Wednesday, 1 May 2024

Gendered violence

David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:00): Everyone seems to agree that victims of violence are being failed by the system, and pretty soon there will be another talkfest in Canberra on this subject. But if history is any guide, at the end of it the government will throw more money at the kinds of services that have not worked so far.

It is a shame these talkfests will not include people like Jayde Howard. Jayde is a young mum from Melbourne with a fantastic Instagram page called notyourordinarymama_. I recommend you give her a follow. Jayde made a reel featuring a number of her friends calling for women to be allowed to carry pepper spray. She also started a petition, which now has well over 11,000 signatures. Women like Jayde would feel safer walking alone at night if they had the right to carry pepper spray, but instead, if she was found carrying pepper spray, she could face a penalty of up to two years jail or a fine of $43,000.

Everyone has the right to self-defence. But while laws like this exist, this right effectively does not exist. We know for a fact that the government has no ethical problem with using pepper spray on Victorians, so why can’t Victorians use it to protect themselves? All of this could be achieved with the stroke of a pen simply by removing pepper spray from the list of controlled weapons. If we really believe in listening to women and making them safer, the first thing we should do is give them the power to fight back.