Violence against women a crisis: PM

Australia is facing a “national crisis” of domestic violence against women, the prime minister said on Sunday as he announced an urgent cabinet meeting after a recent spate of killings.

A man aged 35 was charged at the weekend with the murder of Erica Hay, 30, in Perth. Her death took the number of women who have been killed in violent attacks in Australia this year to 27.

According to statistics collected by domestic violence campaigners, on average one woman a week was killed in domestic violence incidents in the country last year. This year the average has increased almost to one every four days.

Tens of thousands of people took part in marches in cities and towns on Sunday to demand urgent action from the national and state governments and police forces to curb attacks on women.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a Canberra rally he’d joined the crowd uninvited because “I know we must do better” and “it’s not just government’s problem, it’s a problem of our entire society”.

In Ballarat alone, near Melbourne, three women have been killed this year.

“This is a national crisis ... emergency is something that we use when there’s a flood or bush fires, where things kick in for one month or two months of funding,” Albanese told the Canberra rally.

“We don’t need one month or two months, we need to address this in a serious way ... across the generations. We need to make sure that this isn’t just up to women. It’s up to men to change men’s behaviour as well.”

Albanese has called a national cabinet meeting for tomorrow, at which the leaders of Australia’s states and territories will discuss the increasing violence against women. – The Times