news, latest-news

The day her son was murdered was the day she became a warrior. Since that day in February 2014, Rosie Batty has spent nearly all her waking hours advocating to stop family violence. And now she is exhausted. Exhausted and devastated. Every day, she is contacted by those affected, torn apart by the needs of "desperate people in dangerous situations". Yet since her term as Australian of the year ended 13 months ago, she's had no direct contact from the federal government as it sets about cutting essential services for women and children. Nothing. She remembers standing by Malcolm Turnbull's side as he announced money for the domestic violence package in 2015. "But I'm not sure what happened with the funding that was promised as he stood beside me, I'm not sure about what was delivered. They have got their own priorities and their own problems but I am concerned they have not had any significant impact on family violence," she says despairingly. And as for Attorney-General George Brandis, who has overarching control of funding for legal organisations that work to prevent more violence and more chaos, she has nothing, no way of making an impact on him. "I do not know how to get through to George Brandis," she says. Brandis is the Attorney-General slicing millions of dollars from the budgets of legal services everywhere – those same services already turning away thousands of needy people a year. Does Batty think this lack of response is because her term as Australian of the Year is over? "It would be foolish to think I had the same influence," she says. "I do not know how to take honest stock of all of the things that were supposed to be happening." This is what's still happening despite any protestations from the government, despite any pretence that it's taking serious action. Last week, two women died violently on the same day. This year, seven all up that we know about, as well as at least two deaths in remote communities where getting any consistent public reporting is nearly impossible. Over the past three years, more than 200 women have been killed. It's such an urgent problem across the world that United Nations special rapporteur Dubravka Simonovic is conducting a sweeping study. She is in Australia now assessing violence against women here and meeting everyone she can – representatives at federal, state and territorial level among the legislative and judicial branches, the Australian Human Rights Commission and various rights commissioners, as well as with a broad range of civil society representatives. I met her in Sydney last week and her laser focus on the issue of violence against women was compelling. She urged us all to have the best data we could collect and acknowledged those involved in what she described as the femicide census or femicide watch, including the work of Destroy the Joint's Counting Dead Women. She has said: "Violence against women continues to be one of the most pervasive human rights violations globally, affecting every woman worldwide and Australia is no exception." Which is why Batty continues with her inhuman workload. Last year, she spoke at more than 150 events. This year, there are many more to come. She's sure that one particular area would do much to stop family violence – in particular the deaths of children – and that's the reform of the Family Court. She has begged and pleaded with everyone to take stock and to stop the harm. Instead of those changes, she's seen back-pedalling and the rise of One Nation. "I have gone from believing that I can influence change to now seeing [Pauline] Hanson come up and she seems to have a very different perspective, influenced by men's rights activists and based around victim-blaming." Not all the news is terrible. Batty is reassured by changes at a state level, particularly in Victoria and elsewhere. "But if I could see the degree of genuine intent at a national level that we see in Victoria, it would be clear that family violence is being taken seriously." She pauses. The toll of her workload is apparent. She's exhausted but she's not done yet, not by a long shot. "We need national oversight, national funding and a complete overhaul of the Family Court. "I am overwhelmed and I am feeling, after three years of campaigning, there are still so many attitudes which don't recognise that family violence is a gendered issue. We all have to bear the burden of changing our society's attitudes when two women a week are still dying. It will take long-term change and it may take decades." She has one last plea. "There still seems to be a battle at the national level into the areas of reform that need to happen. I need to ask: has the federal government taken its foot off the pedal?" Jenna Price is a columnist for The Canberra Times and Daily Life, and a senior lecturer in journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney. She has been involved with Destroy the Joint since its inception and says: "I could not be more proud of the work we do. Special shout-out to Pat Bradley, Sue McLeod and Deb Smith." Twitter: @JennaPrice Facebook: JennaPriceJournalist

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/5ddb8e2a-b88c-4495-a8ec-774c453008e3/r0_132_2000_1262_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg