Women Speak Tasmania applauds the more than 100 Tasmanians who gathered yesterday at the “No More Violence Rally” on Parliament Lawns. Organised by What Were You Wearing Australia, the rally demanded stronger action and funding to end men’s violence against women and children ahead of the May State Budget.
Tasmania’s chronically low funding for sex-based violence prevention risks worsening outcomes for women and girls. But funding alone is not enough.
Women and girls who have survived male violence need single-sex trauma-informed services — female-only wards, bedrooms, bathrooms, refuges, crisis accommodation and therapeutic groups. Safety and privacy in these spaces are essential for recovery. Yet “gender-neutral” policies are undermining that safety and re-traumatising survivors.
As UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem stated: “You cannot protect what you cannot define.”
Without explicitly defining and protecting biological sex in law, governments cannot guarantee the single-sex services that female survivors need.
Women Speak Tasmania therefore urges the Tasmanian Government and all MPs to support our petition by adding “sex” as a protected attribute in the Anti-Discrimination Act. This simple reform would restore the legal clarity required to maintain single-sex spaces without fear of funding loss or legal challenge.
Sign our petition here:
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Media Contact:
Dr Elizabeth Caballero: [email protected]