Federal politicians say Australia needs a national approach to tackling the scourge of domestic violence, and better support for women, following a string of violent deaths across the country. About 50 women have been killed in Australia this year, five of them in the past 10 days.
The deaths spanned the nation with women found dead in Perth, Bendigo, Canberra, Sydney, the Hunter region and Aldinga beach in South Australia.
Among them was high school water polo coach Lilie James, 21, who died from horrific head injuries in the toilets of a school gymnasium in Sydney’s CBD last Thursday.
The body of her alleged killer, Paul Thijssen, a 24-year-old sports coach at the same school, was pulled from sea cliffs in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Friday.
Acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the spate of killings was a national crisis, and “we are not talking about it enough”.
“We must move past despair and anger and take greater action because the violence has not slowed, and the killings have not stopped.”
In a joint statement Liberal MP Bridget Archer, Labor MP Alicia Payne and Greens spokeswoman on women Larissa Waters urged governments to tackle the root causes of violence, and transform harmful social norms that can lead to femicide. They also called for more funding for frontline services that provide help to women escaping violence.
“Governments at all levels must continue to prioritise this issue with funding and leadership, and each of us must drive the cultural change we need to end the epidemic of violence against women in our communities,” they wrote on Wednesday.
Source: The Sidney Morning Herald
