This research aims to compare policies addressing gender-based violence in Australia, Argentina, and Chile. It examines how histories of state violence influence women's movements and policy responses. Key factors include strong women's movements, effective women's policy agencies, and political space in longstanding democracies for comprehensive policies. Statistics on violence against women are collected through surveys in each country.

1. Policies towards gender-based
violence: National approaches
Australia, Argentina and Chile
Veronica Oxman, PhD Candidate, School of Politics and
International Relations, College of Arts and Social Sciences,
Australian National University
PhD Supervisor: Marian Sawer, Emeritus Professor
Date: 29 of July 2013

2. This research aims to contribute to current
knowledge on policy-making addressing gender-
based violence (GBV), especially violence against
women (VAW) by focusing on two post-
transition democracies Argentina (Ar) and Chile
(Cl), in comparison to a country with a stable
long-term democracy Australia.

3. Research Questions
• What difference does a history of state
violence make to the way in which women’s
movements and women’s policy actors frame
gender-based violence/ violence against
women?
• What difference does it make to ways in which
governments respond to the issue?
• Which measures can be considered best
practices in this policy area?

4. Country contexts
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
Population (1000s) GDP per capita
2000
Australia
Argentina
Chile

5. Australia
2002-2012
• Long term democracy, including women’s rights
• Strong participation in the international women’s
machineries (1980s)
• Long term women’s movement (1960s)
• Early creation of a Women’s Policy Machinery (1978)
• Long history of policies targeting GBV/VAW (1970s)
• Broader scope of types of violence included in national
policies
• GBV/VAW policies targeting specific groups of women
• National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and
their Children (2008)
• Long term National Plan 2009-2021

6. Argentina
2002-2012
• History of state violence (military junta took
power in 1976 / return to democracy 1983)
• Democratization process (1984- ) inclusive of
women
• Early creation of Women Policy Machinery
• Women’s movement

7. Chile
2002-2012
• History of state violence (military junta took
power in 1973 / return to democracy 1990)

8. Social Actors
• National governments
• Women’s policy agencies/ Women’s State
Machineries/
• Women’s movements

9. Government System
• In countries with long-term democracies there
is more political space for broader and deeper
policies towards gender-based violence than
in new democracies or post-transition
countries.
• Higher levels of government responsiveness
towards GBV/VAW

10. Violence against Women
• UN’s definition for VAW: “any act of gender-
based violence that results in, or is likely to
result in, physical, sexual or psychological
harm or suffering to women, including threats
of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation
of liberty, whether occurring in public or in
private life”.
Source: "United Nations 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against
Women," in General Assembly, ed. UN-United Nations (NY, USA: UN, 1993).

11. Violence against Women
UN Women stated it understood the term:
violence against women “to mean any act of
gender-based violence that is directed against a
woman because she is a woman or that affects
women disproportionately. It does not address
gender-based violence suffered by men”.
Source: UNWomen- United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women, "Inventory of United Nations System Activities
to Prevent and Eliminate Violence against Women," ed. UN-UN Women
(UN-UNWomen, 2013).

12. Types of Violence against Women
• Domestic and/or in the
family
• Femicide (homicide of
one woman by a partner
or ex-partner)
• Psychological
• Sexual violence
• Rape inside a marriage
• Sexual harassment
– Workplace
– School
– Street
• Rape
• Girls sexual abuse (under
18 years old)
• Feminicide (genocide of
women in certain social
context and/or region)

13. Spheres where VAW occurs
• Most commonly occurs within the
private/intimate space in the family
• Community within a particular region, city or
neighbourhood
• State can perpetrate and/or condone gender
violence (physical and sexual torture, physical
attacks of diverse types
• Transnational

14. Statistics of GBV/VAW
Violence against Women Prevalence Data: Surveys by Country
Compiled by UN Women (as of March 2011)
Nº Country Survey Coverage Year Intimate Partner Violence (%) Intimate Partner and/or Non-Partner Violence
(%)
Forced first
sex (%)
Abuse
during
Pregnancy
(%)
Physical Sexual Physical and/or
sexual
Physical Sexual Physical
and/or sexual
Last 12
month
s
Lifetim
e
Last 12
months
Lifetime Last 12
months
Lifetime Last 12
month
s
Lifetim
e
Last 12
month
s
Lifetim
e
Last 12
months
Lifetim
e
1 Australi
a
IVAWS National 2002-
2003
4 25 1 8 4 27 8 48 4 34 57
2 Argentin
a
3 Chile Other National 2004 15 15.6 35.7
Source: UNWoman, 2011
Violence against Women Prevalence Data: Surveys by Country
Au: IVAWS
Mouzos, J. and Makkai. T. 2004. Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian Component of the International Violence Against
Women Survey (IVAWS). Australian Institute of Criminology.
Ar: not surveyed
Cl: Other
Ministerio del Interior and DESUC. 2008. Encuesta Nacional de Victimización por Violencia Intrafamiliar y Delitos Sexuales. Ministerio del Interior and
DESUC, Santiago.
* Author's adaptation for three countries: Australia, Argentina and Chile, August 2012

15. GBV/VAW Statistics
Data collection:
Australia: ABS Surveys

16. Policies towards GBV/VAW
For the definition, elaboration, implementation
and follow-up of gender policies targeting
GBV/VAW:
– the existence of a strong autonomous women´s
movement (Elman 1996, Weldon 2002) and
– an effective women’s policy machinery (Weldon
2002; Waylen 2007)