Don’t let activists panic you into thinking that there is an epidemic of male violence in Australia
Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched in cities across Australia to protest an alleged epidemic of domestic violence. “It used to be one woman a week. But this year, an Australian woman is being violently killed every four days,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Australians are rightfully horrified by three recent deaths of women – on top of a mass killing in a busy shopping mall in Bondi Junction, in Sydney. On April 13, a schizophrenic man stabbed six people to death before a policewoman shot him dead. Five of his victims were women. It has been a ghastly Easter for Australians. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says that the federal government has doled out about A$2.3 billion since 2022 to solve the problem of domestic violence. Whatever they spent it on, it’s not working. “It's a national shame that we have such high levels of family domestic and sexual violence in this country,” says the social services minister, Amanda Rishworth. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, told a rally that family violence has become a "national crisis". Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin has convoked a national roundtable on May 7 to discuss practical solutions. At the centre of this moral panic is a tally of women’s deaths kept by the feminist group “Destroy the Joint” on its Facebook page. So far there have been 27 – 11 more than last year. Ergo, there is an epidemic of violence against women. I’m sceptical. The figures compiled by “Destroy the Joint” don’t support this. Violence against women is inexcusable wherever it happens, under any circumstances. But before Australians panic over a “national emergency” or demand a Royal Commission, they ought to study the available information. Here are some of facts surrounding the deaths of these 27 women -- although it should be borne in mind none of these cases has been thoroughly investigated or come to trial. This sample may not be representative of all female homicide victims, either. Of the 27 deaths, only 16 can plausibly be labelled sexual violence – and this includes the 5 ambiguous deaths in Bondi Junction. 4 of the women were killed by one of their own children – 3 by a son, and 1 by a daughter (who was shot dead by police). 2 of the 27 women who died were killed by women. It appears that 5 of the murders were committed by unmarried partners or ex-partners. Only 2 were committed by the husband of the woman. In at least 13 of the 27 murders mental illness may have been responsible.