By Cassandra Kalpaxis
Each year, International Women’s Day gives us a theme. This year, the United Nations has called on us to “Balance the Scales.” It is a powerful phrase, particularly for those of us who work within the legal system.
As a family lawyer and domestic violence educator, justice and equality are not abstract concepts to me. They shape my work, my advocacy and my thinking every single day.
I have witnessed the devastation of gendered violence up close. I have sat across from women whose lives have been eroded by years of coercive control. I have seen the financial ruin, the psychological harm and the long shadow it casts over children. I have worked with teenagers through the Not One More Girl initiative, educating young people about respect, power and early warning signs. I have spent years helping women understand patterns of coercive control when they walk into my office confused, doubting themselves and unsure whether what they are experiencing “counts” as abuse.
And I have relentlessly advocated for broader societal change.
But individual education and frontline advocacy, while essential, are not enough. We cannot expect lawyers, teachers and community leaders to carry the burden alone. Real and lasting reform must come from systemic change at the top — from governments prepared to legislate boldly, fund properly and prioritise prevention as seriously as response.
Balancing the scales means resourcing education in schools to end the cycle of violence; training judicial officers in trauma-informed practice, and ensuring that breaches of protection orders carry real consequences. It means recognising patterns of behaviour, not just isolated incidents. The law must be accessible, swift and survivor-centred.
Economic inequality is a driver of violence
One of the most misunderstood aspects of gendered violence is its link to financial dependence.
I regularly see women who have spent years out of the paid workforce raising children, only to discover during separation that they have no savings, no independent income and limited access to financial records. Some do not even know the extent of their partner’s assets.
If we want to balance the scales, we must address the gender wealth gap at its root. That means normalising financial transparency in relationships. It means ensuring that stay-at-home parents have access to funds in their own name. It means superannuation reform, stronger property settlement enforcement and better access to legal funding.
A woman who cannot afford to leave is not free.
Prevention must start long before crisis
Prevention begins with education about respectful relationships, consent and equality from a young age. It requires dismantling the entitlement that still underpins much of the violence we see: the belief that a partner is property, that control is love, that masculinity is dominance.
We must also confront the online ecosystem that amplifies misogyny and normalises hostility toward women. Algorithms that reward outrage and dehumanisation contribute to a culture where violence becomes thinkable.
Balancing the scales means challenging harmful narratives wherever they take root: in schools, workplaces, media and political discourse.
The burden cannot sit with women
Too often, the responsibility for safety is placed on women. Leave earlier. Plan better. Document everything. Keep receipts. Record conversations. Be careful what you post.
This framing subtly shifts responsibility away from perpetrators and systems, and back onto victims.
Ending gendered violence requires sustained focus on accountability. Perpetrator intervention programs must be properly funded and rigorously evaluated. Bail decisions must prioritise risk assessment. Repeat offenders must face meaningful consequences.
We cannot ask women to carry the weight of reform while simultaneously blaming them for not leaving sooner.
Political will matters
Australia has declared gendered violence a national crisis. Yet crisis language must be matched by structural investment.
Funding DV education, shelters and frontline services cannot be a budget afterthought. Family law delays cannot stretch on for years. Data collection must be consistent and transparent so that policy is evidence-based rather than reactive.
If we genuinely intend to end Australia’s femicide epidemic, then bipartisan commitment is essential. This cannot be a partisan issue. It is a national one.
What balancing the scales really looks like
Balancing the scales is not about tipping power in one direction. It is about restoring equilibrium where it has long been absent.
It looks like a society that understands coercive control.
It looks like women having independent financial security.
It looks like early education that dismantles entitlement.
It looks like perpetrators being held accountable.
It looks like governments funding prevention as seriously as response.
From a lawyer’s perspective, the scales will not balance themselves. Systems reflect the values of the societies that design them. If inequality is built in, inequality will persist.
The question is not whether we know what needs to be done. We do.
The question is whether we are prepared to do the hard, sustained work required to ensure that justice is more than an aspiration.
Balancing the scales is possible. But only if we are willing to recalibrate the system itself.
