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

On 3 May 2017, I attended the candle vigil to commemorate domestic and family violence victims at the women's centre in Townsville. Members from our community gathered to remember and pay our respects to the women and children who have died as a direct result of domestic and family violence. We acknowledged their loved ones, those who have been left behind to pick up the pieces from such terribly tragic circumstances. Up until 3 May this year, 16 lives had been lost in Australia as a result of domestic and family violence that we know of.

In 2016, the women's centre in Townsville provided counselling services to over 1,000 women who indicated that domestic and/or finely violence was an issue. The effect of violence has on a person's mental health whether it is verbal, physical or emotional can be debilitating. It is never okay to be abused emotionally or physically and there is absolutely no excuse for family and domestic violence.

Disrespect and aggression are not always easy subjects to talk about in society, and this needs to change. By speaking out and talking about domestic and family violence, we create a space for stigma reduction that will create a safe zone for those who have been or are being subjected to family and domestic violence. As parents, family members, teachers, coaches, community leaders and employers, we all have an important role: to speak out to support the women and children in our community who are affected by family and domestic violence. We need to speak up when someone says or does something that excuses abuse or disrespects women.

Shamefully, Townsville is the sexual assault capital of Queensland, and the Women's Centre in Townsville is the only specialist sexual assault counselling service in our community, and it is most certainly overburdened and overwhelmed. For 30 years, the Women's Centre has provided services to an average of 14,000 women per year, delivering assistance to thousands of women and their children. The Women's Centre in Townsville does phenomenal work and offers a number of services to help those in our community who are in desperate need.

The 'Living in fear'document contains the following damning statistics: one in four Australian women experience intimate partner violence; one woman is killed in Australia by a partner or ex-partner almost every week; a woman faces an increased risk of being killed or seriously injured when she leaves or is separating from an abusive partner; three women are hospitalised each week in Australia with a traumatic brain injury caused by their partner; children are present in one out of every three family violence cases reported to the police; Aboriginal women are 35 times more likely to be hospitalised by family violence than other women; and women and girls with disabilities are twice as likely to experience violence as those without. I want to say to the women who are experiencing or have experienced any form of abuse: do not be ashamed. Do not be embarrassed to seek help or to talk with someone, because you are a survivor.