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One weekend in one state: Three women and a child stabbed to death
A 90-year-old woman. A 70-year-old woman. A 23-year-old woman. All stabbed to death in their homes within 24 hours in NSW. All allegedly by people who knew them, including a grandson, a son, and a partner. And then on Sunday afternoon, a 5-year-old boy was also allegedly stabbed to death, with his two siblings in a critical condition.
In the days leading up to three women being killed by domestic and family violence over a 24-hour period in NSW alone, the Albanese Government was celebrating Australia’s record 8th place on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Equality Index.
Apparently, the domestic violence doesn’t stop for a country that does a little better than other countries on women’s political and economic empowerment.
The violence doesn’t stop for weekends.
Nor does it stop for the fact that one woman had already been killed in that week, or even that day.
And the violence doesn’t stop because Australia has a “plan” to end it, nor does it stop because the prime minister once declared such violence a “national crisis”.
The violence doesn’t care about age: to think, _a ninety-year-old woman was stabbed to death_. And _a five-year-old boy was stabbed to death._
The reality is that the violence _can’t stop_ when frontline services are overwhelmed, when bail laws are inadequate, when state and Federal funding falls far short of ensuring no one is turned away from emergency accommodation and immediate and long-term services to escape violence.
Police said this morning that they are responding to a domestic violence incident every three minutes in NSW, and that one in four people before the courts across the states are there in relation to domestic and family violence.
While we may see the headlines regarding the murders, although such murders will never match the media saturation of other events, we barely see anything under the surface regarding the extent of the issue.
But in one weekend in NSW alone, the diversity of age and of relationship to those killed shows just how complex and far reaching the issue is.
A 23-year-old woman was stabbed to death in a home at Kooringal, NSW, allegedly by her partner on Saturday. Her 31-year-old partner has been charged with domestic violence murder.
A 90-year-old woman was stabbed to death in her apartment at Bondi Beach, NSW, with her 47-year-old grandson charged with domestic violence murder.
And then a 70-year-old woman’s body was found in a home at Mole River, NSW. A 27-year-old man believed to be her son has been charged with murder.
Just hours after Premier Chris Minns had said his thoughts were with the families and communities of the three women killed, there was yet more violence.
A pre-school-aged child was stabbed to death in the Blue Mountains, with passing cyclists coming across three children under the age of five and a woman in her 40s all suffering stab wounds. The children were inside the car near a fire trail leading into a national park, with police alleging the woman has self-inflicted wounds and is their only suspect.
Police said all four scenes were “barbaric”, noting the horror of murder scenes where knives and blunt objects are involved, as happened in all of the above.
“We’ve got to say enough is enough,” NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.
“This weekend is a horrible and horrific experience of what we shouldn’t be seeing in Australia.”
Meanwhile, Domestic Violence NSW noted the weekend of horror demonstrates how the issue doesn’t have an age limit, and it doesn’t stop being a national emergency because it happens behind closed doors.
DVNSW said governments have done important work and made investments, but the scale of the crisis demands much more.
**If you’re struggling, know that help is available 24/7.** **Call 000 in an emergency.**
**Lifeline: Call 13 11 14, text 0477 13 11 14. Beyond Blue: Call 1300 22 4636**.
**1800RESPECT: Call 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732**.
**MensLine Australia: Call 1300 78 99 78.**
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by Angela Priestley
4 days ago
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