This would have been Luke’s 13th birthday

October 1, 2015 6:10 PM

Rosie Batty's son was murdered by his father. Her bravery since has led her to become Australian of the year. She dedicates the award to her son. She has praised the coroner who led the inquest into her son's death. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced a $100 million package to address domestic violence. Musician Chris Brown has been denied a visa to enter Australia on the basis of his domestic violence record.

Victims of domestic violence in Australian can call 1800 RESPECT. For those in other nations, please post your local organization here.

posted by adept256 (16 comments total)

Jeff Sparrow on the Chris Brown visa denial is good.
posted by retrograde at 6:18 PM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this post!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 6:20 PM on October 1, 2015

An 11-member expert panel on Friday told the inquiry that filicide, particularly the murder by a parent of a child as relatively old as Luke, was so rare that there was no reliable research yet into whether it could be predicted.

As a result, said forensic psychologist Professor James Ogloff, there needed to be greater realisation among people who work with women experiencing family violence that children could be at risk "any time".

This was truly striking. In so many accidents or incidents, our (or, the American?) response is to 'other' - to define why and how this can't happen to me, because I wear seatbelts, I don't drink and drive, my guns are all safe and locked up, it's so rare, couldn't happen here.

So when I read 'rare, exceptional' I expected to see it dismissed. The next sentence, that greater realizations were needed, stunned me. In a good way. More of this, world, please.
posted by Dashy at 6:42 PM on October 1, 2015 [9 favorites]

Today marks the beginning of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the US. You can find resources nationally at The Hotline or by calling 18007997233. I will say the White House has done much good for addressing domestic & sexual violence, and especially teen dating violence through the "1 is 2 Many" Campaign. More of course could be done - so many of our famous/popular artists/athletes/performers/politicians have perpetrated power and control in relationships. And our media - our media is expert at not-naming domestic violence when it occurs. I need ten more hands to count the number of times I recently heard a breaking news story about a stabbing or a shooting and said to myself - domestic violence, I am sure of it. And the media ignores it. And a few days later you see a line about "ex-boyfriend" or "ex-so and so" or "domestic-disturbance" and no one says the words domestic violence. So bravo, Australia. I hope this trend continues.
posted by anya32 at 6:43 PM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Thank you for that article, retrograde, it has some interesting points to it. What I like about what seems to be happening in Australia is some level of national discourse on these issues - sadly thanks to the work of survivors, like Rosie Batty, and because of political responses (truly tailored to the problem or not) such as this denial of entry to Chris Brown. Public figures in the U.S. have opened up conversations about domestic and sexual violence - and YES, I agree - many of those have focused solely on men of color as perpetrators, which promotes a number of stereotypes. I think a lot more needs to be said and done.
posted by anya32 at 6:59 PM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Around this time last year:

Controversial US “pick-up artist” Julien Blanc has cut short his Australian tour after having his visa cancelled in the wake of protests against his seminars, which promote dangerous and abusive behaviour towards women.

The immigration minister, Scott Morrison, said Blanc’s visa was cancelled Thursday night.

“This guy wasn’t putting forward political ideas, he was putting forward abuse that was derogatory to women and that’s just something, those are values abhorred in this country.”

Not quite as good as not having been allowed the entry to start off with, but good that his ideology was identified as leading to violence towards women and being kicked out of the country for it.
posted by owlrigh at 7:07 PM on October 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

Not quite as good as not having been allowed the entry to start off with

Sure, but I'm kind of relieved that PUA 'community' is small and inconsequential enough that the government hasn't heard of it.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:19 PM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also, new things happening which Rosie Batty has had a hand in, and politicians riding the tide of her domestic violence campaigning:

Australian of the Year Rosie Batty is expected to be among the witnesses when Victoria's Royal Commission into Family Violence holds a series of public hearings over the next month.

