We are reminded every day of the threat that lurks around each corner. The media and our governments, past and present, have done a stellar job of persuading us that terrorism is the number one threat to our society and our way of life. So much so that the 2015 budget saw $450 million alone to “counter extremist messaging”. This is on top of the $31 billion defence budget and additional $22 million and $750 million towards overseas projects.
At the time of writing, the number of women already dead this year from violence in Australia has reached 48. Thirteen have died so far in May and June alone. With no change out of $30 million in 2015 set aside in the last budget to combat this issue, we’re now starting to see basic services pulled and women’s shelters closing. The Coalition will also cut $43 million over the next four years from the legal assistance sector. Where does it end? And when will the killing stop?
Would similar funds be applied to services if we renamed domestic violence? Is it possible that altering the language will bring about the attention needed to combat this epidemic? Attention from our government and from our community?
Recently Rosie Batty urged us to “start calling family violence terrorism and then maybe we can start to see funding flowing to this area.” If we can start to change the perception of domestic violence, to understand that these women are subjected to terrifying ordeals before their deaths, then and only then can we start to expose this epidemic for what it is.
To quote Rosie Batty speaking at the Press Club and in her capacity as the Our Watch Ambassador, “I ask you, the Australian media, to join me in preventing violence against women and their children. And I invite you, the Australian public watching today, to continue to join in the national conversation we started just over a year ago. Together, we can stop it before it starts.”
