In a society where male violence seems inevitable we need much more than education and awareness

‘The fact is that the most effective interventions to prevent domestic, family and sexual violence and homicide have been made in response to male public violence, not men’s private violence.’ Photograph: Rafael Elias/Getty Images

National anger at men’s violence against women is at boiling point. After multiple killings, Australians are marching on the streets demanding change. Governments are nervous, emphasising their existing approaches in media interviews, but searching for new solutions.

Data is critically important to prevention: it helps us to understand whether we are gaining or losing ground, what might be making violence better or worse, and what interventions could work. But data will never fully capture what it is like to endure, or witness, that violence or live in a society saturated with it. Data might fluctuate here or there, but the fact remains that men’s violence is a constant threat in Australia.