Please be advised this article discusses topics related to domestic and family violence.
Voices of concern are rising, as Brittany Higgins and anti-violence advocate Tarang Chawla challenge the controversial remarks made by Pauline Hanson. Hanson described domestic violence as a “two-way street” and suggested that women should not tolerate it.
During a conversation on Brisbane’s 4BC radio this Wednesday, the One Nation leader acknowledged that domestic violence is “wrong” but suggested it stems from current “living pressures.”
“I’m not claiming it’s solely men; women can also lose their temper. Our society faces more pressure than before,” Hanson commented.
Drawing on personal experience, she expressed, “Having been through it myself, I believe if you don’t feel safe in your home… women facing abuse should not accept it.”
Chawla, a writer, lawyer and advocate, said Hanson’s suggestion was “terrible advice”.
Chawla’s sister, Nikita Chawla, was stabbed to death by her husband, Parminder Singh, in 2015. Singh was sentenced to 22 years in prison for her murder.
Responding to a social media post by Women’s Agenda, Chawla wrote: “My sister Niki tried to do what Ms Hanson suggests. Terrible advice. He murdered her. It is not as simple as ‘don’t put up with it’.
The responsibility isn’t on the victim. It’s on the person who is abusive or violent. Overwhelmingly, that person is a man.”
‘Victim blaming’
Higgins also took to social media to respond to the comments, calling Hanson’s remarks “atrocious”.
She accused Hanson of normalising “victim blaming rhetoric in relation to domestic violence when 38 Australian women have already been lost to femicide” this year. That figure is according to advocate Sherele Moody’s Australian Femicide Watch project.
In the space of one week in July, two women and two girls were allegedly murdered in Australia in separate incidents.
Then, on Wednesday morning, a 16-year-old boy was charged with murdering his mother, and attempting to kill his 12-year-old sister in a home in Perth’s south-east.
Nicole Yade, CEO of frontline service Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre, also expressed concern the comments ignored the realities for many victims of domestic and family violence.
“Saying ‘just leave’ ignores proven patterns of behaviour that keep many victim-survivors trapped in abusive relationships,” Yade said in a statement.
“Following an abusive incident, displays of remorse, love bombing, gifts and promises to change often manipulate victims into believing the violence will never happen again. Too often, the cycle then repeats.”
“It also ignores a simple reality: you cannot leave if there is nowhere safe to go.”
One Nation’s position on domestic violence
Hanson’s comments were prompted by fellow One Nation politician Barnaby Joyce’s remarks on the same station earlier that day.
Joyce said, “before you lose your top, walk out of the house, just walk down the street”.
Joyce then invoked the character of James Bond, despite several Bond films depicting the titular hero using physical force against women.
“James Bond is loved in the cinema because he keeps it all together, for blokes who lose their bottle have no style.”
In 2019, Hanson was chosen by then-prime minister Scott Morrison to lead a parliamentary inquiry into family law after the senator attacked women she claimed were lying to abuse the courts.
“There are people out there who are nothing but liars and who will use that in the court system,” Hanson told ABC radio at the time.
In 2020, Hanson refused to support a Senate motion calling for greater funding of frontline family and domestic violence services “until this chamber acknowledges the hurt of domestic violence experienced by both sexes”.
In NSW alone, the Domestic Violence Death Review Team found that over the past 26 years, 300 women have been killed by their current or former intimate partner.
In the same period, 75 men were killed by an intimate partner. In nearly three-quarters of deaths, the murder victim was the abuser.
If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
The Men’s Referral Service, operated by No to Violence, can be contacted on 1300 766 491.