International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Main Image

By Katy Gallagher

25 November 2025

Today marks the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – a day to remember the women and children whose lives have been shaped by violence, and in too many cases, tragically cut short. And a day to recommit to eliminating violence against women and children for good.

As your Senator for the ACT and as the Federal Minister for Women, I want to share with you both the scale of this crisis and what we're doing about it – here in the ACT and across Australia.

One in three Australian women will experience violence in their lifetime.

One in two will experience sexual harassment.

A call is made to 000 about domestic violence every two minutes.

But these statistics don't capture the full toll on our community: the women who die by suicide after years of violence, the children growing up with trauma, the missing and murdered First Nations women whose names we don't always hear, the women living with brain injuries from abuse, or the women who are tracked and threatened after having the courage to leave.

The Safe, Everywhere, Always survey I launched earlier this year here in Canberra revealed confronting realities about our own community.

Eighty-six per cent of Canberra women change their plans or behaviour to avoid harm.

Forty-three per cent of young women take safety precautions every single time they leave home.

Women in Canberra told me about the mental load of constant vigilance, the financial cost of choosing safer transport, the need for better lighting, and above all, a cultural shift that places responsibility where it belongs: on men to change harmful behaviours.

Ending violence requires both action and resources.

That's why the Albanese Government has committed more than $4 billion to end violence against women and children, along with extra money for legal services for women.

We have introduced paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave and a positive duty for employers to keep workers and customers safe at work.

And we're making the family law system safer, fairer and more responsive to the realities of family violence.

But until every woman is safe - at home, in workplaces, in public, online - our work continues.

Today, I honour the women we've lost.

The survivors who live with the aftermath of violence.

And the advocates who have carried this work for decades.

As your Senator and as Minister for Women, I will keep standing up with you, alongside the Minister for Social Services and the whole Albanese Government, to end violence against women and children in a generation.

I know that safety should not be something women have to fight for. But we will continue to do so until all women in Canberra and across Australia are safe, everywhere and always.

To report an incident or access support, you may wish to reach out to the following support services:
Join Team Katy
Contact

I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the ACT, the Ngunnawal People, and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

Authorised by Katy Gallagher, Australian Labor Party, Canberra