Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have spoken many times in this place on the terrible statistics regarding violence against women. I think we all know the statistics. We all know the rates at which women are being killed and/or are living with debilitating injuries, physical or emotional, as a result. We all know the incredibly low statistics of how many women actually report the violence that they have experienced. We all know the statistics about the impact that violence against women has on children. The statistics are in our face on a regular basis.

But what do most of us know about the stories of these women? Chances are everyone does know a woman who has been or is a victim of violence but has never told her story. So today I want to share a story with you. For the purposes of protecting this woman's identity, I will call her Sarah. Sarah is an amazing woman. She has two children, both in their teenage years. Sarah has a law degree and an excellent professional job. She has a vibrant, warm and bubbly personality and can fill the room with laughter. I have known her for only a few years, but a couple of years ago I was saddened and horrified to discover that she was the victim of domestic violence by her now ex-husband.

Sarah has described some of the attacks she endured. She was repeatedly beaten within an inch of her life, and the final straw came when she was thrown across the room and knocked unconscious, but the beating continued. She woke up in hospital, and the first thing that concerned her was the safety of her children. Thankfully they were both safe. The second thing she thought about was how she was going to explain the broken bones and bruises to her work colleagues. Her make-up could not hide it this time. Sarah left that relationship, but in the years to come, whilst going through the divorce proceedings, Sarah would lose multiple jobs. She lost jobs because she had to take time off from work for Family Court responsibilities and to fight for the custody of her children. She lost multiple jobs because her ex-husband would come to her workplace and threaten her work colleagues as they were leaving. She lost multiple jobs because she was forced to constantly move, because her ex-husband would eventually track her down and find her new location. Two years on, and after 50 breaches by her ex-husband of his AVOs, Sarah has finally been able to move on. Her ex-husband was finally arrested. He was imprisoned for a physical altercation with another male, not for the multiple attacks he had made on Sarah. But, either way, Sarah now has some sort of peace.

As difficult as it is, I tell her story in this place so that we can understand the human stories behind the statistics—not just that this is an issue that has become an epidemic but the actual turmoil that women and children, sadly, face, often every day. When I asked Sarah about the services she sought when she needed assistance most, I wasn't shocked to hear that it was the same organisations that I hear of so often being utilised in Townsville. The Women's Centre was the place Sarah first told her story. The Women's Centre is a place that has been a continual source of refuge for Sarah, as it has been for many other women in my community of Townsville. But, like most services, the Women's Centre struggles on in a building that needs desperate renovation, and the funding for the services that it offers has been reduced or cut. It is not good enough for us to acknowledge the statistics that are associated with violence against women. It is not good enough for us not to consider that those services require ongoing support and adequate funding. They also need to have facilities that are up to standard for services being offered in 2018 in any community across this country. I commend the work that the Townsville Women's Centre does and I pay my deep respects to those women who have survived domestic violence and have made a safe life for their children. I hope that, as a community, we pay deep attention to the stories of these women, not just the numbers that make up the statistics.

Debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended from 12:49 to 16:03

See this speech in context