In the Canberra Times on 4 September 2014, one letter and four articles revealed the distressing news of murder and assaults, mostly sexual, on females aged from one month to middle age, by men who were their fathers, partners and strangers. These dreadful, unprovoked assaults by men confirm the cold statistics that every three hours in Australia a woman is hospitalised because of domestic violence and one woman dies every week at the hands of her male partner or ex-partner.
Tragically, it is well known that victims living with the perpetrator, fearing further violence, are highly unlikely to report assaults to the police. Measures must be undertaken to combat the abusive power of some men who express a fixed patriarchal view of women and a determination to exercise control over them, control that often results in assault and murder.
It is time to end the prevailing silence on such widespread violence and energise the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children by providing adequate funding as well as fostering the plan in every home, school, workplace and the community.
Keith McEwan, CLA member, Bonython ACT