The hearings: Royal Commission into Family Violence [government website]

And in Queensland, the Governor General Quentin Bryce had a large hand in this newly ratified Not Now, Not Ever report into domestic violence and recommendations for specialised DV courts, which Bryce made mention of pushing forward during the visibliity of Luke Batty's death and the history of domestic violence leading up to it. [full report]

The Queensland Government ratified the report in August 2015 and has accepted all full 140 recommendations within that report.

Key actions include increasing criminal penalties for domestic and family violence, to reflect that the relationship is an aggravating factor in sentencing.

Minister for Women, Shannon Fentiman said over four years, $31.3 million will be invested to implement the high-priority initiatives recommended in the Not Now: Not Ever report. During 2015-16, Government funding to tackle domestic and family violence, including existing programs and new measures, will total more than $66 million.

I truly hope that these recommendations come forth and are not merely handwavey funds; as a front-line health worker seeing the effects on children, on women, and on the wider community -- I hope very much that government willingness to identify domestic violence improves the lives of upcoming generations.
posted by owlrigh at 7:22 PM on October 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

our media is expert at not-naming domestic violence when it occurs

So is ours.
The passive language used in reporting to disguise domestic violence
posted by Thella at 7:28 PM on October 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

Oh and one more thing.. I hope this means curtailment of visitation and custody for abusers.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:27 PM on October 1, 2015

I'm impressed by Australia's approach to fighting violence against women.

I didn't realize the extent of the efforts until I read yesterday about the cancellation of an entry visa for this anti-choice nutjob who has previously called for the execution of doctors. He managed to fly to Australia anyway, but a few hours ago they ruled he'll be deported and the airline that allowed him to fly will be fined.

A Labour backbencher, Terri Butler, had requested the visa be cancelled, saying "I am concerned that Mr Newman’s presence in Australia will cause significant harm to our community,” Butler wrote in her letter to Dutton. “Mr Newman’s conduct may incite discord within the community and disrupt the ability of women to access lawful reproductive medicine. Furthermore, I am most concerned that Mr Newman’s call for ‘abortionists’ to be ‘executed’ could lead to threats or the commission of acts of violence against women and medical professionals."

Good for you, Australia.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:04 AM on October 2, 2015 [10 favorites]

Great to see the Queensland Government's Trust Your Instinct campaign pushing this message:

Domestic violence is not just physical abuse. It can also be controlling behaviour, stalking, threats and verbal abuse that can quickly turn into physical abuse with sometimes fatal consequences.

Four years ago when I was in just such a situation, I believed I could only expect police assistance if I was physically attacked and had bruises or worse to prove it. Fortunately I discovered I was wrong about that and finally received the help I needed from NSW police to get the abuser to leave my house and my life. I would have acted sooner had I known.
posted by valetta at 5:27 AM on October 2, 2015 [6 favorites]

I disagree with Jeff Sparrow, although I think he made his point well. Just because Chris Brown does not abuse women in Australia, just because Australian woman are at risk from their partners who are already, just because denying Chris Brown a visa does not eliminate him as a cultural influence do not make the denial of his visa meaningless nor counter-productive. It's actually a rather powerful message that domestic violence is so intolerable that we will do the effectively useless thing of telling you You Are Not Welcome Here Because You Battered Your Partner.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:50 AM on October 2, 2015 [9 favorites]

I agree, crush-onastick, 100%.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:56 AM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's actually a rather powerful message that domestic violence is so intolerable that we will do the effectively useless thing of telling you You Are Not Welcome Here Because You Battered Your Partner. But when we have Miranda Devine in the Sydney's biggest selling paper saying “If you want to break the cycle of violence, end the welfare incentive for unsuitable women to keep having children to a string of feckless men" (I'm not going to link to it) the power of the message is at best diluted.

There are some strong voices but things are not going OK here.
posted by hawthorne at 8:08 AM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Good for you, Australia.

translating...

Onya mate!
posted by adept256 at 9:04 AM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]