Recently Published: “Our Approach to Domestic Violence Needs to Change” By Professor Kerry Carrington

Professor Carrington explains:

“If we’re to ever achieve gender equality, we must first make the world a safer place for women. One in three women in the world experience domestic or sexual violence mostly at the hands of an intimate partner. This year, China introduced its first ever law criminalising domestic violence, while Brazil and Columbia strengthened their domestic violence laws and adopted the UN protocol for investigating domestic related violent deaths. The spot light shone brightly on domestic violence in Australia too following the choice of Rosie Batty as Australian of the year. Queensland is trialling Australia’s first domestic violence court, and implementing a range of recommendations from the Not now, not ever report; Victoria established a Royal Commission into Family Violence; and the Commonwealth Government announced a $100 million safety package 100 million package ‘to provide a safety net for women and children at high risk of experiencing violence’ (Press Release, PM, 24 September 2015). Despite these efforts, much more needs to be done to make Australia a safer place for women, as police deal with a domestic violence matter every two minutes, and a staggering proportion — 41% — of homicides arise from domestic and family violence.”