The numbers that will shock you to tears

IT’S the number that affects us all. It’s killing at least one Australian each and every week, and shockingly, some of us still think it’s ok.

EVERY week, on average, one Australian woman is killed by a current or former partner.

More than 27,000 domestic violence assaults were reported to police last year in NSW alone, averaging 74 assaults in the state per day, and it’s the reason behind more than 30 per cent of all homicide cases in New South Wales.

MORE: ‘He left me in the cupboard to die’

One in three women in Australia has experienced some sort of violence since the age of 15, around 3.91 million, and indigenous women are 35 timesmore likely to be affected.

One in five Australian women has been stalked.

It’s an issue estimated to cost the Australian economy $14.4 billion per annum, and it’s the leading contributor to death, disability and ill-health in Australian women aged 15-44.

Domestic violence victims are suffering in silence.

It’s not only these distressing figures that show something needs to be done about domestic violence in Australia, but proof of our attitudes on the issue is just as shocking.

More than 40 per cent of people believe that rape results from men not being able to control their need for sex.

And one in five people believes that domestic violence can be excused if people get so angry they lose control.

These shocking numbers that have prompted thousands of people, including the nation’s top cops and politicians, to take action today and call for an end to violence against women.

Victorian Chief Commissioner Ken Lay addresses a gathering of Australian And New Zealand Police Commissioners and MPs on the eve of White Ribbon Day, at Parliament House, Canberra.

Speaking at an White Ribbon Day launch event this morning, chief of army David Morrison said domestic violence is “an absolutely existential issue” for Australia and “we need to do something about it”.

“Most Australians, I would think, don’t know that one women is killed by her partner or former partner every single week,” he said.

“If we lost someone to a shark every single week, there would be, as there already are, laws to do something about it.”

The extent of men’s violence against women is one of Australia’s most shameful secrets, but White Ribbon day, a male-led campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence in its 11th year, is engaging with the community driving change to prevent this violence.

Today is White Ribbon Day.

The issue touches people from all walks of life.

Today host Sylvia Jeffreys broke down in tears this morning when she spoke of her own personal connection to domestic violence, opening up about the death of her friend Rachelle Yeo at the hands of her jealous ex-boyfriend Paul Mulvihill in 2011.

“She was a beautiful, beautiful soul and a beautiful spirit and her life was taken away by a former partner of hers,” an emotional Jeffreys said during a “Girls On The Grill” segment about White Ribbon Day.

“He tracked her down and stabbed her to death in her apartment in Sydney,” the 28-year-old said, after explaining that Rachelle had left her home in Queensland to escape him.

“She was a wonderful person who never would have that would happen to her, that that kind of evil would be in her life.”

Mulvihill was sentenced to 29 years jail for Rachelle’s murder in April this year.

Fellow Today host Karl Stefanovic thanked Jeffreys for opening up about her friend’s death before adding that fathers need to educate their sons that violence against women is unacceptable.

“It has to happen now not tomorrow because we can’t have another life lost,” Stefanovic said.

What you can do

White Ribbon Ambassadors believe that men’s violence against women is never acceptable and call on all Australian men to:

1. Reject sexist attitudes, behaviours and language that create a culture in which men’s violence against women is accepted.

2. Treat women as equals and with respect in all aspects of life.

3. Speak up and step up when they see or hear of men using violence against women.

You can join us now. Start by swearing the White Ribbon Oath never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women at http://www.whiteribbon.org.au/standup.

Together we can stop men’s violence against women and make Australian communities safer for all women.

@whiteribbonaust.