Families are still grieving, and many Australians remain saddened and shocked, after the killing of four women and girls in four days earlier this month. And according to Australian Femicide Watch, 37 women have been killed this year.
Many of us have been asking: what more do we need to do to stop men’s violence against women?
There are many evidence-backed answers to this important question. But calling this violence a “two-way street” and misplacing the responsibility for violence back onto victims, as One Nation leader Pauline Hanson did this week, is not one of them.
According to our national Personal Safety Survey, one in four women have experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15, compared with one in eight men.
One in five women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, compared with one in 16 men.
And one in five women have experienced stalking since the age of 15, compared with one in 15 men.
The overwhelming majority of this violence is perpetrated by men. We cannot ignore the gendered patterns.
The research has long shown us that planning to leave, and leaving, are among the most dangerous times for women and children.
Not only can leaving be associated with an escalated risk of physical and lethal violence, but often post-separation abuse by former intimate partners continues, with detrimental impacts on women’s and children’s mental health, economic security, and long-term recovery.
And for many victim-survivors, coercive control, including financial abuse, stalking and social isolation, can leave them with little freedom or material resources to leave safely.
The stark reality is for many victim-survivors, there is nowhere safe and affordable for them to go. Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for Australian women and children.
Source: Domestic violence isn’t a ‘two-way street’. The evidence shows it’s gendered and often deadly