It’s time for #metoo to make its way to parliament
EVEN in our parliament, entrenched sexism is alive and well, Senator Janet Rice writes. Now it’s time to make lasting changes that will help women, once and for all.
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IT’S not breaking news for most women that sexual assault and harassment happens all the time, whether it’s in the office, on public transport, at university or schools, on a night out.
What is breaking news is that perpetrators, especially powerful ones like Harvey Weinstein, get caught out.
It’s also not breaking news that people like Harvey Weinstein or Donald Trump, who are in positions of power, get away with sexual assault and harassment for decades and even then, they might not face any consequences. After all, Trump still became president after boasting about sexually assaulting women.
I’m glad that in the wake of the Weinstein revelations, one positive outcome has been the #MeToo campaign, shining a spotlight on sexism, misogyny and systemic gender inequality. But it’s disappointing that women have to publicly reveal their experiences of sexual assault and harassment in order for men to realise that almost every woman they know has experienced it.
The #MeToo hashtag isn’t novel for the sexual assault and harassment it describes, it’s novel because the broader community is finally paying attention to women who are laying out their trauma, frankly and honestly, in an effort to create meaningful change.
This all goes back to equality. Women shouldn’t have to keep telling men that we deserve equal rights, but we do.
Even in the parliament, entrenched sexism is alive and well. Women parliamentarians are still referred to as ‘girls’ by male politicians, we regularly get cut off by male politicians and mansplained to as if we cannot understand without being spoken down to. When my colleague, former Greens Senator Larissa Waters breastfed her baby in Parliament it was celebrated as a first, but many people found reason to criticise too.
People still have an image of an archetypal parliamentarian as being a man in his forties to sixties. The federal parliament still only has 35 per cent women, still a long way off parity — this 15 per cent gap echoes the gender pay gap, where women on average earn 15 per cent less than men (thankfully this is not the case in the parliament).
Whatever you think of Julia Gillard as a politician, you cannot deny that she was subjected to horrific sexism during her time as Prime Minister. The fact that a woman attains the highest office in the land yet is still subjected to some of the sexist language she was just goes to show how far we still are from achieving equality.
Following the upsurge of women sharing their stories as part of the #MeToo campaign, I introduced a motion in the Senate and I’m glad that it passed. But without action, it’s just symbolism. The motion called on the federal government to act, and I echo this again — we must see a substantial commitment at a policy and funding level in order to address inequality, violence and harassment experienced by women.
We must ensure survivors, whether or not they choose to share their story via the #MeToo campaign, are supported by their community. We individually have a role in this as friends, family members and colleagues. But society at large, backed by governments, must step up to this challenge because there’s more work to do.
I consider myself lucky. I have not been the victim of sexual violence or harassment — just the tedious everyday sexism that surrounds women everywhere in society. With support of family and friends I’ve felt resilient, strong and empowered to pursue my dreams in the face of this sexism. But I know that sexism, let alone sexual harassment and violence, is still holding far too many women back, and it’s way past time this changed.
Again, I thank those who chose to share their #MeToo stories as part of the social media conversation. While you should not have to experience such harassment, violence and sexism let alone share and relive it publicly, please know that your voice has been heard.
Janet Rice is a Greens senator for Victoria and the party’s women’s spokesperson.
Originally published as It’s time for #metoo to make its way to parliament