Soroptimist International National Conference

Royal Lakeside Novotel Hotel
Rotorua

Thank you for inviting me to your conference – it is a pleasure to be here – and thank you Yvonne Simpson for your introduction.

I would like to extend warm greetings to the President of Soroptimist International of the South West Pacific, Lorna Mead, and to the President of Soroptimist International New Zealand North region, Carol Butler. I understand you were at the helm of the organising committee for this conference Carol – congratulations. You and your team have put together an interesting and full programme for your Soroptimist friends and members.

As you all know, a lot of hard work goes into the organisation of an event like this but it is worth it. It is a great opportunity for you all to get together to network, workshop, and hear about the latest developments on the issues in which you are genuinely interested. I am sure you will go home at the end of this conference with a lot of new ideas to inspire you in your work ahead.

I was pleased to read of your international programme focus areas because I found a very direct match with the Action Plan for New Zealand women. Your key messages were spelled out by Yvonne, but they are worth repeating.

• Women will be empowered by being afforded human rights and freedom from all forms of violence.
• Women and girls will enjoy enhanced status and will be enabled to achieve their full potential throughout their life span.
• Women will live and work in safe and equitable environments with equal opportunities for advancement.
• Women will have optimal mental and physical health throughout their lifespan.
• Women will be equal partners in the process of managing resources, maintaining bio-diversity and achieving sustainable communities.
• Women will be equal partners in the attainment of world peace, tolerance and understanding.

These tell me that your international vision is very much a New Zealand vision.

I want to focus on 2 areas: freedom from violence, and women in leadership.

Indeed, the elimination of family violence within New Zealand is one of the highest priorities for the government. Our rates are shamefully and unacceptably high.

On November 25 last year I was one of thousands of New Zealanders who marked White Ribbon Day. On that day, men and women wore a white ribbon to show they will not commit, condone, or remain silent about men’s violence towards women.

The campaign was started by a men’s movement in Canada in 1991 and
25 November has been officially adopted by the United Nations as its International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Setting aside a day a year to draw attention to this issue is commendable. It would be so much better, however, if we thought about and acted on eliminating violence towards women every day.

In June 2005 we established the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families. The Taskforce is made up of decision-makers from the government, non-government sectors, crown agencies, and the judiciary. The deputy chair of the Taskforce is Shenagh Gleisner, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

This was a major step. It is the first time we have had representatives from all of these sectors come together to tackle the problem of family violence and achieve a vision: All families and whanau have healthy, respectful, stable relationships, free from violence.

The Taskforce is charged with advising a team of cabinet ministers on how to address family violence, and how to ultimately eliminate it in our country. It is not a simple matter of passing laws and it will certainly not happen overnight. It will require sustained, co-ordinated, and multi-level action over a number of years.

It especially requires a change to behaviours and attitudes. All of us – individuals, families, and communities – need to challenge the continued tolerance of violence in all aspects of our society. To eliminate family violence, we must eliminate social attitudes that tolerate, reinforce, or support that violence.

Violence happens because people allow it to happen.

Changing behaviour and attitudes is, therefore, one of the main strands of action being undertaken by the Taskforce. The other three are: leadership; safety and accountability; and effective support services.

We need leadership at all levels of society if we are going to transform it into one that does not tolerate family violence. We want swift and unambiguous action by family members and the justice sector to ensure people are safe and perpetrators are held to account for their actions. And we want individuals and families affected by family violence to have the help and support they need so they can recover and thrive.

An indication of the government’s determination to effect significant change around family violence is the amount of resources we are providing for initiatives, campaigns, and research.

We have provided over $11 million over four years for a nationwide campaign, spearheaded by the Taskforce, to change behaviour and attitudes towards family violence. This will include: community-owned and -driven family violence prevention initiatives; national activities and actions to change prevailing attitudes and behaviour that contribute to family violence; and national activities and actions that encourage healthy and stable relationships.
We will continue to look for effective government interventions, but increasingly the gains will come through education and through partnerships between government and non-government organisations such as yours. We want, and need, to work closely with you to change the prevailing attitudes.

As you may know, a vastly under-reported area of family violence is sexual violence. Many victims of sexual violence are reluctant to make formal complaints about what has happened because of embarrassment and fear. Going through the trial process can exacerbate this and it can be even worse if the victim and offender are known to each other.

I was very pleased, therefore, to announce last month a grant to fund a two-year research project into improving the justice system for adult victims of sexual violence.

The announcement was made jointly with my colleagues, the Minister of Justice – Mark Burton, and the Minister of Police – Annette King. The $900,000 project will be led by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice and the New Zealand Police. It will investigate how many reports of sexual violence in New Zealand end up with a successful conviction; it will look at ways to improve the likelihood of victims making formal complaints; and it will investigate how victims can best be supported through the criminal justice system.

