The wider responsibility
Safety is a societal responsibility.
Women can gain useful choices through education. Preventing violence also requires changing behaviour, institutions and the systems that enable harm.
Responsibility belongs to perpetrators.
Whether someone resisted, froze, complied, left or sought help does not transfer responsibility to them. A survivor does not have to justify their response to deserve support.
Make action specific.
- Ask your workplace how it responds to harassment and protects people who report concerns.
- Support specialist violence-prevention and survivor-support organisations.
- Challenge coercive or degrading behaviour when you can do so safely. Consider seeking help rather than intervening alone.
- Ask education providers to teach consent, respectful relationships and bystander responsibility.
- Advocate for accessible services and accountable institutional responses.
Read statistics with care.
AIHW reports that 27% of Australian women experienced family or domestic violence since age 15, based on the 2021–22 Personal Safety Survey. This is a lifetime measure, not an annual rate.
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Family and domestic violence
Firm criticism. Accurate reporting.
We distinguish allegations, convictions, sentencing and appeals. We verify the reasoning behind court decisions before commenting, protect survivors' privacy and clearly label opinion.