Susie O’Brien: Why it should’ve been men marching for women instead

Mums, daughters, schoolgirls and seniors were among the thousands protesting violence against women. But where were the men?

Thousands of women attended the March 4 Justice — but where were the men? Picture: Jason Edwards

We need a men’s march.

While I fully support the women’s march held on Monday, it would be even better to see a march of men as well.

It’s not women we need to convince and co-opt to ending violence against women, it’s men.

Men made up 97 per cent of sexual assault offenders recorded by police in 2018 -2019, federal data shows.

Wouldn’t it be great to see men en masse taking to the streets in support of ending gender violence against women?

To commit to no longer standing silent when their brothers and mates boast about sexual conquests involving coercion?

To commit to taking seriously allegations of workplace sexual harassment and abuse, even at the risk of their organisation’s reputation?

A woman and young girl at Monday’s protest. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Geraghty

To commit to listening when their sisters and friends talk about being silenced by smutty jokes or not taken seriously at work?

It’s time women stopped fighting this fight by ourselves.

It’s a shame Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his deputy Michael McCormack refused to meet the women marchers publicly or come out and listen to the those rallying in Canberra.

On a day when the highest lawmaker in the land is still held unaccountable for serious sexual allegations, now more than ever we need men in power to stand up alongside women.

Attorney-General Christian Porter, you may have heard, is spending his mental health leave suing the ABC, the news organisation that first aired historic rape allegations against him. He’s too sick to work, but he’s not too sick to sue journalists reporting “false accusations” against him.

Schoolgirls march in a rally to protest violence against women. Picture: Jason Edwards

Of course, marching achieves nothing unless it spearheads real change.

It’s great that Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese marched in Canberra, but he’s now under pressure to ensure his party acts on the dozens of reports of sexual abuse and cover-ups in his own party.

These include male staffers calling women names, pressuring them for sex, harassing them in elevators and abusing them when they are too drunk to consent.

Women can’t do it all. We need men to join us if anything is to change.

We need to be joined by men who have been abusers who are willing to stand up for what they have done and change their ways.

We need to be joined by those who now understand that silencing and stonewalling complainants is the wrong thing to do.

And we need to be joined by men raising the next generation of boys who are determined to help them see women as equals, not as sexual conquests or play things.

Men should be the ones turning out en masse. Picture: Jason Edwards

If you don’t think that’s necessary, read through some of the testimonials in the sexual consent petition started by Chanel Contos. They’re harrowing and heartbreaking. (link to our story on this which enables people to search by schools)

Make no mistake, I am not calling for a march for men in support of men’s rights. Rather, I want men to speak up in favour of ending deadly violence against women.

I want men to be willing to change things, not just call another inquiry with recommendations that will be ignored. One of the reasons women marched on Monday was the fact that the federal government is yet to act on the 55 recommendations from last year’s inquiry into workplace sexual harassment. We are sick of being fobbed off and ignored like this.

One of the banners from Monday’s protests read: If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention.

When are men going to start paying attention?

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