More than 60 women have been violently killed this year, many by intimate partners, and experts warn that the holidays are a particularly dangerous time.
Counting Dead Women Australia – which is run by Destroy the Joint researchers – tracks “every known death due to violence against women” and says the number this week reached 62.
That figure includes a death on Wednesday, after a man allegedly stabbed two women in Plympton, South Australia. One woman, Julie Seed, died at the scene, and the other is in a stable condition in the Royal Adelaide hospital.
In that case, the accused was not believed to be known to the women, and had been discharged from hospital (where he was being treated for a mental health condition) two days previously.
The total figure is not entirely clear – Australian Femicide Watch puts the number at 74.
The federal government has announced a new system to track Australians killed by a current or former partner.
Statistics collated by No to Violence (NTV), a peak body working with men to stop family violence, show “significantly more family and domestic violence incidents reported to police forces across Australia throughout the Christmas and New Year period”.
They show an 11% higher number of family incidents in Victoria in December in 2021 compared with the yearly average; a quarter of a year’s family violence murders in New South Wales in January 2022; and a 58% higher level of domestic violence incidents in the Northern Territory, a 112% rise in Queensland and a 75% rise in Tasmania on New Year’s Day.
The NTV chief executive officer, Phillip Ritter, said there were a range of reasons.
“Financial pressures are particularly acute right now with the cost of living crisis,” he said.
“There may be tensions between ex-partners with shared custody arrangements, including negotiating changeover times and locations.
“People might have differing expectations around festivities, and they may be isolated from their usual community or other supports.
“On top of that there may be increased use of alcohol or other substances.”
Ritter said families might restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare for trans and gender diverse people, or restrictions on practising their religion, or people might be suffering reproductive coercion that could be exacerbated.
“The list goes on,” he said.
“It can be harder for women to stay safe when family members are all on holidays and therefore at home more.
“It can be harder to get away from a man who is using violence against you – a man who may be escalating his use of violence in response to the situation.”
According to the latest Australian Institute of Criminology Homicide in Australia report, there were 2,102 intimate partner homicides between 1989 and 2021.
Three in four (1,589) of the victims were female.
Overall, domestic and acquaintance homicide rates halved in that period.
University of Melbourne researcher Kristin Diemer has noted an “unexpected” drop, particularly during the pandemic. That could be partly because the pandemic changed research methods making it hard to compare data. It is also unknown how local conditions and lockdowns either triggered or suppressed violence, how they changed help-seeking behaviour and how support services responded. The pandemic may also have increased solidarity in families.
It may also be that Australia’s policies to reduce intimate partner violence are “paying off”, she wrote.
The federal government launched the national plan to end violence against women and children 2022-2032 last year. Its focus is on addressing the attitudes and systems that drive violence against women and children, intervening early, supporting victim-survivors and helping victim-survivors to be safe and healthy and to recover.
A spokesperson for the national domestic, family and sexual violence support service, 1800RESPECT, said the service would be available round-the-clock throughout the holiday period.
“The end of year holiday season can be a critical and challenging time for many and marks a busy period for 1800RESPECT supporting those affected by domestic, family or sexual violence,” a spokesperson said.
The shadow minister for women, Sussan Ley, has called on big business and social media companies to promote domestic violence support services’ contact details over the holiday season.
In South Australia, the deaths of four women in the space of a week prompted calls for a royal commission into family violence. Last week, the premier, Peter Malinauskas, announced there would be a one-year royal commission.
The deaths were a “horrendous reminder of how far our society still has to go in addressing the scourge of domestic violence”, Malinauskas said. The terms of reference would be announced next year.
Ritter said it was true that too many men had chosen to use family violence at this time of year, and “too often it has ended in tragedy”.
“But it doesn’t have to be this way,” he said.
“There are better choices men can make. They can choose to imagine a Christmas without violence and control: a Christmas filled with respect and love.”
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. NTV’s men’s referral service is on 1300 766 491.
Anyone in immediate danger should call 000.