The project will complement other initiatives being undertaken by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs that are aimed at addressing family violence. The Ministry is also currently involved in work around protection orders. This involves talking to women about their experiences and, through gaining a better understanding of those experiences, developing ways to make them and their children safer. The Ministry is also investigating the potential role of victim advocates, particularly in courts, to help people get information and access to the full range of support and services that are available to them.

All of this work, of course, falls within the ambit of our overall strategy, the Action Plan for New Zealand Women, to improve the status of New Zealand women. This is the five-year plan which guides the Ministry and which was developed in 2004 following extensive consultation with many New Zealand women from all walks of life. It promotes economic Independence/work-life balance/health and well-being.

We are now half-way through the five years and much has been achieved. Areas in which we have made progress include: women’s participation in tertiary education; 14 weeks paid parental leave, including for those who are self-employed; more assistance with childcare; and pay and employment equity.

Over the past year and a half, several public service departments have undertaken full pay and employment equity reviews and they are now developing plans to address any inequities they identified. This is the start of a process that will extend to the whole of the public service, public health and education sectors, which should ensure that equal pay for equal work is true in reality as well as in law.

We are also making small, but significant, steps in increasing the numbers of women on government statutory bodies.

A whole-of-government stock-take of membership of state sector boards and committees undertaken by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs last year found that women now represent 41 percent of the total government-appointed membership of those boards. That is still not 50 percent, but it is a figure that is steadily improving.

Let’s compare that figure to those revealed by the 2006 New Zealand Census of Women’s Participation prepared by the Human Rights Commission and the New Zealand Centre for Women and Leadership. According to the Census, women in New Zealand make up only:

• 7.1 percent of directors of the top 100 companies on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (Even Australia does better!)
• 16.9 percent of university professors and associate professors
• 18.9 percent of mayors.

These numbers are poor by anyone’s standards.

So, what are we doing about it? The government is attempting to lead by example. We have set ourselves a target, which is 50 percent representation of women on state sector boards and committees by 2010. This doesn’t mean quotas, or 50 percent on every board – it just means that across all the boards there should be equal representation of men and women if we are making the best use of the whole talent of our nation.

It just does not make sense to overlook the skills of 50 percent of the population. The mechanism through which we find women with suitable skills and background and put them forward for consideration for board appointment is the Ministry of Women’s Affairs Nominations Service.

The Nominations Service maintains a database of suitable women, built up over many years and constantly updated, and it also works with appointing agencies to understand their needs. It then uses its database to find women who have the attributes needed for the job, and puts them forward. The key is only nominating strong candidates – if the Service cannot find a woman with the skills needed, then it doesn’t nominate. The women who are put forward for the appointment still have to compete with all the other candidates based on what they bring to the position, but at least they are on the list, and our experience proves that many of them are appointed.

So we are having some real success in the state sector. It does not follow, however, that the same model would necessarily work in the private sector where there is diverse ownership and a greater diversity of interests.

We are keen to increase the percentage of women at board level in the private sector though, and there will be a link between the Ministry of Women’s Affairs’ Nominations Service and three private sector web-based initiatives being developed to help businesses find suitable women to serve on private sector boards.

The motivation for all of this work is not just to give women the opportunities they deserve, but to eliminate the current waste of talent, which New Zealand, as an economy, cannot afford.

I hope, while I have been talking, that some of you have been considering putting forward either yourselves or someone else you know who has the skills to be considered for board appointment. I am sure serving on a governing board could be considered within the context of your conference theme, ‘Spirit of Service’, and in your overall mission of working through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women.

It may interest you, but perhaps not surprise you, to know that a number of studies have found a correlation between stronger financial performance and better representation of women on boards. For example: A 2001 Catalyst study of 353 Fortune 500 companies found that the group of companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced better financial performance than the group of companies with the lowest women’s representation: return on equity was 35.1 percent higher, and total return to shareholders was 34 percent higher.

I strongly encourage you all to consider it, and to contact the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, or check out the ‘women on boards’ section on the Ministry’s website. You, or someone you are sitting next to, may be sitting on a board when we reach that 50 percent mark, and that will be a cause for celebration.

Finally I did notice on your agenda that you have been supporting the Brainwave Trust by arranging presentations in communities on brain development and how important positive stimulating interaction with a newborn child is. 0-3 are the precious years that shape so much of a child’s future – so I just wanted to endorse your work and congratulate you for taking this vital message into the community.

So on that note, thank you for allowing me the honour of speaking to your conference and may I wish you well for what looks like an excellent weekend of activities.