Hero leadership - Part 2
In a previous post, I noted that AMP's culture 'problem' may also involve the way we look at leaders, how we choose them and why we follow them.
A recent article (by broadagenda.com.au) highlights a second more major concern - the wider societal issues at play that legitimise violence against women.
The article summarises a recent speech at the National Press Club by Natasha Stott Despoja AO, Chair of the violence prevention organisation Our Watch, who considered that domestic violence is “one of the most heinous manifestations of gender inequality”.
Ms Stott Despoja noted that the COVID pandemic has led to a large spike in violent domestic assaults across the country - exacerbating what was already a national emergency - and also referred to a May 2020 Australian Institute of Criminology survey which found that of the women who had experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner, two thirds said the violence had started or escalated since the start of the pandemic. Thus far in 2020, 34 women and 38 children have been murdered by a current or former intimate partner.
Based on the AIC survey and other evidence, Ms Stott Despoja considered that:
“There is more violence in Australian homes. The severity of the violence has increased and COVID is being weaponised as a tool of abuse...However, Ms Stott Despoja said that addressing this problem required strategies that looked further afield, because:
“Violence emerges in a broader social construct. This is a society where the underlying conditions of gender inequality means that violence is often condoned, trivialised or considered a private matter,” she said.
If we want to stop this violence, we need to think about it as a social problem. And that is where prevention comes in.
The job of primary prevention belongs to society as a whole – to governments, to corporations and organisations and to the community. Our national response to the pandemic could play an intrinsically important role."Just how we look further afield is detailed in this 2015 publication by Our Watch titled: Change the Story: A shared framework for the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia which sets out a national approach to preventing violence against women and children.
In particular, the report identified six key issues:
1. The factors driving violence against women - condoning violence; maintaining control of decision making and limiting women's independence; rigid gender roles; and male peer relations that emphasize agression and disrespect towards women.
2. Key actions to prevent violence - challenging the condoning of violence against women; promoting women’s independence and decision-making; fostering positive personal identities and challenging gender stereotypes and roles; strengthening positive, equal and respectful relations between and among women and men, girls and boys; and promoting and normalising gender equality in public and private life.
3. Use different approaches for different environments - e.g. education settings (schools, universities, TAFEs); workplaces; sports and recreation areas; public transport areas; media and popular culture; and legal contexts.
4. Prevention infrastructure - it has to be a collaborative cross-sectoral national approach.
5. Stakeholder roles and responsibilities - every sector, organisation, community and individual has a role to play. It is a shared, consistent and mutually reinforcing approach.
6. Stages of action - there are many steps to take, and some short term gains, but it is a long-term generational issue.
It's obviously much, much harder to grasp the sheer canvas of what this all means for our day-to-day lives, whether we are at work, home or otherwise participating in society. It is far easier to fixate on the 'bad guys' that got it so wrong on the AMP Board, or the 'bad guy' that bullied someone at your organisation etc..
As a privileged white male, it ultimately remains up to me to do my best to avoid daily 'micro-aggressions' against women and others not as privileged as me. And even when I think I am managing it, I suspect there are many behaviours still going on unnoticed..
It takes time and effort to recognise and dismantle privilege, but if I want to Change the Story for my daughters and the society we all live in, I need to keep making that effort...