Violence against women and children is a worsening “national crisis” according to top judge

Violence against women and children at the hands of men is a worsening “national crisis” and men need to stand up and prevent it, one of Australia’s top judges has declared.

The alleged murder of Hannah McGuire is one of many cases that has drawn attention to the disturbing scourge of violence toward women across the country.

Violence against women and children at the hands of men is a worsening “national crisis” which requires men to stand up and prevent it, one of Australia’s most powerful judges has declared.

Dozens of women have been killed in Australia in the first four months of 2024, with nine killed in the past 18 days alone – a rate of one woman every second day.

The alleged murders of Samantha Murphy, Hannah McGuire and Rebecca Young in the Ballarat region and the suspected targeted killings of five women in the Bondi Junction Shopping Centre massacre has drawn enormous public attention to the disturbing scourge of violence toward women across the country.

Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Chief Justice William Alstergren on Friday labelled the violence epidemic “a national disgrace” in urgent need of action and innovation.

“The level of family violence and domestic violence is a national disgrace. It’s getting worse, not better and that’s despite so many people in this (prevention) area,” Justice Alstergren said.

Chaithanya “Swetha” Madhagani’s body was found in wheelie bin near Geelong on March 9.

Police are still searching for missing Ballarat East mum Samantha Murphy’s body. A man has been charged with her murder.

The comments were made at the National Family Violence Symposium, the first of its kind, held in Melbourne which brought together more than 80 family violence sector experts to try tackle the nation’s greater public safety threat.

Justice Alstergren said for change to happen, men must be at the forefront and do their part in responsibly raising the next generation of boys and men.

Women killed in Australia this year.

He said the sector’s “greatest failure” is a lack of national campaign led by men to educate men in order to stop violence before it occurs.

“We haven’t got a national campaign where men in particular are calling out this prevalence of family violence and letting people know it’s not on,” Justice Alstergren said.

Prominent victim advocates Rosie Batty and Tarang Chawla and Commonwealth Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC attended the event.

Mr Dreyfus also laid blame for the nation’s family violence epidemic at the feet of men, saying they must be part of the solution.

“We have a crisis of male violence in Australia. It is a scourge in our society and it must end,” he said.

“To create lasting change, women cannot be expected to solve violence against women alone. “It’s time for men to step up.

Victoria Police are investigating the deaths of Rebecca Young and Ian Butler at a home in Sebastopol near Ballarat after a suspected murder-suicide. Picture: Nine News

“It’s our responsibility to educate ourselves, our sons, our colleagues and our friends. “We must focus on prevention, working together and finding new ways of doing things.”

Mr Dreyfus said governments, organisations, frontline services, law enforcement, the judiciary, academic institutions, families and the community must work together to change the situation. “Enough is enough. There is much more work to be done to prevent family violence and protect and support those affected by it,” he said.

Mr Chawla, whose sister Nikita, 23, was murdered by her husband in 2015 in what was described as an “extreme case of domestic violence”, said women have the right to feel safe in every part of the community but don’t.

The National Domestic Violence Symposium was held inside the Family Court Building in Melbourne on Friday. Picture: David Crosling

“Separation remains one of the single most dangerous times for a woman yet it appears that women aren’t safe going for a run either. Samantha Murphy was (allegedly) murdered doing what so many of us like to do – exploring the great outdoors of our beautiful country,” he said.

“Women are harassed, attacked or killed in public or at work as was the finding by His Honour Justice Lee in the Lehrmann trial. A woman cannot seem to go to work at Parliament House without risking being sexually assaulted.”

Mr Chawla said while most Australian men are “good upstanding” people, there exists an “underbelly of men who commit violence, abuse their partner and take their lives”.

“All men have a responsibility to stand up and challenge those behaviours … to say it’s not on and (call out) mates over sexist jokes, locker room banter and misogynist attitudes,” he said.

Nikita Chawla, 23, was murdered by her husband in 2015.

The nation’s worst offenders are viewed by the sector as “domestic violence terrorists”, according to Queensland Sexual Assault Network executive officer Angela Lynch.

She said these perpetrators who are not discouraged by criminal consequences such as intervention orders might need to be dealt with in new, harsher ways.

“Their victims might need something over and above a protection order in relation to safety … it’s something that may not exist at the moment,” she said.

Ms Lynch said GPS tracking should be explored as a potential protection mechanism.

“I think we have to have all ideas on the table. I would call on us having that conversation in a very serious way around these domestic violence perpetrators who are at extreme risk to their families, to see what else in our service system needs to be done to respond to them,” she said.

Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin said any reform to better protect victims must account for offenders’ propensity to weaponise systems at any opportunity.

“We know our systems are regularly weaponised against women and children who are escaping family violence and sexual violence,” she said.

“We all need to be very mindful as we are undertaking reform that changes we make can’t be used against people.”

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