 | This letter was to an American paper complaining that there had been five articles published about domestic violence over two days. In that same two days, there had been 69,120 victims of domestic violence. Similar complaints are heard here in Australia. In a perfect world, there should be an article for EVERY victim. Domestic violence is still stigmatised making it difficult for victims to speak up. Victim blaming is a national sport: 'If things were that bad, why didn’t you leave?' or, even this week, regarding the mass murder of 2 women and 3 little girls in WA, people are blaming Mara Harvey, the mum, for their death because she was significantly older than her husband, the alleged perpetrator of the murders. 'She groomed him as a teenager, controlled him and then threatened him with never seeing the children and taking all his money through child support', they claim making her responsible for her own death as well as that of her mother and her three daughters. When victims do share their stories, they often are discounted because an abuser’s public mask is in direct contrast with what goes on at home. Reading articles in the paper about domestic violence is unpleasant but the truth is that domestic violence itself is a real issue in our society and it is MORE than unpleasant. Not only should these stories be printed, there should be more of them. And here I'd like to mention Sherele Moody of The Red Heart Campaign who is undertaking the horrendous and humungous task of trying to write the story for each victim who does not survive and for mapping all the killings on the Australian Femicide Map. Perhaps, if the issue of domestic violence were brought further into the light, we could reach a point where homes everywhere would be safe for everyone! Read the original article here. |
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