Roscop

Rosie Batty did not ask to be a so-called “domestic violence poster girl of the century”. She was thrust into the limelight after a tragedy - her son being murdered by his father.

There is a rigorous process for selecting Australians of the Year. Rosie Batty received many nominations. Based on these nominations The Board of the National Australia Day selected her to be Australian of the Year. It was not a feminist conspiracy.

Until quite recently, intimate partner violence was considered a domestic, rather than a public issue. Luke Batty's murder occurred at a time in our history when public awareness of intimate partner violence was increasing. It is not surprising, that it captured so much public attention.

RObert
I agree. Australian of the Years, like orders of Australia and knighthoods, are political. They are determined by the zeitgeist. For example, Adam Goodes (racism), Tim Flannery (climate change).

I will read the articles you have suggested. I will do my best to do this as quickly as possible. Coincidentally, I have been asked to write a submission to the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence (about financial elder abuse), so my attention is currently on that.

Also, regarding your comment about me “ investigating the other side of the issue”. I agree that advocates may present data to support their position. I believe this is dishonest. However, I am a researcher, not an advocate. I look at primary sources (i.e. data) not at other people’s interpretation of the data

Susieonline

I agree with you regarding the inappropriate comments made about Rosie Batty’s thoughts, feelings and motivations. Trying to analyse Rosie Batty from a distance says much more about the person doing the analysis than it does about Rosie Batty. Psychologists call this “projection”.

Wolly B

All those who work in the area of intimate partner violence, including feminists, acknowledge that men and women who have mental illnesses and substance abuse issues are at a higher risk of domestic violence.

I agree that those who work in the area of intimate partner violence, including feminists, must address how mental illness and substance abuse affects both men and women.

However, mental illness and substance abuse is not the only cause of intimate partner violence. Gender inequality is also known to be a cause. So gender inequality must also be addressed to prevent intimate partner violence.

A point of clarification:

I wrote "I agree that advocates may present data to support their position. I believe this is dishonest."

I believe it is dishonest when data is tortured to say what you want it to say.

It is sometimes difficult to differentiate credible social research from the rest. Few of us have the time, or indeed the expertise, to go back to the original data and see the flaws in the research design, the misrepresentation of the data and the over-simplification of the findings. If we did, we would see that simplistic statistics can be used as both a political tool and a marketing strategy.

Data needs to be analysed objectively, without emotion, and without a political agenda.

Also, anecdotes are not data...

Sarah Russell,

Some posts back in the discussion thread in regard to false accusations of sexual assault, you directed me to the work of Wall and Tarczon. Well thanks for that. The opening words in the introduction are these:

“The literature around false allegations highlights a paucity of critical analysis that would enable better understanding of the context around reporting sexual assault in the criminal justice system.”

I always thought that to be the case. The results driven purpose of the cited study was to make excuses for why false allegations are made:

“Ascribing a sexual assault with a black or white label of true or false fails to understand some of the broader social issues that can create complexity around the motives for making an allegation.”

When it comes to domestic violence there is no talk about “complexity”. Its simply “One in three women” blah blah blah...patriarchy…patriarchy.

Sarah, I was hoping you could help me to show Champion of Change, Ken Lay somewhat more respect. You could do that if you were able to tell me how many restraining orders arising out of “ex parte” court hearings and with the purpose of separating a parent from his/her child/ren, were served on respondents in the state of Victoria in the previous calendar year. Is such data: a) captured in the justice(sic) system and b) made easily accessible to the public eg via the net? If not, given the abundance of technology and court staff, why not?

Until quite recently, intimate partner violence was considered a domestic, rather than a public issue.

Posted by Sarah Russell, Friday, 22 May 2015 8:30:25

Unless some one has been living in a cave, cant read or write, the issue of domestic violence has been around much longer than recently. It has been a long time since it was regarded as a domestic rather than .a public issue. I think that change happened in the 1980's or 90's.

Wolly B

Family violence legislation was enacted in most states and territories in the 1980s and 1990s. I consider this recent.

Prior to 1980s, it was not possible for a man to be charged with, and prosecuted for, raping his wife.

Most importantly, The Family Violence Protection Act 2008 empowers the police to issue Family Violence Safety Notices. These notices are for use outside of court hours and provide police with another tool to ensure that immediate protection is available when police respond to an incident.