Opinion: DV doesn’t discriminate, neither should we when discussing it

If you were one of the many people who commented “deport” on our story about a med student sentenced for brutally attacking his former girlfriend at a university event – you’ve missed the point.

Uvindu Pansuja Samarasi Jayasekara was sentenced in Townsville Magistrates Court for punching a woman he was in a relationship. He is currently a James Cook University Medical student.

If you were one of the many people who commented “deport” on our story about a med student sentenced for brutally attacking his former girlfriend at a university event – you’ve missed the point.

Domestic and family violence does not discriminate and nor should we when it comes to discussing it.

This week we reported on a JCU medical student who was sentenced for violently attacking a fellow medical student, and a woman he purported to love, at a university-sanctioned event.

What came from the public was an outpouring of comments quite rightly horrified by the offending but also a shocking pile on referencing the colour of the offender’s skin.

Reading the deluge of comments talking about the man’s heritage paused my feelings of anger towards this abuser and made way for separate feelings of rage.

I thought ‘well hang on, why are they focused on his ethnicity?’ Do they know the victim is a proud immigrant who has already begun to achieve great things in the medical world?

The person this alleged ‘man’ was supposed to support and care for was so brazen in his abuse he assaulted her until she was bleeding in a bathroom, before demanding she go home so nobody could see the damage he had caused.

His punishment? $500 fine and no conviction recorded.

Why aren’t the people making divisive and xenophobic comments angry about that?

Or angry that the university allowed him to continue his studies alongside the victim?

Or angry that a university professor was happy to write a “good character” reference for this perpetrator?

Because when you change the focus to where he or his family were born, it completely changes the conversation.

It makes him the victim of racism, and I assure you, this is not someone who should be considered a victim in any sense.

Changing the conversation from – “how do we fix domestic violence in our community?” to “where were you born?” is a missed chance for collective action on a scourge that erode the very fabric of our community.

I spend most of my days reporting from our courtrooms and see domestic violence come in all forms, from all people. Men perpetrating against women, women perpetrating against men, both genders perpetrating against children and it is not exclusive to a certain colour of skin or nationality.

What’s been revealed this week is not new.

But in my opinion, what is specifically disgusting about this particular case is that a powerful institution showed its support for the abuser with a positive reference letter submitted to the court by one of its professors.

The palpable anger we feel should not be dulled but we should use it to help drive systemic change, and we must not forget where to aim it.

Originally published as Opinion: DV doesn’t discriminate, neither should we when discussing it