- Conference
- 2007 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 26 October 2006
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference is appalled to note that, according to data from Rape Crisis :
1)one in four women have experienced rape or attempted rape;
2)one in seven women have been coerced into sex, rising to one in three among divorced and separated women;
3)the most common perpetrators of rape are husbands and partners;
4)ninety-seven per cent of callers to Rape Crisis Lines knew their assailant prior to the assault.
Conference notes that motions were carried at National Women’s Conference 2006 calling for the National Women’s Committee to make violence against women a priority in its work over the next year.
It further notes that the Committee has therefore worked with leading campaigners in the field, including Amnesty International, Womankind Worldwide and Rights of Women, to raise awareness of the implications of sexual violence, including same-sex abuse and rape, and the impact it has on its victims and society in general.
The National Women’s Committee now seeks the support of Conference in announcing the launch of a new campaign “No Means No”
This campaign will seek to address the issues of rape, including date and drug rape, consent, conviction and the burden of proof and celebration of International Day Against Violence Against Women (White Ribbon Day).
Conference therefore calls upon the National Women’s Committee to work with the National Executive Council and Labour Link to continue to implement the actions arising from the 2006 conference motions, and endorses the “No means No” campaign arising from that action.