Women’s safety: More than a dozen sex assaults reported to police every day in WA between January and March

Two senior female ministers have added their voices to the chorus of WA women who have revealed the fear they have experienced while going about their lives as a woman. It comes as shocking new statistics showed more than a dozen sex assaults were reported to police every day in the first three months of the year. The figures, released by WA Police last week, revealed 1270 recent sex assaults were reported between January and March — or more than 14 a day. Police define recent sex assaults as those that have occurred within three months of the report being made, and include serious sex attacks, indecent assaults and offences against children. And while WA Police statistics are not broken up into gender, data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows police-recorded sex assaults are seven times higher for women than men. To put the numbers into perspective, at least half of sexual assaults perpetrated against women are not reported, meaning the prevalence is likely much higher. Following an investigation, The West Australian this week exposed the undercurrent of fear felt by WA women and the extraordinary lengths they were taking to feel safe. More than 100 women told of how they were carrying pepper spray, tasers, sharp hairpins and heavy water bottles when they walked alone. Others reported keeping a screwdriver in their car or never leaving home without an AirTag so loved ones could keep tabs on their whereabouts. On Monday, Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti admitted she, too, “always” made sure she was aware of her surroundings. “Of course things go through your mind, especially when you are walking by yourself on the street,” she said. Asked if the women’s accounts were concerning, Ms Saffioti said “of course it’s worrying.” Ms Saffioti said the Government was doing “a lot of work” to ensure respect was being taught in schools. “It’s so important that as a community, we foster a feeling of making sure there’s respect and respect (towards) women in our community,” she said. “A lot of work is being done by our Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence about the concept of a respect, and a lot of what we’re trying to teach through our schools and through our community is respecting women and girls. “That’s fundamental. If you can respect women, then these sorts of incidents wouldn’t occur and the feeling of safety would be a lot better.” Like Ms Saffioti, Women’s Minister Simone McGurk said she had also “made decisions based around my safety, that sadly, many men do not have to consider.” “It is a harsh reality that many girls and women feel unsafe in their communities,” she said. “I frequently hear stories of women not wanting to walk home in the dark or exercise early in the morning because they feel unsafe.” Ms McGurk said society needed to shift and become a culture that respected women. “Obviously there are penalties for criminal activities, but fundamentally to make our community safer for women we have to foster a culture and community that respects women,” she said. “We know that attitudes that don’t see women as equal in society gives rise to violence, which is why as a government we have called on the whole community to play their part in calling out violence as well as attitudes that disrespect women and girls.”