Men must stamp out even the smallest acts of sexism and gender bias.
That was a key message of Shoulder to Shoulder, an insightful seminar run by inTouch – Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence – last Wednesday.
The Visy Cares Hub was packed as a six-man panel fielded questions from about 100 people on issues and discriminatory attitudes towards women.
Justice for Nikita Chawla spokesman, Nikita’s brother Tarang Chawla, called on all men to be fearless in calling out sexism, at the pub, with mates or at work.
“Act in a dignified way, in a way we would want ourselves to be treated,” he said.
“Question why there isn’t an equal [gender] representation on The Footy Show, for example. Question and critically analyse these everyday examples of small sexism as part of a larger social problem.”
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre founder Kon Karapanagiotidis said Australia needs more male leaders.
“It costs nothing to use the language we use, with your privilege as a man, to create spaces [for women],” he said.
Health West project manager Cuong La said domestic violence was often incorrectly framed as a “cultural issue”.
There were also insights from construction industry worker James, who said gender inequality in his work had been “disgusting”.
