commission on January 20, 2017.
Australia has a disturbingly high rate of violence against women. In recent times, policy and public discussions on violence against women in Australia have had a strong focus on family and domestic violence, in particular intimate partner violence. However, consultations conducted by the Commission indicate that violence against women can take many forms, including family and domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence in residential settings and online violence and harassment.
A Personal Safety Survey conducted in 2012 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 5.3% of women had experienced some form of violence in the last 12 months, and 40.8% had experienced some form of violence since the age of 15. The Survey indicated that most instances of violence against women were perpetrated by someone known to them. Around 74% of women who had experienced violence in the last 12 months, and 87% of women who had experienced violence since the age of 15, reported that the perpetrator was someone they know. This compares to 45% of men who had experienced violence in past 12 months, and 54% of men who had experience violence since the age of 15.
Intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence against women, with 1.5% of women reporting violence by a current or former partner in the past 12 months, and 16.9% reporting intimate partner violence since the age of 15 (compared to 0.6% of men in the past 12 months and 5.3% of men since the age of 15). A more recent study has estimated that 27.5% of Australian women have experienced violence or emotional abuse by a current or previous partner.
A 2016 study by Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) found that intimate partner violence accounted for 5.1% of the disease burden amongst women aged 18 to 44 years - more than other any other risk factor. Research has also demonstrated that victims/survivors often experience enduring mental health problems as a result of such violence. Between 2002-03 and 2011-12, 488 women were killed by a current or former partner, often after a history of domestic violence. Women represented 75% of intimate partner homicide victims over this period.
Increase in sexual violence against women
The following data comes from a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in November, 2017 and reported on in The Guardian on November 8, 2017.
The proportion of Australians who experienced violence in the last 12 months has fallen from 8.3% in 2005 to just 5.4% in 2016, driven by a large drop in experiences of physical violence.
For men, the proportion who have experienced physical violence in the past 12 months has almost halved in the last decade, from 10% in 2005 to 5.4% in 2016, while for women that figure has fallen from 4.7% to 3.5%. However, the rate of sexual violence against women has increased noticeably in the last five years.
The ABS defines 'sexual violence' as the occurrence, attempt or threat of sexual assault experienced by a person since the age of 15. The proportion of women who have experienced sexual violence in the last 12 months increased from 1.2% in 2012 to 1.8% in 2016.
One in five women (18% or 1.7 million) have now experienced sexual violence, with sexual assault experienced by 17% of women (1.5 million) and sexual threat experienced by 3.6% (339,900). One in 20 men (4.7% or 428,800) have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, with sexual assault experienced by 4.3% of men (384,000) and sexual threat experienced by 0.8% (73,500).
The survey also found women are far more likely to be stalked. One in six women (17% or 1.6 million) aged 18 or over and one in 15 men (6.5% or 587,000) have experienced an episode of stalking since the age of 15, with the vast majority of stalkers being men.
The law in Australia on carrying non-lethal weapons
Tasers, mace and pepper spray are classified as prohibited weapons by Australian laws. Western Australia is the only exception where mace and pepper spray are considered as controlled weapons. That means pepper spray is legal in Western Australia but it is restricted.
In New South Wales, Section 7 of the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 states that possessing or using a prohibited weapon is illegal unless you have a permit. A permit authorises the use of prohibited weapons for various purposes like training, sporting, or instructing. Historical or educational purposes may also authorise the use of such weapons. Permits are not normally issued to people who want to carry such items for recreational or personal security purposes.
Similar regulations apply in other states and territories.