International human rights barrister Jennifer Robinson has seen first-hand how the justice system can be used as a means to silence victims of harassment and abuse.
In 2020, she represented Amber Heard during defamation proceedings brought against the actress in the UK by her former husband Johnny Depp, which he lost.
"The reality is that for centuries, laws have been written by men, for men," Ms Robinson told a UN Women Australia International Women's Day event on Wednesday.
"Patriarchal interests have been protected above all else, with little consideration for women's rights or for our lived experience.
"It has meant that for too long, the legal system has been balancing its scales wrong."
Ms Robinson wants to see legal changes that would make it more difficult for strategic lawsuits intent on silencing people to be brought to court, as well as changes to stop non-disclosure agreements from silencing victims of workplace sexual harassment.
"We can't hold men accountable if we can't talk about what they've been doing," she said.
"Challenging misogyny and discrimination whenever we see it in our own lives and people around us, having those difficult cultural conversations, call it out."
According to UN Women, one in three women will suffer some form of gender-based violence in their lifetime.
That makes violence against women the most prevalent human rights abuse in Australia and around the world, Ms Robinson said.
"We cannot begin to tackle violence against women if we can't speak about it," she said.
Focus should also be turned towards balancing the scales of justice for children and those who are survivors of child sexual abuse, 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame said.
She was groomed and abused by a school teacher as a child and is now an advocate for child safety.
Ms Tame spoke about the six phases of grooming including targeting, gaining trust, filling in need, isolating, sexualising and maintaining control.
All are important for people to understand and be able to identify in order to protect children, she said.
"Offenders are operating among us constantly ... this is a ubiquitous problem. It's everywhere, it's in every tier of society," she said.
"But if we are equipped with the knowledge to stop it, we can break cycles, we can recalibrate the scales of justice."
Every person deserved to feel safe, respected and free to reach their full potential, UN Women Australia chief executive Simone Clarke said.
"It feels like every day we wake up to a new crisis - conflict in the Middle East, crises in Sudan and Ukraine and closer to home the recent horrific attacks in Bondi," she said.
"They remind us that peace, safety and security are tenuous and that we must hold people to account, stand together and protect our rights and freedoms."
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